M23 rebels paused their fighting briefly in Eastern Congo for the recent visit to the region by UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon. It is reported that he brought with him a $1 billion aid package from the World Bank. The UN forces in the Congo now include, for the first time in UN history, a 3,000 member intervention force able to engage militarily with rebels at an approximate cost of $1.5 billion a year.
The UN intervention force is being led by Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz, the same man who led UN occupying forces in Haiti which committed atrocities including rape and sexual assault. Over 100 UN troops were accused of sexual abuse of young Haitian girls. There are concerns about his appointment to the UN force in Congo given that rape is already a widespread weapon of war there.
Why is peace in the Congo elusive? Is it merely an ethnic war, a civil war or are those a cover for a proxy war protecting western economic interests?
Mineral rich Democratic Republic of Congo produces half the world’s cobalt, 30% of all diamonds, 70% of the Coltan needed for mobile phones; The DRC also has gold, copper, oil and more.
Our guest is Maurice Carney, co-founder and Executive Director of Friends of the Congo
