Africa, the New Ground of Europe/United States Competitive
Hegemony
6/7/2003 - While the Bush administration has eyes only for the oil interests of the Gulf
of Guinea (Atlantic coast including Nigeria, Cameroun, Guinea Equatoriale, Gabon,
Congo, Angola, but also continental Chad), Europe is building its base and its capital
of confidence on the black continent.
Ndzana Seme
The conservative right wing administration?s calculations (read our February 2003 article "African Oil: A
Priority for the United States? National Security") are limited to national energy security interests, with a
semi-official objective of ousting France, strongly established in the area through Elf Company.
"The United States of America will invest from now up to year 2020, nearly 300 billion dollars
(approximately 166 000 billion Fcfa) in research and oil production in the Gulf of Guinea", announced
Kenneth R. Evens, vice-president of ExxonMobil Exploration Company for sub-Saharian Africa, at a
session of debates on the energy co-operation between the United States and Africa, within the framework
of the 7th African Conference and of Window on Oil and Gas Marketing and Financing which took place in
Luanda, Angola last May 21st to 23th.
Bush also thinks the figure of 15 billion dollars promised to fight AIDS in Africa will magically make effect
to change the consciences of Africans in favour of a positive sentiment towards the Americans.
The European Union on the contrary, strong of its long historical relations with Africa (of which France is
expert), uses the paternalist and sentimentalist strategy that generally has proved to be winning with the
Africans.
After the recent success of France in Côte.d'ivoire - where the French troops have stopped a rebellion on
the way to set ablaze on the first world producer of cocoa with a civil war similar to the atrocious
experiments of Liberia and of Sierra Leone - Europe has just decided tohelp the Democratic Republic of
Congo (ex-Zaire) whose Eastern area has passed in the hands of armed bands without faith nor law.
Europe will certainly not stop in DRCongo and will continue to engage in the necessary pacification of
Africa, thus appearing to the Africans as the best possible partner; as opposed to an American
administration showing each day that its international actions are guided by cupidity.
The controversy in progress and the indecision of the White House to clearly determine how the so
pompeusement promised billions will be distributed over five years (Russia, India, Mexico and other
non-African countries have already been added on the recipients list) currently cast deep doubts about the
American administration?s sudden goodwill in Africa.
In response to the Security Council?s decision to send a multinational force to restore security in Bunia
(North-East of the democratic Republic of Congo) the Fifteen ratified at the ministerial level Thursday the
political agreement occurred the day before on their ambassadors? level to sending a EU common
peacekeeping force in DRCongo, the first operation of this type out of the European continent, an official
source collected by AFP announced. It will be the first mission of this type carried out by the UE out of the
European continent and the first operation for peace maintenance carried out in a completely autonomous
way, without the logistical support of NATO.
The first elements of this "temporary multinational emergency force", elected Friday to restore security in
Bunia, by force if need arises, are awaited on the area this week. It will be well armed and should total
1.400 soldiers, including 700 French.
According to the United Nations spokesman, Fred Eckhard, the secretary-general Kofi Annan expressed
gratitude to France for the responsibility it had assumed in taking the role of lead nation and providing
troops to the region. "This multinational force offers to the parties in RDC a chance to rebuild the process of
peace in this area which is essential to the stability of central Africa", he added.
However, in a report published Monday, the secretary general asked the Security Council to boost the UN
mission MONUC force to bring the number to 10,800 and to prolong its mandate until June 30, 2004.
The situation in Bunia, according to Onu and humanitarian sources, is currently "critical". The town, which in
normal time counts more than 250.000 inhabitants, is exposed to armed and uncontrolled gangs, often
made up with children. Violences, which have redoubled since more than two weeks in the Ituri area,
frontier of Uganda, made more than 50.000 killed and 500.000 displaced since 1999.
