Point of VIEW. A
purely analytical perception...
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Siphoning Congo is a country rich in natural wealth and
produces substantial quantities of copper, diamonds, oil, hydroelectric power
and cobalt. Within a short time of ascending to the office of president of Congo,
Mobutu made a shambles of their free election process by creating a combination
of ballots that were either green symbolizing “progress” or red symbolizing “chaos”.
Naturally his party, the only one allowed to be on the green ballot, and in his
first election, not surprisingly, he had only 157 red votes cast against him.
It has been said that many of the people that voted against him never were seen
again. “Perfecting
a system of rule by theft (called kleptocracy), Mobutu pillaged the public sector,
harassing or jailing those who objected. In some years he and his cronies siphoned
off up to 50% of Congo’s capital budget as well as hundreds of millions in mineral
export revenues, foreign aid and loans, and private investment (some guaranteed
by the U.S. Eximbank). The effects were catastrophic. Despite vast mineral wealth
(diamonds, cobalt, copper), oil deposits, and immense hydroelectric and agricultural
potential, Congo’s per capita income has dropped almost two-thirds since independence
in 1960 and is listed as the lowest of all 174 countries in the UNDP’s 1996.”
Mobutu wasted no time and immediately declared himself
“Marshal” and introduced a policy of “Congoization and authenticity”,
(Z & A) which in English simply meant that the country would be nationalizing
expatriate owned interests within the country and turning them over to the population
for involuntary obliteration. Also, part of what became the essence of Mobutu’s
Z & A plan was the conceptionalization and construction of a series of outrageous
mega-projects that were for the most part ill conceived, defectively structured,
superfluous and which ultimately became a substantial part of the country’s problems.
However, this was exactly what the cunning Mobutu had in mind. However, at the
time, no one had a clue. Moreover, one of his more grandiose ideas resulted
in the erection of a power plant, the Inga Dam, which was announced as capable
of producing one-third of the world’s hydroelectric energy along with a 1,100-mile,
high-tension power grid. The only problem with this wonderful concept was the
fact that there was no infrastructure to support the project and no way of getting
the energy to others that could potentially benefit from the energy that it would
produce. For the most part though, Mobutu didn't much care, as the whole project
was a cover up that allowed him to siphon the money into his pocket. Mobutu had a stringent agenda that he followed with
precision. Have a cadre of engineers create an endless stream of potential world-class
projects that would be fashioned to provide a better living for those living in
his country. How could anyone turn that down? They couldn’t and they didn’t. The
United States put the arm on both the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund and told them clearly that this was how Mobutu was going to be paid. Everyone
went along with the charade. He would then submit these plans along with the estimates
of their cost to the World Bank. Make a great case for their need and have them
fund the project which they did with great alacrity. Lastly and not leastly, he
would then pocket most of the money and have it delivered out of harms way. In
this manner, at least in Mobutu’s
opinion, he was doing a great service to everyone. He was well aware that most
of the World Bank’s projects in Africa not only hadn’t been successful, but they
had sent many of the countries that had relied upon World Bank infrastructure
development advice back into the stone age of even
further. He firmly believed that by not building these projects that he was paid
to deliver, that he was in reality doing a substantial public good. He was both
enriching himself and saving his people from environmental destruction, an unbeatable
combination, at least in his mind. Furthermore, he believed that he would be saving
the World Bank substantial embarrassment by not having another failure on their
books. What a guy! Former
President Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Waza Banga, which some people indicate
translates into, the all powerful warrior who because of his endurance and inflexible
will to win will go from conquest to conquest leaving fire in his wake, accumulated
assets during his reign of only slightly less than the amount of assistance his
country received from global institutions. One other way of looking at his economic
appetite is many economists who have carefully studied the situation have determined
that he pocketed almost one-half of the country’s gross domestic product during
his reign. Thus, he was able, under the watchful eyes of his benefactors, to convert
almost all of the foreign aid his country received, during his term, the longest
reign in this century, to his personal gain.
