
We now know where a lot of coltan and cassiterite stolen from Congo go, in the end. They go to Ghana and other parts of Africa as toxic electronic waste, often disguised as charity: European and North American “contributions” of worn-out, broken, no longer fashionable tech garbage.
Tags:
Ann Garrison,
cassiterite,
coltan,
conflict minerals,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Greenpeace,
North Kivu Province,
President Barack Obama,
Rwanda,
Rwandan President Paul Kagame,
toxic electronic waste,
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM),
U.S. Army Gen. William "Kip" Ward

When opportunity presented itself in the form of widespread warfare in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwean military leaders were quick to provide troops in exchange for permission to establish Zimbabwean corporations to exploit Congolese raw materials.
Tags:
Air Commodore Mike Tichafa Karakadzai,
Air Marshall Perence Shiri,
Brigadier General Sibusiso Busi Moyo,
Burundi,
Colonel Simpson Sikhulile Nyathi,
Colonel Tshinga Dube,
Congo gold and diamonds,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
DRC President Laurent Kabila,
economic "structural adjustments",
Economic Structural Adjustment Program (ESAP),
elites,
Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa,
General Vitalis Musunga Gava Zvinavashe,
Jean Damu,
John Mikembe,
Joint Operations Command,
Joseph Kabila,
Morgan Tsvangirai,
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
National Security Council,
personal enrichment of military leaders,
political elite,
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe,
Rhodesia,
Rwanda,
Sidney Sekeramayi,
Solomon Mujuru (aka Rex Nhongo),
Thamer Bin Said Ahmed Al-Shanfari,
Uganda,
wealth accumulation,
Western economic sanctions,
ZANLA Deputy Commander Solomon Mujuru,
ZANU-PF,
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA),
Zimbabwe Executive Vice President Grace Mujuru,
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe

You don’t have to be a soccer fan to see that this is great stuff, especially the scooch victory dance, performed sitting down on the soccer field.

Forty-eight years ago, the first freely elected prime minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Patrice Emery Lumumba, was brutally murdered by the United States, Belgium and certain local elites because he wanted the resources of the Congo to benefit the Congolese people.
Tags:
"Break the Silence" movement,
Che Guevara,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Dr. Martin Luther King,
Free South Africa,
humanitarian crisis,
Ishango bones,
Kambale Musavuli,
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University students,
Patrice Emery Lumumba,
refugee camp

Some of us remember the first elected prime minister of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, as he brought to the world the vision of a prosperous Congo where this beautiful land will benefit the Congolese people and not world corporations. A modern day holocaust is occurring in this picturesque land of abundance.
Tags:
"Break the Silence" movement,
Carter Center,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Friends of the Congo,
International Crisis Group study "Consolidating the Peace",
Joseph Kabila,
Kambale Musavuli,
Patrice Lumumba,
President Paul Kagame,
President-elect Barack Obama,
Rumble in the Jungle,
Rwanda,
Zaire

The war in Congo is a U.S. proxy war; the U.S. uses Kagame, the Rwandan army and terrorist Gen. Laurent Nkunda as their African proxy force in Congo, but this is war. It has been the deadliest, though barely reported, war on the planet for years.
Tags:
Ann Garrison,
cobalt,
deadliest war on the planet,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
Gen. Laurent Nkunda,
Kambale Musavuli,
Katanga Province,
North Kivu Province,
Paul Kagame,
Rwanda,
U.S. State Department's Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer,
Zaire
Vanguard journalist and Current TV producer Christof Putzel traces gold to its origins in one of Africa’s biggest gold mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Originally posted Aug. 6, 2006, this report remains current and so chilling we hope it’ll make you swear off bling this holiday season and forevermore. One viewer commented, “Watchdog [...]
Tags:
Africa and the World,
bling,
blood diamonds,
child miners,
child soldiers,
Congo,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
gold,
mercury,
mining,
mining for bling

What makes this conflict particularly sickening is the role of U.S. and European corporations, together with Rwanda and Uganda, in the plunder of DRC’s resources. This is a war about self-interest and greed.
Tags:
Amnesty International,
coltan,
Committee on International Relations,
Congo,
Cynthia McKinney,
DARA Great Lakes Industry,
Democratic Republic of Congo,
DRC,
Eagles Wing Resources,
genocide,
House of Representatives,
Human Rights Watch,
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
International Rescue Committee,
Madam Safiatou Ba-N'Daw,
Mobutu,
President Kagame of Rwanda,
President Museveni of Uganda,
President Patrice Lumumba,
Robert Raun,
Rwanda,
SmartWood,
Subcommittee on International Operations and Human Righ,
U.N. Secretary General,
U.S. Special Forces,
Uganda,
UNICEF,
World Food Program