"The immediate priorities, especially those related to the security arrangements in Kinshasa and peace
initiative in Ituri, clearly require further resources for MONUC." Annan added that as many as 3.5 million
people have died either directly or indirectly from the fighting since 1998. "I am appalled by the egregious
level of gross human rights violations that continue to be committed through the DRC, some of which had
been documented extensively by MONUC," he said.
The American Historical Responsibility on the Congolese Drama
Bush completely ignores the Congolese drama, as he is focused on the Middle-East where unfortunately he
cannot stop excelling in political errors. Yet, the American republican administration is at the origins of the
Congolese drama since the 1960s independence (read more complete facts at
http://www.africawithin.com/lumumba/who_killed_lumumba.htm).
Dwight Eisenhower is the republican president who utilized the UNO multinational peacekeeping force to
orchestrate the assassination of the newly independent Congo?s first elected Prime Minister, Patrice
Lumumba. The republican administration had simply found Lumumba guilty of Communism.
Because he dared to say a very critical speech against the Belgian colonial administration on the
independence day of June 30, 1960, Lumumba attracted himself the hostility of the Belgian king who
requested his physical elimination. The province of Katanga, where the Belgian mining companies exploited
copper, gold and uranium and where the Belgian troops were stationed, proclaimed also its independence
with Moise Tchombe, Lumumba?s worst enemy, as the Belgium's henchman president.
Under the influence of the West, the president of the newly independent Congo, Joseph Kasavubu,
undertook operations for the destabilization of the government by publishing odd decisions of dismissal of
his Prime Minister. Lumumba expelled the Belgian diplomatic body and called upon the American
administration to defend the newly independent State against Belgian destabilization attempts, naively
thinking that the United States would quite naturally support the decolonization of Africa after having been
successful with their own liberation from British colonization.
Dwight Eisenhower, in agreement with the West united for this purpose, did not appreciate that Lumumba
also requested a unilateral assistance from the Soviet Union. Eisenhower initially ordered the CIA to
assassinate Lumumba by poisoning his toothbrush. The operation failed.
Lumumba rather was abducted and delivered to colonel Mobutu?s troops devoted to his first tortures. The
UNO troops present on the spot of his arrest, on the banks of Sanguru river, denied him any help, because
they were under Washington orders.
Following the request from the Belgian king and Washington, colonel Mubutu delivered Lumumba to Moise
Tchombe in Stanleyville, where he was further wildly tortured before his crushed body was dissolved in the
sulphuric acid provided by the Belgian mining companies of Katanga.
Later, colonel Mobutu became the henchman of Eisenhower. Thereafter, the republican Eisenhower
administration and Mobutu built in Congo (renamed Zaire) one of the most brutal and ruthless dictatorships
of the twentieth century.
Zaire was liberated in 1998 from the dictator Mobutu?s claws thanks to an armed popular rising carried out
by Laurent-Desire Kabila, a former companion of Che Guevara (who spent some time in the 1960's to help
liberate the independent Congo) reconverted into businesses during his exile after Lumumba?s death. For
that purpose, Kabila had recourse to close countries? troops in order to contain the numerous armed
groups that infiltrated in the Congolese vast forest country because of the war.
Since then, Laurent-Desire Kabila was assassinated in January 2001 by his closer guard - but his military
officer son, Joseph Kabila, succeeded him in Kinsasha -, Zimbabwean, Zambian, Angolan and other troops
withdrew from RDCongo, however they were replaced by armed groups without faith nor law now
controlling whole provinces of the country, where their men of the maquis rob, rape, torture, kill and
destroy all on their passage.
To the UNO call to end this nightmare the United States is historically responsible of, the Bush
administration decided to answer by ignorance. Nowadays on the Washington balance, oil interests
obviously weigh heavier than the Katanga?s diamonds, gold or copper, and even heavier than the
confidence of Congoleses.
But the question arising is whether Washington will be able to succeed in controlling the African oil-bearing
western coasts though when it lacks influence over governments that are sovereign over these coasts.
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