When
the smoke had cleared he counted among most prized possessions a chateaux in Monte
Carlo and another in Switzerland. A small palace in the Ivory Coast, another in
Paris and a third in Belgium. Instead of flying by his own country’s national
airlines or by military aircraft, he preferred to rent the Concord to fly his
retinue all over the globe, while provided living quarters for them at each stop
along the way. “Bernard Kouchner, a minister in the Government of the former French
President Francois Mitterrand, referring to Mr. Mobutu’s wealth, estimated by
some to be as great as $5 billion, once described the African leader as “a walking
bank vault with a leopard-skin cap.” however, Mobutu described his luxury laden
Concord trips as a money saving venture for the country. His reasoning was obscure
at best. He indicated that most of the people he traveled with held important
jobs within his government and it was critically important that they get back
to work as quickly as possible for the good of the country. You can’t really fault
him for doing something that nice for his people. Or how about the time that Mobutu decided to go into
the sheep ranching and being a cautious man he had his minister find where the
best sheep in the world could be purchased. After a substantial research on the
subject, he was advised that Venezuelan sheep were indeed the world's best. He
ordered a government jet transport to Venezuela, piloted by a picked crew and
had them make 32 round trips to stock his farm with the very best. This guy really
knew how to go first class and you can tell why he is running his own country.
Incidents such as the forgoing gave Mobutu new cache
in the West. Wags coined the world “kleptocracy” to better describe the form of
government that was being practiced in his country. After all has been said and
done, the most positive aspect of Mobutu’s reign may well be the creation of that
word in an attempt to describe the pillaging of a country to a degree previously
considered unattainable. However, Mobutu and his stooges eventually had to get
out of town in a hurry as a revolutionary force closed in on downtown Kinshasa.
According to Chester Crocker, a then U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa
who quipped as he watched them depart, “The DC-10 could barely be able to take
off, its belly was so full of stereos and microwaves.”
Michela Wrong in her book, “Black Man’s Burden” tells several more, “The
Congo’s ambassador to Japan sold the embassy in Tokyo and is thought to have pocketed
the proceeds. Then there is story about the fuel rod missing from Kinshasa’s nuclear
reactor – the improbable story of how Kinshasa wound up with a nuclear reactor…”
While Mobutu was becoming richer by the hour, the
people of Congo were quickly going down the drain. This despotic leader whose
only interest was enriching himself at the expense of others was able to pervert
the meaning of corruption by taking money form public services necessary for the
country and its people to function even in the most minimalistic manner. Schools,
hospitals, roads, utilities and communications were cannibalized to line Mobutu’s
already swollen pockets. As if these greedy conversions didn’t supply enough to
last Mobutu the rest of his natural life under the most lavish of circumstances
and he certain knew how to be lavish, he was not done yet. He stopped paying literally
everyone in government and redirected their paychecks to himself.
