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Death at Birth: the Political, Economic and Social Impact of the Decolonization and Perpetual, Neocolonial Control of Congo

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Death at Birth: the Political, Economic and Social Impact of the Decolonization and Perpetual, Neocolonial Control of Congo View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Via Sapientiae: The Institutional Repository at DePaul University DePaul University Via Sapientiae College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences 8-2010 Death at birth: The political, economic and social impact of the decolonization and perpetual, neocolonial control of Congo. Jason B. Locke DePaul University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd Recommended Citation Locke, Jason B., "Death at birth: The political, economic and social impact of the decolonization and perpetual, neocolonial control of Congo." (2010). College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations. 21. https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/21 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Death at Birth The Political, Economic and Social Impact of the Decolonization and Perpetual, Neocolonial Control of Congo A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts June, 2010 By Jason Locke Department of History College of Liberal Arts and Sciences DePaul University Chicago, Illinois Europeans must recognize and come to accept the idea that the liberation movement that we are engaged in throughout Africa is not directed against them, nor against their possessions, nor against their persons, but purely and simply against the regime of exploitation and enslavement that we are no longer willing to tolerate. —Patrice Lumumba, International Seminar, Ibadan, Nigeria (March 1959) Whatever its aim, however minimal the regional autonomy that any one party demands, federalism is the worm in the fruit that will spoil everything, for imperialism will immediately exploit it. —Jean-Paul Sartre, Introduction to Lumumba Speaks (1963) i Acknowledgements I would like to thank several people for their help and encouragement during this long process. First, to my advisor, Dr. Ogenga Otunnu: thank you for extending this opportunity for me to explore this important topic, and thank you for your many hours of consultation and helpful commentary. To Dr. Margaret Storey, I appreciate your commitment to my edification these past three years, and I would like to thank you for your patience during this process as well as your endurance for the duration of my participation in three of your courses. I would like to thank my graduate directors, Dr. Valentina Tikoff and Dr. Roshanna Sylvester for their help in this endeavor. Dr. Tikoff, thank you for your guidance and encouragement during the initial stages of my thesis prospectus. Dr. Sylvester, I appreciate your help in negotiating the administrative requirements of this process and your commentary as a reader. I would also like to thank the wonderful staff at the Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies at Northwestern University. You all made a potentially arduous experience painless and enjoyable. And finally, I would like to thank my wife, Allison, for her unrelenting support during the past two years, especially during my unavailability on the many long nights of work. ii Contents List of Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………. iv Introduction ……………………………………………………………………. 1 Chapter One: Decolonization of British and French Black Africa 11 and the Immediate Aftermath Chapter Two: Neocolonialism, Underdevelopment, Nationalism, and the 45 Cold War during Decolonization Chapter Three: Continued Neocolonialism from Martyr to Marionette 89 Chapter Four: The Collapse of Zaïre and the Precarious Arc of the Rebel 140 Laurent-Désiré Kabila Conclusion ………………………………………………………………........ 182 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………… 185 iii List of Abbreviations and Acronyms Abako Alliance des Bakongo a regional nationalist organization promoting mainly the interests of the Bakongo, the Congo’s largest ethnic group ADFL Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaïre, headed by Laurent Kabila ANC Armée nationale congolaise, Congolese national army CNL Conceil national de liberation, National Council for Liberation CNS Conférence nationale souveraine; Sovereign National Conference Conakat Confédération des associations tribales du Katanga, Confederation of the Tribal Associations of Katanga DDLC Départment des droits et libertés du citoyen, The Department of Rights and Freedoms of the Citizen DRC République démocratique du Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo DSP Division Spéciale Présidentielle, Special Presidential Division (an elite portion of Mobutu’s Military) FAR Forces armees rwandaises, Armed Forces of Rwanda (Habyarimana’s Hutu army) FAZ Forces armées zaïroises, Zairian Armed Forces (Mobutu’s personal army) FLN Front de libération nationale, National Liberation Front (Algeria) FLNC Front de libération nationale congolais, National Congolese Liberation Front Gécamines Générale des carrières et des mines, nationalization of UMHK HCR-PT Haut-Conseil de la République-Parlement de transition, Supreme Council of the Republic-Transition Parliament IBRD International Bank for Reconstruction and Development of the World Bank IDA The International Development Association, another arm of the World Bank committed to aiding poor nations worldwide IMF International Monetary Fund MNC Mouvement national congolais, Congolese National Movement, led by Lumumba MPLA Movimento popular de libertação de Angola, Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola MPR Mouvement populaire de la revolution, Popular Movement of the Revolution ONUC United Nations Operation in the Congo PDCI Parti démocratique de la Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Party of the Ivory Coast iv RCD Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie, Rally for Congolese Independence RDA Rassemblement démocratique Africain, African Democratic Rally RPF Front patriotique rwandais, Rwandan Patriotic Front SGB Société générale de Belgique, large Belgian company owning UMHK SOCOFIDE Societe congolaise de financement du development, a “private institutional source of medium and long-range finance” UNDP United Nations Development Programme UMHK Union minière du Haut-Katanga, United Mines of Haut-Katanga UNHCR Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNITA União nacional para a independência total de Angola, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola UNSC United Nations Security Council USOR Union sacrée de l’opposition radical, Sacred Union of the Radical Opposition v Reference Map “Congo, Democratic Republic (former Zaire) (Political),” Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (1998) http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/zaire.html (accessed January 26, 2010). vi INTRODUCTION This work argues that the predatory policies of Western powers, especially the United States, in regards to the decolonization and subsequent neocolonial stranglehold of Congo created a situation in which any nationalistic, truly independent-minded government would be stifled and ultimately fail—a failure documented and exacerbated by the United States Central Intelligence Agency. With the added pressure of a poorly-educated elite class of leaders and military and diplomatic intervention surrounding Congo’s independence in the summer of 1960, questions emerge as to the level of success any new, indigenous government could achieve. Did Western powers, particularly the United States, destroy the independent, fledgling Congolese government due to a fear of communist build-up in Congo during the height of the Cold War; or, did these powers use the Cold War as a pretext for destabilizing intervention and exploitation of the mineral wealth of Congo at the expense of any popular leader prepared to combat continued exploitation? Was the Congo destined to fail? Was death at birth inevitable? These policies of intervention, often clandestine, by foreign powers constitute a visible trend, with slight variances, in all stages of Congolese political and economic development since 1960. Congo has yet to develop a functioning, sovereign government, and as a result, the country continually harbors violence and controversy, and the people of Congo remain the victims—ravaged by the civil war, corruption in government and destitution. This work contributes to the field of Congo studies by demonstrating the aforementioned paradigm. It argues that Belgian decolonization policies and Western intervention during the first days of Patrice Lumumba’s ascension to power crippled his ability to unify the myriad ethnic groups within Congo, ultimately leading to a push for federalism, and eventually, the secession of the Katanga and Kasai regions. This secession—which was financially and 1 militarily backed by the Belgian and American governments and private mining interests—led to the elimination of Lumumba’s unification efforts, the horrific end to his life, and the rise of Joseph Mobutu’s Western-friendly, three-decade reign of Congolese exploitation as well as the pilfering of Congo’s abundant natural resources. The selfish, Western decolonization policies that Lumumba’s regime failed to prevent manifested in the form of Mobutu’s neocolonial1 dictatorship and still impair Congolese independence today. This trend will continue unless a 1 Fantz Fanon and Kwame Nkrumah represented
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