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#Post#: 24652--------------------------------------------------
Congo
By: Schwartze Katze Date: January 2, 2024, 6:33 pm
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How many more must suffer in DRC before the west stops enabling
Tshisekedi?
[quote]Despite its vast mineral wealth, corruption keeps the
Congolese poor – and western governments help the regime stay in
power[/quote]
[quote]Provisional results in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (DRC) presidential election have indicated Félix
Tshisekedi is the winner. As his regime secures another five
years, the incumbent will once again be looking to the west to
help keep him in power, as the US government did in 2018.
The DRC has lurched from crisis to crisis for more than 20
years. This is in part because the west has blocked the creation
of an international criminal tribunal for the country, which is
needed to end the culture of impunity fuelling violence, famine
and the climate crisis killing and displacing Congolese people.
The US has supported Tshisekedi by, among other things,
facilitating international grants and credit, and yet, according
to the World Bank, 73% of the population live on less than $1.90
a day, and things are getting worse. The UN says 26 million
Congolese are facing “very high acute malnutrition and excess
mortality”, an increase from 13.5 million, or 28% of the
population, in 2019.
Five years ago, Tshisekedi was humiliated by the Congolese
people, coming third in the presidential race. Yet, against all
available evidence that Martin Fayulu had won by a landslide, he
was declared the winner – a decision the US supported. Huge
international grants and credits to his regime followed,
including $750m from the World Bank and a $1.5bn loan from the
International Monetary Fund. Some success for a man whose record
might be judged incompetent and who was rejected by voters.
In return, Tshisekedi said he would end China’s control over the
DRC’s rare minerals, which poses a strategic challenge for the
US and EU’s clean-energy ambitions. The DRC supplies, mostly via
China, 73% of the world’s cobalt – an essential component in
wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicle batteries. In
terms of untapped mineral reserves, the DRC was estimated to be
worth $24tn (then about £15tn) by a 2011 UN study, which is more
than the current GDP of the 27 EU member states combined.
Since 2018, Tshisekedi has subverted the last vestiges of free
and fair elections that the DRC still had, increasingly
suppressing dissent – including of journalists, religious
leaders and former allies and acolytes turned critics – and
putting his allies into key posts.
Tshisekedi made Denis Kadima – who comes from the same Luba
ethnic group and Kasaï region as the president – head of the
electoral commission. He also appointed three new judges – also
Luba – to the Congolese supreme court, which would hear any
electoral dispute.
Unsurprisingly, opposition leaders calling for a rerun of the
the most recent “sham” election, including the 2018 Nobel peace
laureate Dr Denis Mukwege, Fayulu and Moïse Katumbi, have said
they will not take their case to the supreme court because they
have little faith in it.
To keep the military on his side, Tshisekedi has promoted army
officers who are facing UN, US and EU sanctions for human rights
violations. There has been an increase in violence, including by
the Rwandan-backed M23 militia, which has displaced nearly 7
million Congolese (up from 4.5 million in 2018), making the DRC
one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises...[/quote]
Entire article:
HTML https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/jan/02/how-many-more-must-suffer-in-drc-before-the-west-stops-enabling-tshisekedi
Related:
Belgian Congo
[quote]The Belgian Congo (French: Congo belge, pronounced
[kɔ̃ɡo bɛlʒ]; Dutch: Belgisch-Congo[a])
was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until
independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo
(Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964.