He had numerous techniques of accomplishing this
bizarre act. Sometimes the government checks would just fail to arrive. At other
times he inflated the economy in order to pay off debts the country’s creditors
but simultaneously make the people’s money worthless. Moreover, what little they
had was at times confiscated by the government if the people were unable to account
for where they had gotten it. You see, by this time, Congo’s economy had gone
underground because that was the only way around Mobutu’s confiscatory system
of taxing almost everything but the air the people were breathing. Many of his
loyal citizens indicated that if he had stayed in office longer, he would have
gotten around to that. “The
Democratic Republic of Congo is both rich and poor. Underneath its sprawling jungle
lay many of the world’s most valuable minerals – from gold and diamonds to columbite-tantalite,
a vital component in the production of mobile phones and computer chips. But the
natural riches have not helped its 51 million inhabitants. Years of corruption
and mismanagement have left the country in ruins. Only one in every 1,250 Congolese
owns a telephone, for instance. For most, technology still means a hoe or a basket. Per
capita gross domestic product is now less than $100 a year, one of the lowest
levels in the world. Congo’s economy was the world’s worst performer last year,
shrinking by 11.4%. According to the Central Bank, it has contracted every year
but one for the past decade. Official coffee production is just 10% of what it
was a decade ago; cobalt production is down a third. The state-owned copper mining
company earned the Central Bank 800 million in 1989, last year it brought in just
$40 million…” () Mobutu had the ability to create chaos although he
probably didn’t intend it that way. What followed became literal national anarchy
with policemen and soldiers resorting to shakedowns and harassment to accumulate
enough money to feed their families. In spite of the fact that the country was
rapidly spinning out of control, the United States still saw Mobutu as their guy,
especially when it came to taking
care of matters brought about by the ever active Russian emissaries that were
sent into the reason to destabilize Africa. Mobutu was seen as especially valuable
during the civil war in Angola where the United States backed UNITA rebels were
working overtime to put a monkey wrench into the plans of the leftist leaning
government that the Russians had installed there. Gradual
Unraveling However, this kind of despotic rule could only go
on for so long. By 1990, the people had enough of his despotic rule. Nevertheless,
they were only able to bring about elections for the first time in a number of
years, but Mobutu was able to rig them once again. The people’s optimism of a
chance at a new start was soundly trounced at the polls through a combination
of Mobutu’s strong armed tactics, phony ballots, payoffs and a series of other
underhanded political moves. The real pity of the situation was that in spite
of the stultifying aroma coming out of the Government’s system, there had been
some progress by the people in dealing with their plight. Through an intelligent
use of human labor, many of the necessary infrastructure necessities had found
a way to reopen and schools, hospitals and media facilities were at least operating.
The people were operating the infrastructure in spite of the government. However,
the loss to Mobutu in the election was devastating to many.
It wasn’t until four-years later that the people
got another opportunity to dump their fearless leader. Rwanda, Congo’s neighbor
had gotten into the genocide game in a big way. They determined that the Hutu’s
were not full blooded Rwandans and should be eliminated. Not feeling that elimination
was healthy for them, all of the Hutu’s that were able to travel, packed up their
belongings and headed for Congo. While it worked for the Hutu, it was a major
problem for Mobutu who did not have the money to support all of these homeless
folks in spite of his empathetic nature. At the same time, he really was ticked
off at the Rwandan Government for causing the whole thing to happen to begin with. However, as always, he was up to the task and constructed
a model in which he could profit from the horrible event. Mobutu firmly believed
that he could turn the whole thing around by selling discount weapons to the Hutu’s
at big prices and devise a plan for them to invade Rwanda.
However, it was always Rwanda that had the upper hand in fighting with
Congo and the people were brutally slaughtered. Mobutu did not lose any sleep
over the event because he would not be responsible for feeding them anymore. In
addition, he had already separated them from whatever money they may have had.
The United Nations issued a report that indicated exactly what Rwanda was about
in Congo: “The
panel found that Rwanda could have financed most of its war effort from Congo’s
colombite Tantalite (coltan), including coltan stocks looted early in the war.
