IN BED WITH A STRONGMAN
Parke, Frank J.
IN BED WITH A STRONGMAN FRANK J. PARKER Christmas is no longer a day free from work In his football stadium speech last June Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seku mumbled softly to his audience....
...A full century of Belgian missionary involvement has paid substantial dividends...
...Meanwhile, local papers, all of whom are strictly government-censored, "speculated" that the plot was initiated by the CIA...
...Copper, the life-blood of Zaire's economy, has dropped in price from $3,000 a ton to $1,000 a ton on the open market within the last six months...
...The debacle in Vietnam further lowered American stock, and the intensely proud third world nations do not wish to be associated with a loser...
...The Church The second group Mobutu wishes to keep subservient is the Catholic Church...
...Clearly the military was not happy at the downgrading...
...but in a land where the announcer on the national radio station gives thanks to Mobutu Sese Seku each morning that the sun is shining over the Zaire River, it can be understood Jesus Christ is not a particularly welcome visitor...
...Relations between Zaire and the United States have been souring for a long time...
...has taken the ascendancy...
...Inflation is crippling the economy of Zaire...
...The Vatican was unhappy at this concession, but bowed to the judgment of those on the local scene...
...Shall I be silent, or shall I tell all...
...Economic hard times could provide new, Phoenix-like opportunities for the local businessmen, the Catholic Church and the military to regain influence...
...All local seminaries and minor seminaries are to be considered as ordinary schools, and thus transferred to government control, and the Catholic and Protestant faculties of theology at the University of Zaire have been ordered closed...
...Now that the economy is being squeezed, renewed discontent with the rule of Mobutu is not a surprising occurrence...
...Retreats, conferences, masses in public places, religious classes in mission schools, and other visible demonstration of Catholicism have been replaced by parallel meetings of groups loyal to Mobutu...
...December 25, Christmas Day, is no longer a day free from work in Zaire...
...The man is amazing...
...The government is turning many against the Church...
...Without doubt, he has lost face within Zaire...
...Crazily, like always," he answered...
...Wisely for Mobutu, he resisted the temptation...
...victory in Angola has been a great shock to Mobutu...
...The suspicion that the whole army is in an unbalanced condition is strengthened by two other interesting occurrences...
...Now, Mobutu has added the military to the list of opponents...
...Not surprisingly, local businessmen want to get in on the profits...
...specifically, the same troublesome Sheiks who are giving the United States so much trouble...
...corporations...
...The owners were forced to leave Zaire and their businesses were handed over to local party faithful...
...Usually, the party member who had become the new owner looted the business, sold everything on the black market and retired with Ms, windfall...
...It is hard to envision how any new leader could be more sympathetic...
...A large part of the revolutionary decrees promulgated on December 31, 1974 had the army as target...
...In this instance the United States State Department description of the plot charge as "absolute rubbish" may be true...
...Mobutu stood by without protest, even at times encouraging the process...
...Mysteriously, two European missionaries were shot at the end of 1974...
...In the harshest criticism he has ever made against his military, Mobutu stated they had become consumers rather than initiators of the Revolution...
...He does everything wrong and then every one of these mistakes comes out just the way he wants...
...A speedy death was promised for anyone else who got in the way of the fabulous march toward progress of Mobutu and his government...
...The problem is the same...
...With this background the supposed plot of the generals becomes less than a random happening...
...Meanwhile, since Mobutu is convinced that no disciple of Jesus Christ can be sufficiently dedicated to him at the same time, the expulsion of all foreign missionaries is likely...
...In 1974, it cost the Mobutu government $200,000,000 to import oil, four times the sum for the previous year...
...Mobutu risks a dangerous enemy on his flanks...
...It is quite ironic that Mobutu, one of the biggest supporters of solidarity among all the nations of Africa, is being severely threatened by the actions of a group of African countries...
...The recent total M.P.L.A...
...I don't see how Mobutu can last three more weeks, but I have been saying that for the last ten years and undoubtedly will be for the next ten years...
...The Catholic Church also agreed to conduct religious instruction only within the doors of a Catholic church...
...As always in Zaire, observation of regulations has been variable, often even non-existent, especially concerning the ban on teaching religion in Catholic schools...
...The often quoted figure of $30,-000,000 could well be accurate...
...However, if serious guerrilla action against Mobutu started within Zaire, Cuban infiltration and assistance would be a definite possibility...
...The presence of the Cuban troops must be a worry as well...
...On December 31, 1974, Mobutu did just that...
...However he still suffered a great loss...
...and, just as in China, the party itself is totally subject to the will of a deified leader, in this case, Mobutu...
...and due to government regulations forcing foreign corporations to purchase all possible supplies within Zaire, they have turned a nice profit...
...Other positions within the economy would be found for those whose businesses had been socialized and taken away from them...
...With the passage of time and the subsequent emphasis on the political structure and his personal supremacy he appears to have forgotten his early friends...
...Quite likely, Mobutu was picking on Uncle Sam as a whipping boy in order to help him escape difficulties at home, of which he has a large assortment...
...It is unlikely the vast oil wealth of Cabinda will be available to him now that the M.P.L.A...
...Crucifixes and holy pictures, statues and any other indications of worship of any non-Zaire person are to be removed...
...A large, intensely loyal native Catholic population of 6,000,000 members has developed...
...All soldiers were to become party members, political groups were to be formed...
...In like manner, all foreign bank accounts were to be closed...
