Foreign Intervention in DRC

Often it is argued that people get the leaders they deserve. Not so for the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been victimized by foreign aggression, particularly from the West, since the colonial period.

Belgium ran Congo in a brutally autocratic manner. Africans were repressed to the point where they were not ready to assume the responsibilities of independence when it came in 1960. There were fewer than 20 African college graduates in Congo at the time of independence.

Belgium hoped to continue to extract resources from Congo as was the case during the colonial period. So, Belgium supported Moise Tshombe and the secession of the mineral-rich state of Katanga. Belgium was responsible for the death of nationalist Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, who was killed in Katanga with top Katangese and Belgian officials present. The U.S. also wanted Lumumba dead, even plotting to poison his toothpaste, but ultimately responsibility lies with Belgium and Katanga.

After a botched UN attempted to settle the Congo Crisis and bring Katanga back into the fold, resulting in mass murder, the U.S. supported Mobutu's coup in 1965. For the next 32 years, Mobutu led an autocratic kleptocracy with the backing of the U.S. The international financial institutions continuously gave Mobutu, who changed the name of the country to Zaire, tons of money, which he and his minions promptly stole. Without the support of the U.S. and the IFIs, it is difficult to see how Mobutu would have stayed in power so long.

Rwanda and Uganda invaded Congo in 1997 in the hopes of removing Mobutu. The Tutsi-led Rwandan government feared attacks from Hutu extremists, responsible for the 1994 genocide, stationed on the border. Uganda also invaded because of security concerns. Both countries hoped to exploit the resource wealth in Congo. They propped up a rebel group, the ADFL, led by Laurent Kabila, which swept across the country to the capital of Kinshasa in no time. Kabila changed the name of the nation to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

When Kabila turned his back on his Tutsi allies, Rwanda and Uganda staged another invasion. Zimbabwe, Angola, and Namibia came to Kabila's defense for various reasons. These two Congo wars are considered Africa's first world wars. France's nefarious role in Africa was exposed once again when it attempted to back Mobutu at the end of his reign.

This sustained foreign intervention in Congo has led to nothing but devastation and death.