Over an 18 month period it is estimated that the Rwandan army, which effectively
controlled the exploitation in Rwandan-controlled territory, must have mad at
least $250 million from coltan.” () The craze for coltan, which is an extremely exotic
material, often used in products such as cell-phones, jet engines, night vision
goggles, air bags, fiber optics and transistors, became so hectic that it started
to endanger wildlife in the vicinity. “The New York-based Wildlife Conservation
Society says the coltan boom has even sent miners into the region’s Kahuzi-Biega
National Park, threatening survivors among a population of endangered gorillas
depleted by war and refugees.” () Making maters even worse was the fact that the
park is one of a kind and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In simple terms, that means that when some of the species found here are gone,
they ain’t coming back. “As much as any of Cong’s fabled mineral riches –
and lately, far more than most, - coltan explains what all those armies are doing
in Congo. Pursuit of any one commodity may not explain why six foreign countries,
two rebel groups and assorted militias came there to fight. When the RCD rebels
and their Rwandan backers started the current war in August 1998, Congo’s wealth
of gold, diamonds and copper was well known, but almost no one had heard of coltan,
then selling for less than $20 a pound. But with the price of a pound of coltan
sometimes exceeding $100 – or $200,000 a ton, the unit by which it is exported
by chartered cargo plane to Europe – the trade goes a considerable way toward
explaining why the belligerents have been so reluctant to depart.” While this whole affair was occurring in the eastern
quadrant of Congo, Mobutu determined to kill two birds with one stone. While the
Hutu were fighting the Rwandans, he sent his army into the territory which was
also occupied by the indigenous Tutsis (Banyamulenge) and seized everything they
had. He also sent them scurrying
over the Rwandan border, which tended to confuse everyone in the region so enormously
that outsiders had a hard time figuring out what was going on. With hundreds of
thousands of people simultaneously headed in opposite directions it was enough
to give even the most callused individual stomach cramps.
However, the whole thing wasn’t so tragic it would have made an interesting
soap opera. However, being manipulated
in this way didn’t really sit well with the Tutsis who felt that they were being
thrown out of their historic homeland and they rebelled. From the bitter fighting between Mobutu’s troops,
the Tutsis needing allies formed what came to be known as the Alliance of Democratic
Forces for the Liberation of Congo. A heretofore-unknown soldier headed this force
by the name of Laurent Kabila, who many moons before had been a fellow traveler
friend of Lumumba. “In 1964, aged 23, Kabila took part in a failed Marxist-inspired
rebellion, the Stanleyville uprising – one of many in Zaire (Congo) in its first
years of independence – and fled into the hills when Mobutu’s forces crushed it.
Kabila formed the People’s Revolutionary Party, encapsulating his own Marxist
views and Pan-African vision, while on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.” () However, he had learned much over time from the capitalistic
system by watching the hated Mobutu operate. As a sidelight, “Che” Guevara heard
about this young Communist wanabee and thought Africa would be a great place to
penetrate. He flew over and had a number of meetings with Kabila. He was not impressed,
gave up any thoughts of proselytizing in Africa and had this to say about Kabila.
“A mere tourist.” However, it turns out that Kabila had been fighting
a guerilla battle against Mobutu for over thirty years in that same area and had
studied his every move. Obviously by this time, he knew the territory like the
palm of his hand, and with the additional forces that were now at his disposal,
Mobutu’s troops turned out to be no match for him. Kabila’s troops overran the
country and the people were overjoyed. However, many of Kabila’s early edicts
made them even more comfortable. He soon announced the elimination of bribery
and intimidation, but never quite got around to doing anything about it. The people
of eastern Congo slept well for the first time in many years but they were unaware
of the miseries yet to come. By this time Mobutu had been in office for 32-years.
The people in the rest of Congo came to the same conclusion that had been reached
in the east. Thirty-two years was enough. The revolution that had toppled Mobutu’s
troops in the east in late 1996, soon traveled to the rest of the country supported
by the countries of Angola, Uganda and Rwanda. The ultimate red-letter day of
this rebellion was May 17, 1997 when the capital of the country, Kinshasa was
captured. Mobutu knowing that his reign had come to an ignoble end, escaped just
ahead of the invaders and died slightly thereafter of natural causes. The Congo
Government under Mobutu was the last client state that was under American domination
in African and nobody raised any tears in Washington as the Iron Curtain had come
down when the Cold War Act had ended. The previously invaluable Mobutu was now
designated as non-event by the United States and they stopped answering his calls.
Under Mobutu, Congo set special standards that some
experts indicate can never be eclipsed in world history. Per capita income when he was driven from office was only 10%
of what it was when he entered it. The country’s roads had literally ceased being
usable and poverty had become so pervasive that it was immeasurable. If Mobutu
had accomplished anything, he brought Congo back from the 20th century
and into the glorious Stone Age. His opponents were routinely tortured and executed
for raising even the meekest voice against his perverse system of injustice.