...Human nature being what it is, few of these nouveaux riches local capitalists wish to share the profits with the rank-and-file of the party...
...and the United States government...
...The bishops went along with this regulation, even permitting the baptism of children with non-Christian names...
...African solidarity is all well and good, but the policy of the sheiks remains: cash on the barrelhead...
...Mobutu needs more troops on the Cabinda border, not less...
...The money was immediately to be returned to Zaire and placed in special accounts in the Bank of Zaire and the government was to be given the right of disposition of these funds...
...No mail could be delivered to such a renegade nor could any business transaction with a government agency or bank occur until the Zaire citizen in question chose an African first name...
...part of each day was to be spent at agricultural duties...
...and Mobutu has been all in favor of this as long as it is within the framework of subservience to him and his political party...
...With the arrest and death-sentence of seven generals last fall, the struggle against non-party elements reached a new and critical stage...
...Although the army put Mobutu in power, there is now a question as to how loyal the army actually is...
...Members of a second group of native Zaire businessmen have chosen to start their own local businesses...
...It was a dangerous step for Mobutu to take and would not have been done unless necessary...
...In addition to keeping all wealth made in the country within its borders, owners of local businesses engaged in imports and exports were to hand over control to workers' committees of local party members...
...will forgive easily Mobutu's support for their opponents during the war...
...Commencing on the first day of 1975, all Zaire businessmen were ordered to turn over the lease of any foreign apartment or the deed to any foreign property to the government...
...His support for the other factions was overt and at times bordered on sending his troops into Angola on a large scale...
...But now it was over, and the guilty would be punished severely...
...Taken together, these facts suggest substantial unrest and the threat of civil war...
...The first step in this regard was the forced expropriation, without compensation, of the profitable local businesses run by Asians...
...This means three other groups unwillingly have been forced to take a back seat...
...However, it looked bad...
...On a recent trip to Zaire, I asked a long-time Belgian resident how things were going...
...When this occurs, and as could be expected, local businessmen are not rushing to comply, all local businesses will be brought under party control...
...Even though Mobutu signed a pact "normalizing" relations with President Agostino Neto of Angola on February 28, it is unlikely the M.P.L.A...
...Secondly, there has been a virtual news blackout from Eastern Zaire during the last eight months...
...This is significant because it occurs at a time Mobutu is threatening an invasion of Cabinda and also needs these troops to block any Cabinda initiative taken by the military in Angola...
...Propaganda attacks and support of Arabs and the Palestine Liberation Organization notwithstanding, Mobutu has been a loyal supporter of the United States government and of U.S...
...Since many government Ministers and other leading citizens send their children to Catholic schools because of the high educational quality, continued religious instruction has been a tacit quid pro quo...
...They will try to retain in practice as much autonomy and freedom for the works of the Church as possible...
...A full-scale attack is unlikely...
...All indications are the cost for 1975 will have been double again at the very least, at a time when Zaire's exports are falling because all potential importers are being subjected to the same financial pressures...
...Within a few days pictures of the arrested generals, which had been taken during training missions in the United States, were published in the local papers...
...Except that the financial backing has been provided by American corporate investment, the Zaire Revolution of the last decade has followed the pattern made famous by Mao tse-Tung in Communist China...
...The major part of the speech was devoted to the announcement he had cracked a plot bent on overthrowing him and his government...
...Given Mobutu's track record, it is likely the supposed American plot will fall in the same category, even if this means sending American troops to help Mobutu in Cabinda, a scary but not impossible future happening...
...Of course, military leaders from all over the world have received instructions in the United States and have posed for pictures next to tanks of Uncle Sam...
...At the start of 1975, Mobutu stepped up his campaign against the Catholic Church...
...Mobutu has been under increasing pressure from the faithful to bring local businessmen within the fold and spread the wealth around...
...The name of the United States government was not mentioned specifically, but no one doubted this was the superpower...
...Dictators lacking the support of their army are most vulnerable in Africa, especially when the force in question numbers 100,000 well armed troops...
...Not surprisingly the 100,000-plus spectators roared as one voice, "Tell alll" Then, as so often happens in this land of 28,000,000, Mobutu did no such thing...
...All else has been subordinated to the direction of the one permitted political party...
...For better or worse, no divorce yet has occurred between Mobutu and the United States government...
...It has been a long time since the threats have been so blunt...
...The bishops are fighting back discreetly but courageously...
...Large numbers of troops have been withdrawn from the Cabinda border near the Atlantic Coast and sent the virtual width of the country to Eastern Zaire...
...Due to the enormous mineral and agricultural resources, to say nothing of the abundance of cheap labor, American corporations have been hauling huge profits away from Zaire...
...The Black African nations must pay the same as everyone else...
...It is for this reason Mobutu has been sure to emphasize that the bulk of the troops remain loyal to him and took no part in the conspiracy...
...As could be expected, nothing was said concerning the overseas funds of the President of Zaire who, even his supporters concede, has enormous personal wealth stashed away in Switzerland...
...Today, Mobutu and his party of the Revolution are in total control in Zaire...
...The first wave of restrictions which peaked three years ago led to the banning of Christian first names as against the spirit of authenticity of the Zaire Revolution...
...According to Mobutu, a few misguided generals had cooperated with an unnamed superpower in the overthrow attempt...
...but this will become increasingly difficult...
...Aware of this, Mobutu stepped up his feud with local capitalists and the Catholic Church...
Vol. 103 • March 1976 • No. 7
