Howard W French in Abidjan
When Madeleine Albright began her first tour of Africa as United States secretary of state, the aim was to open a new era in relations by embracing a “new generation” of leaders that Washington has cited as examples for others to follow.
But by the time Albright flew out on Monday, at the end of her seven-nation tour, events throughout her visit served instead to cast doubt on Washington’s new African choices.
Albright made obligatory references to the need for democracy in almost every country she visited, but African commentators noted that her choice of countries undermined any US emphasis on democratic development in a continent still struggling with a heavy legacy of dictatorship.
Except for South Africa, power was won by the gun in every country Albright visited. And Albright’s visit with Nelson Mandela was her only meeting with an incontestably democratic leader.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the centrepiece of Albright’s tour, bitterness over her itinerary was sharp. Congolese opposition leaders complained that Washington and the West generally gave only tepid support to their democratic struggle against the three-decade dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, who finally fled an armed revolt in his country and died in exile earlier this year.
And once Mobutu was seriously threatened, Washington enthusiastically backed the rebel leader who overthrew him in the spring and who has since become president, Laurent Kabila.
“Frankly we are somewhat confused by the signals Washington is sending to Africa these days,” said Serge Kalonji, a Congolese opposition leader. “For years we were lectured about the virtues of democracy and the need for the rule of law, and we took this to heart. But in reality, if you want to get Washington’s attention and respect, you are better off picking up the gun.”
During their stop in Congo, as they did with other leaders throughout the trip, Albright and her entourage steadfastly played down Kabila’s democratic and human rights shortcomings.
Albright’s announced tactic of “listening more and talking less” ultimately led to embarrassment, when Kabila gave a mocking performance at their joint press conference. Warning that he would continue to imprison his opponents, he smirked as he sarcastically pronounced “Vive la democratie”.
Washington’s support or opposition to African leaders in the past was based almost entirely on Cold-War calculations of national security and access to mineral wealth.
But critics say that Washington’s new policies mimic those of the past. Like Washington’s discredited old allies, the new favoulrites on the continent – leaders like Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Meles Zenawi in Ethiopia and General Paul Kagame in Rwanda – have been embraced largely for security reasons.
Rwanda and Congo are counted on to keep a lid on their countries, seen as potentially explosive. But events during Albright’s visit only underlined the precariousness of the US bet. As Albright was leaving Rwanda, Hutu militiamen attacked a camp of Tutsi refugees in the country’s northwest, killing hundreds. The same day, armed rebels overran Bukavu, a major provincial city in eastern Congo. – New York Times