Things continued going downhill as Mobutu played
musical chairs with his ministers while blaming the outgoing officials for whatever
current ills the government was suffering. However, during his term of office
he had accomplished a great deal. He had taken on various undercover projects
for the CIA, printed paper money with reckless abandon creating triple digit inflation,
and massacred a number of dissenting students at the University of Lubumbashi. In addition, Mobutu was stealing such a high percentage
of the country’s gross domestic product that his actions had sent one of the richest
countries on earth from a natural resource point of view, spiraling into an economic
abyss from which it could not recover. The World Bank, the IMF and a number of
country’s including the United States who had up to that point gone along with
his thefts somehow had a vision and now perceived saw these actions as the last
straw. There was a man by the name of Laurent Kabila that they thought could do
the job a lot better and at least give his people a fair shake. They were wrong.
Were they wrong!
Non-event or not, it was not until 1996 that the
United States finally took a position regarding Congo in which they began to publicly
support a change. When the rebellion first broke out, America, although convinced
that Mobutu should go, came up with a rather timid plan of action. The CIA’s silly
scenario literally had Mobutu leaving the country with an interim government taking
over the reigns in Congo until a democratic election could be held. During
this period of time the United States even used the good offices of Nelson Mandela
to try to talk sense into Mobutu and have him accept his exile. However, this
strategy was to be no more successful than any of the other meekly engineered
arrangements that were floated during this same period.
Nevertheless, nothing that the United States worked
out was good enough bait for Mobutu to swallow and it was only when the people
rose up against the Government in power and he saw them marching down Kinshasa’s
main street with blood in their eyes, did Mobutu finally get the message. He finally
pulled up stakes as opposing forces closed in and the country’s capital was spared
additional grief for the first time in decades. The nation’s capital fell with
little loss of life. However, when the new government was finally put together
it was hardly representative of the varying interests within the country and some
Congo watchers started to become very nervous. However, what occurred following the fall of
the Mobutu government was an excellent lesson in bad business practice.
A new government had just taken over Congo, and with it should have rung
in all of the right words and phrases. “A government for the people with no more
corruption to be built together.“ Has any new leadership not espoused these ideals?
Suddenly, the incumbents noticed that the country has been stripped of its financial
resources by the previous regime, and it
had no infrastructure because the money for those projects was diverted into the
pockets of the fallen leaders. Everyone had an idea of what to do to recover the
funds:
If you had to look for something constructive achieved
by Mobutu during his reign you would be hard pressed to find any redeeming features
at all. Indirectly though, a surprising benefit has emerged, the creation of the
first permanent international criminal court. Under the aegis of the United Nations,
criminal and constitutional lawyers from all corners of the globe converged upon
the UN for a two week meeting that hammered out the substance of the new world
court would operate. Intense lobbying by the United States put women's rights
at the head of the crimes addressed. Other issues that are sure to be heard by the new
court will be those of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in general.
Interestingly enough though, after all its lobbying on what should be done, the
United States did not want this court to get in the way of any agenda it may have
and voted to severely restrict the courts jurisdiction. Fundamentally, the United
States saw themselves acting as the world’s policeman more often in the future
and they were concerned about their servicemen becoming legally compromised by
the new world court. Naturally, Britain, China France and shared with
the United States, their desire for veto power over the definition of international
crimes. They demanded that the United
Nations Security Council have sole power to refer cases to the court. Eventually
this was worked out by allowing the Security Council to defer the reference of
a case but not to define the Court’s jurisdictional boundaries. An example of
the infighting that went into the sloth like progress on moving along the court’s
agenda, David Scheffer, who is the U. S. Ambassador-at-large for war crimes indicated
that out of the potpourri of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes,
America would only allow the court
automatic jurisdiction in the cases of genocide. Although the court is certainly
a step in the right direction, some of the guardians of this flame are a little
too close to the fire to have everything go without a hitch and the unusual alliance
of the United States, Russia, France and China do not seem to want to trade in
sovereign rights for what they may believe is a bowl of porridge.