Colonial rule in the Congo began in the late 19th century. King
Leopold II of the Belgians attempted to persuade the Belgian
government to support colonial expansion around the then-largely
unexploited Congo Basin. Their ambivalence resulted in Leopold's
establishing a colony himself. With support from a number of
Western countries, Leopold achieved international recognition of
the Congo Free State in 1885.[7] By the turn of the century, the
violence used by Free State officials against indigenous
Congolese and a ruthless system of economic exploitation led to
intense diplomatic pressure on Belgium to take official control
of the country, which it did by creating the Belgian Congo in
1908.[8]
Belgian rule in the Congo was based on the "colonial trinity"
(trinité coloniale) of state, missionary and private-company
interests.[9] The privileging of Belgian commercial interests
meant that large amounts of capital flowed into the Congo and
that individual regions became specialised. On many occasions,
the interests of the government and of private enterprise became
closely linked, and the state helped companies to break strikes
and to remove other barriers raised by the indigenous
population.[9] The colony was divided into hierarchically
organised administrative subdivisions and run uniformly
according to a set "native policy" (politique indigène). This
differed from the practice of British and French colonial
policy, which generally favoured systems of indirect rule,
retaining traditional leaders in positions of authority under
colonial oversight.[clarification needed]
During the 1940s and 1950s, the Belgian Congo experienced
extensive urbanisation and the colonial administration began
various development programs aimed at making the territory into
a "model colony".[10] One result saw the development of a new
middle-class of Europeanised African "évolués" in the
cities.[10] By the 1950s, the Congo had a wage labour force
twice as large as that in any other African
colony.[11]...[/quote]
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Congo
See also:
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/colonial-era/colonization-of-africa/
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/colonial-era/colonialism-as-viewed-by-westerners/
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/colonial-era/colonial-crimes-dw-documentary/
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/colonial-era/western-neo-colonial-mentality/
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/issues/china-and-united-states-relations/
HTML https://trueleft.createaforum.com/issues/economic-entanglement-and-systemic-rivalry-germany-and-china-at-a-crossroads/
Congolese should be emigrating to the West ASAP!
#Post#: 25153--------------------------------------------------
Re: Congo
By: Schwartze Katze Date: February 20, 2024, 11:34 pm
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Crisis in the Congo: How the West Fuels the Bloodshed in the DRC
[quote]At least 150,000 people have been displaced in the
eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) amid
an escalation of fighting between the Congolese armed forces
(FARDC) and the M23 rebel group, a proxy force backed by Rwanda.
Over one year after Angola brokered a ceasefire deal, the M23
has continued its offensive, leading to a new wave of mass
displacement in the country. Kambale Musavuli of the Center for
Research on the Congo details the latest developments of the
conflict and breaks down how Western countries, including the US
and European Union member states, are complicit in the ongoing
violence and destabilization in the DRC.[/quote]
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsaSbfFIvVY
[quote]March 23 Movement
The March 23 Movement (French: Mouvement du 23 mars), often
abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary
Army (Armée révolutionnaire du Congo),[9] is a Congolese rebel
military group that is for the most part formed of ethnic
Tutsi.[10] Based in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (DRC), it operates mainly in the province of North
Kivu. The M23 rebellion of 2012 to 2013 against the DRC
government led to the displacement of large numbers of people.
On 20 November 2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial
capital with a population of a million people, but it was
requested to evacuate it by the International Conference on the
Great Lakes Region because the DRC government had finally agreed
to negotiate. In late 2012, Congolese troops, along with UN
troops, retook control of Goma, and M23 announced a ceasefire
and said that it wanted to resume peace talks.[11]
A United Nations report found that Rwanda created and commanded
the M23 rebel group.[12] Rwanda ceased its support because of
international pressure and the military defeat by the DRC and
the UN in 2013.
[13]
In 2017, M23 elements resumed their insurgency in the DRC, but
the operations of this splinter faction had little local
impact.[14] In 2022, a larger portion of M23 started an
offensive, which eventually resulted in the capture of the
Congolese border town of Bunagana by the rebels.[15][16] In
November 2022, M23 rebels got close to the city of Goma and
forced about 180,000 people to leave their homes after the
Congolese Army had withdrawn from the region near the village of
Kibumba.[17] In June 2023, Humans rights watch reported human
rights abuses by M23 rebels in the democratic republic of Congo,
including unlawful killings, rapes and other war crimes.
Allegations implicate Rwandan support for these actions,
bringing concerns about war crimes and making the humanitarian
situation worse in the region. The United Nations Security
council encouraged sanctions against the M23 leaders and
implicated Rwandan officials.[18] As of February 2023 the group
occupies various major towns in eastern North Kivu including
Bunagana, Kiwanja,[19] Kitchanga,[20] Rubaya,[21] Rutshuru,[19]
and controls vital roads leading to Goma...[22] [/quote]
Further reading:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_23_Movement
#Post#: 25182--------------------------------------------------
Re: Congo
By: Schwartze Katze Date: February 23, 2024, 10:51 am
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M23 Rebels advance in Eastern Congo | DW News
[quote]An intensifying conflict between Congo's army and M23
rebels has disrupted the flow of supplies to the city of Goma,
affecting over two million residents and half a million
displaced people. DW spoke with people affected in a camp near
Goma.[/quote]
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzz_OHJ1CYc
#Post#: 27594--------------------------------------------------
Re: Congo
By: Congo Date: August 27, 2024, 3:19 pm
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Is War About to Break Out Between Rwanda and the DRC?
