What' behind the war in Congo

By Monica Moorehead, Workers World, 10 September 1998

New York&$8212;The regional war engulfing Central Africa has engendered a debate within the Black movement in particular and the general progressive movement in the United States. Both the war and the debate focus on a major question: What is behind the regional war in the Democratic Republic of Congo?

Since colonialist Belgium took over Congo in the 19th century, the imperialist powers—in Europe and more recently the United States—have both competed for control of that nation's wealth and joined together to suppress the Congolese people. The task of anti-imperialist forces here is to defend Congo against this imperialist assault.

Since early August, the one-year-old besieged Congolese government headed by President Laurent Kabila has been fighting off a revolt whose major support comes from military intervention by two of Congo's neighbors, Rwanda and Uganda. Both these countries are U.S. client states.

In response, Kabila requested military assistance from Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia. Troops from these countries are now fighting side by side with armed Congolese loyal to Kabila.

Both Rwanda and Uganda were Kabila's military allies a year ago when he seized power from the imperialist puppet Mobutu. This tyrant had ruled the Congo—called Zaire then— with brute force for 32 years.

Though Kabila had a reputation as a Congolese anti-Mobutu fighter, he had no military force of his own. He depended on the Rwandan and Ugandan armies to throw out the hated Mobutu. But these U.S.-trained armies are now his enemies. Kabila's objectives appear to run counter to these other regimes' expectations.

It remains to be seen what the actual military outcome of the current battles will be, or whether there will be a cease-fire.

NEW YORK MEETING ON CONGO

Over 200 people, predominantly Black, filled the 1199 Martin Luther King Jr. Hall here Aug. 31 for a meeting to discuss Congo. The Patrice Lumumba Coalition and WBAI, a Pacifica radio station, sponsored the meeting. Elombe Brath, a long-time PLC leader and Africa expert, chaired.

The meeting's main speakers were long-time activist James Garrett, who has traveled to Congo, and S. Booker, a spokesperson for the Council on Foreign Affairs in Washington. The Congolese and Angolan ambassadors were originally scheduled to be part of the program, but they had to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting on Congo.

Booker's remarks were generally anti-Kabila. He played down the historical role of colonialism and imperialism in Africa. This view evoked passionate denunciations from many in the audience.

Garrett characterized the situation in Congo as a watershed event. He compared its impact to the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the 1965 overthrow of Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah and the independence struggle in Angola in 1975.

Lumumba—Congo's first democratically elected prime minister—was executed by the Belgian colonialists and the CIA. This led to Mobutu's takeover on the CIA's behalf.

In 1975, the Angolan freedom fighters had just driven out the Portuguese colonialists when the big imperialist powers- -the United States, along with apartheid South Africa— intervened on the side of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to try to overthrow the governing anti-imperialist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The MPLA had close relations with the Soviet Union and socialist Cuba.

U.S. backing for UNITA has caused untold suffering in Angola. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and maimed. Now Angola wants to deny UNITA the use of Congo as a base of operations.

Garrett described the current situation in Congo as global capitalism at work. U.S., French and British imperialism have a history of training African forces to gain economic and political hegemony. Even now, U.S. Green Berets recently trained Uganda's military troops. France, which formerly ruled the most colonies in Africa, has provided administrative training as well as given military aid to Rwanda, its former colony.

The imperialists also use the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and the World Trade Organization to assert control in Central Africa through loans, investment and unequal trade. At the center stand vast profits from the biggest prize of all—Congo with all its diamonds, uranium and other mineral riches.

Both Garrett and Brath said Kabila has been making a concerted effort to stabilize the Congolese economy. This economy all but crashed when Mobutu fled the country with the whole treasury; it had been super-exploited under colonialism and neocolonialism.

Last spring, the Kabila government nationalized one of the diamond mines controlled by imperialist investments. According to the Sept. 1 Central Africa Watch, the Congolese government became a major shareholder in the Telecol telephone company, which is partly owned by Belgium.

Reuters reported that the main telecommunications labor union applauded the government's intervention. The union asked why privately owned companies should not be under more state control. This question is related to the right of any country to true independence and sovereignty.

Kabila paid a visit to President Fidel Castro of Cuba a few weeks ago. This visit did not sit well with Washington.

Considering the hostile world situation since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist camp, Kabila is swimming against the right-wing tide of imperialist slander and penetration as he attempts to set a more independent course for the Congolese economy.

The 45 million Congolese people have suffered so much. They deserve a better life. The role of the worldwide movement is to organize against this obvious pro-imperialist intervention and defend the self-determination of the Congolese people.