The Real History of US Involvement in the Congo… Musavuli

“US foreign policy since 1885 has been to support ‘strongmen’ in Africa and ignoring the will, the popular will of the indigenous people of the Congo” …Kambale Musavuli

Kambale Musavuli, a native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a human rights activist, Student Coordinator and National Spokesperson for the Friends of the Congo. Mr. Musavuli’s professional activities, publications, and public engagements reflect his unflagging commitment to realizing peace and justice in the Congo.

Mr. Musavuli has written for The Washington Post, Foreign Policy in Focus, The Huffington Post and numerous other academic and news publications. He has also been interviewed on National Public Radio, Democracy Now, ABC News, Al Jazeera English Television, Radio France International and a number of other radio and television programs. He has been profiled in publications such as “Christianity,” “News and Record,” and a few other newspapers around the world.

Transcript of Musavuli’s historical overview of USA’s role in Africa  by JSC.  Photos added by JSC.

Musavuli:  “The US had a policy of supporting those who exploit the Congo.  You mentioned a moment ago, Leopold II owning a land (the Congo) that does not belong to him and he owned it for about 20 years where some estimate 10 – 15 million people died under his rule and the US being the first country to recognize the Congo as the personal property of Leopold was not just the only thing they did.  They also were part of the nations who were getting access to the Congo’s resources at that time.

“Now later after the Congo was taken from Leopold the US remained engaged in the Congo.  Some of us may remember that in the 1940s Japan was bombed with the uranium bomb.  The uranium used to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from the Congo through Belgium’s hands.and the US remained engaged controlling the affairs of the Congo.

“Later, in he 1950s, Congolese had enough of colonial rule.  Organized democratically through grassroots movement within the country, a leader emerged by the name of Patrice Lumumba who through the elections in May 1960 his political party won and he became the Prime Minister of the Congo.

Lumumba deposed and assassinated

“Within weeks he was deposed\; within months he was assassinated with the help of the CIA and Belgium.  Even just lately the state department has released the classified documents of that era; and they only released 40% … and they show in those documents how since the 1960s the covert operations were not just assassinating Lumumba.

“What we found out was that they actually assassinated the political class in the country who had Lumumba as a vision – they eliminated them systematically. After removing Lumumba and people who had his political ideas in the 1960s, a dictator was imposed  on the Congo for over three decades; that was Joseph Mbutu who ruled by the gun.  Anyone who speak up against him was either killed, assassinated or in exile and with the full backing of the US Presidents.  They invited him many times in the US, (I am ) speaking about Kennedy, Carter, or Reagan, all of them invited him.   He was; actually George Bush the father is the god-father of some of Mbutu’s children.  (Photo:  Mbutu and Bush)

The US supported the invasion of the Congo

“But in the late 1990, right after the fall of the wall of Berlin, the US did not support him as much anymore.  Because there was a new wave, a new idea coming out of Bill Clinton where Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright created this dogma of the so-called renaissance leaders of Africa –  now speaking about  African leaders who had blood on their hands – speaking about Zenawi of Ethiopia who is now dead today unfortunately,we also have Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, the President of Uganda and Paul Kagame of Rwanda. (Photo:  Clinton and Zenawi)

“Bill Clinton supported those leaders and as they were in power, the US supported the invasion of the Congo of 1996 which has unleashed the war that we see in the Congo, two wars that have taken the lives of over 6 million people ,,,US foreign policy since 1885 has been to support ‘strongmen’ in Africa and ignoring the will, the popular will of the indigenous people of the Congo.”  (Photo:  Clinton and Kagame)

 

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