But
when all of the smoke had finally cleared, the Court was approved by an enormous
majority. All of the nations worked mightily to overcome the objections of the
United States who didn’t want its soldiers charged with war crimes for acting
as the world’s policeman. When the final vote was taken, the United States along
with stalwarts of human rights, Libya, Algeria, China, Qatar and Yemen voted against
the court. The global cop finally found out how high the price is for setting
the world’s moral standards and now faces the potential sacrifice its own citizens
at the hands of those who do not necessarily share the Washington’s charitable
inclinations. By this time it no longer mattered however as Mobutu, the object
of everyone’s attentions that brought this austere group together, had died of
natural causes.
In
Mobutu, the United States had the best friend money could buy and for the most
part he performed like a trained pet seal. However, with the money rolling in,
Mobutu hade learned about the good life and was no longer concerned with the rights
of others. Had not the United States anointed him king of the universe? He had
used his position to improve his own living standard dramatically and the
more he was able to steal, the more riches he seemed to desire. The
United States had indeed created its own Frankenstein Monster right in the middle
of Africa. Many Congo companies had their assets seized by this crazed maniac
and guess who footed the bill? The World Bank and the IMF made international investors
in Congo whole, to the tune of 100 cents on the dollar. Guess who the biggest
donor to both of those organizations is? Right again! In effect, the United States
paid a heavy price indeed for Mobutu’s trained seal act, but most importantly,
the country probably will never be the same again. The scars will last for generations.
Let’s
see if we can total up the entire scorecard. Mobutu received under the table payments
from the Central Intelligence Agency and other clandestine American agencies of
just a tad under $200 million. This money did not pass go, it went directly into
Mobutu’s pocket, or should we say, his offshore bank account. In addition, Congo
received almost $1.5 billion in infrastructure developmental aid during the approximately
thirty-year period ending in 1991. Considering
the fact that literally no substantive additions were made to Congo’s infrastructure
during that period, it is not much of a stretch to assume that Mobutu was able
to pocket a good portion of it as well; either by getting direct kickbacks from
contractors or by merely taking it. Reliable estimates have indicated that approximately
55% of that sum ultimately landed in Mobutu’s bank accounts or his real estate
developments overseas. So in total, Mobutu was able to pocket almost a billion
dollars for doing America’s bidding during the Cold War.
However,
American munificent assistance did not end there, his country received another
$250 million in military aid, of which much of the equipment portion was resold
to the highest bidder with Mobutu feathering his nest once again. Probably the
only time Mobutu didn’t directly profit from the American largesse was when the
United States was forced to ferry foreign troops in Congo in order to prevent
Mobutu from becoming diner when various of the local tribes rebelled over his
harsh leadership. Many have said that it never dawned on the gluttonous leader
of the Congo to charge ferry fees to everyone. Had it dawned upon him, he would
not have been shy. In addition, the
United States was directly responsible for Mobutu receiving $14 billion from a
combination of the World Bank and the IMF in spite of the fact that unpublished
documents reveal that everyone involved in the fund’s guarantee and transfer were
unquestionably aware that Mobutu would steal the money, or a least a substantial
share of it. What wasn’t stolen outright was used to convert private debt into
public debt, allowing Mobutu to get kickbacks from those that were repaid.
By
using this method to back into the probable amount of theft by Mobutu from his
government’s coffers in exchange for American assistance, we come to the pleasant
round number of $8 billion, which does not include Mobutu’s other enterprises.
Missing from that figure is the amount of money, Mobutu took directly from the
nation’s treasury. It does not include the vast amounts of money that he took
in either in form of precious gems or money in exchange for the granting of well-situated
mineral concessions. Nor does the figure include the numerous business shakedowns
conducted by his government in exchange of merely operating in that country. For
both foreigners and citizens alike, there was a price for everything in this now
godforsaken place and if the assessed amounts were not paid punctually to Mobutu,
the foreigner would be sent out of town on a rail, but the local would more often
than not, disappear entirely. What
did the United States get in exchange for most enormous bribes ever paid in history?