[quote]Conflict in Congo is a decades old story. However, with
tensions rising yet further and more regional powers being drawn
in, the question is if the conflict could spill out
further.[/quote]
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkcJovSnXL0
#Post#: 27596--------------------------------------------------
Re: Congo
By: 90sRetroFan Date: August 27, 2024, 5:17 pm
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This shows how stupid the notion of sending refugees to Rwanda
was. On the contrary, Rwandans should be emigrating (preferably
to its former colonizer Germany, but other EU countries would be
fine too) also!
#Post#: 29663--------------------------------------------------
Re: Congo
By: NewGuildedAge Date: March 24, 2025, 8:48 pm
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Conflict escalates between Rwandan-backed rebels and Congolese
authorities
[quote]A Rwandan-backed rebel group is refusing to leave the
Eastern Congo town of Walikale after previously agreeing to
withdraw from the area as part of a so-called "peace gesture." A
spokesperson for the group, known as M23, says the rebels backed
out of the ceasefire because the Congolese army and allied
militias did not remove their attack drones from the town.
Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic
and International Studies, joins CBS News to assess the state of
the conflict.
CBS News 24/7 is the premier anchored streaming news service
from CBS News and Stations that is available free to everyone
with access to the internet and is the destination for breaking
news, live events, original reporting and storytelling, and
programs from CBS News and Stations' top anchors and
correspondents working locally, nationally and around the globe.
It is available on more than 30 platforms across mobile, desktop
and connected TVs for free, as well as CBSNews.com and
Paramount+ and live in 91 countries.[/quote]
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaPs-a4v6oI
#Post#: 31318--------------------------------------------------
Re: Western Neo-Colonial Mentality
By: rp Date: November 9, 2025, 8:09 am
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HTML https://x.com/TheNavroopSingh/status/1987350792521851186?t=QfMZfSlHdm5W3mcgN1eoXA&s=19
[quote]
Trump supporter and founder of Blackwater (yes, THAT Blackwater)
Erik Prince has agreed to help Democratic Republic of Congo
secure and tax rare earth mineral wealth. Says African Nations
are incapable of Governing themselves and its time to
re-colonise them.
Blackwater is most infamously known for the 2007 Nisour Square
massacre in Baghdad, where Blackwater contractors killed 17
innocent Iraqi civilians. Despite that reputation, Prince has
remained an influential figure in U.S. foreign affairs
(particularly in fragile states and conflict zones). They're
for-profit mercenaries known for their human rights abuses.
His recent deal with the DRC fits squarely within this
wheelhouse. The whole agreement takes on a new dimension when
placed within the global context of the U.S.-China trade war.
The DRC holds vast reserves of valuable minerals, including
cobalt and copper, essential for batteries, electronics, and
defence technologies.
These metals are basically just as valuable as China's rare
earths. China dominates the global supply chain for rare earth
minerals and their processing, giving it strategic leverage over
the West, particularly the United States.
If America can control cobalt and copper then it has China in
check. This has become one of the central fronts of the ongoing
U.S.-China trade war. Congo has again the battling ground for
two foreign powers.
#Post#: 31386--------------------------------------------------
Re: Congo
By: SodaPop Date: November 16, 2025, 2:25 pm
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DR Congo's roadmap for peace: Congolese govt and M23
representatives sign deal
[quote]The Congolese government and the Rwandan-backed M23 rebel
group have agreed on a roadmap for peace after years of fighting
in the eastern DRC.
Al Jazeera's Alain Uaykani joins live from Goma, in the eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo, while Felix Ndahinda, a
researcher on conflict, peace, and justice in the Great Lakes
Region, joins live from Tilburg in the Netherlands.[/quote]
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ko2gyBPFx4
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