The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.42           November 25, 1996 
 
 
Imperialist Hands Off Zaire  

Class-conscious fighters around the world should loudly protest the imminent imperialist intervention in Central Africa. Using the pretext of a "humanitarian mission" to save refugees and the fig leaf of United Nations, Paris, at first, and now Washington and Ottawa are pushing to send thousands of troops into eastern Zaire and the surrounding region. Their aim is to prevent the further weakening of the Mobuto Sese Seko dictatorship and to maintain imperialist plunder of this mineral-rich region. The bickering between Paris and Washington over which will lead the pack is nothing but a quarrel among thieves over who will usurp more of the fruits of labor of the toilers in Central Africa. This interimperialist competition has become a motor force of the class struggle today.

The truth is that the crisis affecting over one million refugees is a direct result of the policies of Washington and Paris. It is these and other imperialist powers, which, through UN intervention in the early 1960s, crushed the anti-imperialist movement led by elected Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba and put in place the present dictatorship led by Mobuto. The rulers of Belgium fueled tribal divisions between Hutus and Tutsis to maintain colonial rule.

As part of the UN force that intervened in the Congo (now Zaire) in the 1960s, Canadian, Belgian, and U.S. troops were complicit in the kidnapping and murder of Lumumba. Paris supported the former regime in Rwanda that massacred hundreds of thousands in 1994. And U.S. and Canadian troops were among those that tortured and killed civilians during the 1992-93 imperialist intervention in Somalia, again under the blue flag of the United Nations.

As Ernesto Che Guevara told the world addressing the UN General Assembly in December 1964, "`Western civilization' disguises behind its showy facade a picture of hyenas and jackals. That is the only name that can be applied to those who have gone to fulfill such `humanitarian' tasks in the Congo."

Not one of the imperialist politicians who has wrung their hands over the plight of the refugees has proposed to open the borders of their respective country to those who are dying by the thousands. Instead they propose a military intervention to try to maintain stability in the region of Central Africa and continue to siphon the product of the blood and sweat of peasants and workers in the region.

The whole situation in Central Africa is marked by the growing conflict between two imperialist powers, Washington and Paris. As the crisis of capitalism deepens, imperialist competition is becoming sharper. Paris considers Central and Western Africa as an area under its domination and has intervened militarily 35 times in the last 34 years to maintain its influence. As recently as last May, French troops sent to the Central African Republic to crush a military rebellion were met by demonstrators chanting "Death to the French."

On the other hand, Washington is using its military power to impose its dominance at the expense of its imperialist rivals. By planning military intervention in Central Africa, Washington seeks to gain advantage over its rival, French imperialism. Ottawa by proposing to head up an intervention force is seeking as a smaller imperialist power with no previous empire, no world cop image and an army that speaks French to prove its usefulness to other imperialist powers as it promotes its own interests in Africa.

Intervention by Washington, Paris, and Ottawa will only deepen the suffering of the toilers of Central Africa. The way forward lies in the struggle of the workers and farmers of the region to rid themselves of imperialist domination. Workers, farmers and youth should demand: No imperialist military intervention in Zaire! Open the borders to the refugees!  
 
 
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