The answer is simple enough, anything they wanted. Guess which country’s representative
was the Chairman of the United Nations Security Council immediately preceding
the Gulf War? Guess what Mobuto had
him do for the United States? Mobutu,
literally turned himself into a pretzel in order to sell the American position
against Iraq during operation Desert Storm. He buttonholed, he cajoled and he
proselytized. When the United States backed UNITA rebels needed sanctuary from
their own fighting, America once again asked Mobutu for assistance and once again,
he bent over backwards in order to accommodate the rebels in spite of taking substantial
heat for his efforts from many world leaders. However, Mobutu didn’t mind taking
heat, he was in it for the money no matter what the cost. However,
the relative of Mobutu was substantial, at least in American espionage circles.
Nevertheless, as the mad dictator of Congo became ever more corrupt, the United
States had to begin weighing the public relations downside of supporting this
apparent maniac. Here we were in the United States stressing transparency in government,
equal opportunities for citizens to use schools, hospitals, education and the
like and a solid democratic, freely elected political system. That was what was
coming out of one side our mouths, however it was what came out the other that
really mattered. That
was the side that said, this guy makes Cambodia’s, Pol Pot look like an angel.
At least Pot did not enrich himself in office and firmly believed firmly in his
position. In the case of Mobutu, no one seems to question that if the Russians
had offered him more money, he would have jumped at the chance. Luckily for us
that they didn’t have the wherewithal to write the check. At the end, he had gone
bonkers over his greed. Massive
negative public opinion about this man started circulating around the world. This
tended to make even the most callous of American legislators extremely nervous
and word was sent to Mobutu that he better get his act together fast or that the
rug was going to be pulled out from under him. It dawned on the dictator that
he may have to leave town in a hurry and with great fanfare he announced an enormous
privatization program. He
took literally every medium to large business in Congo owned by the Government
and offered it up for bids. His next move was obviously to sell the properties
to the highest bidder of those that would kickback to him the most. Usually they
didn’t have to bid a lot because it may have led to their execution. Having sold
most of the country for a farthing, he pocketed the cash and got ready to leave
town in a hurry. When word got out that he had sold what was left of Congo to
his partners in crime for a penny on the dollar, the Untied States Government
determined that he had served his purpose and with the Cold War over, he was no
longer of any importance. Most essential, he was becoming an anchor on America’s
public relations campaign for good government throughout the globe.
Not
only did the United States cut their ties with the Congolese Government led by
Mobutu, but also they had all of their friends do the same. Diplomatic relations
with Congo became frigid, foreign aid eventually dried up to only a trickle and
delegations from the United States as well as other countries had meetings with
the Congolese Government about ceding power. When there was no visible response
from Mobutu, the United States ratcheted the handle up one more notch. They arranged
with both France and Belgium, the two other powerhouses in the region to cut Congo
off as well. However, this failed along with other ploys which were attempted
during this time. When none of them had any effect; in 1993, the Clinton administration
banned Mobutu and any of his associates from visiting the United States. Not that
he had any desire to come here, but it read well in the papers and made some politicians
look good. However,
the United States was not interested in pulling Mobutu’s chain completely because
if he ever publicized all of the dirty tricks that he was involved in for the
CIA and all of the money that he had stolen from international agencies, we would
have looked like idiots. Thus, we have come believe that the United States was
only blowing wind when they threatened Mobutu and he knew it. He had us in checkmate
and we knew it but apparently we had his permission to blast him for the benefit
of our voters.. America could have easily tied up Mobutu’s offshore accounts,
but what would Mobutu do in return. He still had numerous untold stories about
what America had asked him to do for them when the chips were down and we just
didn’t want to let that genie out of the bottle. For a while, it became a standoff.
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