First Published: The Organizer, Vol. 4, No. 7, July 1978.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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“Soviet-Cuban backed Katanganese mercenaries have launched their second invasion in 14 months into the copper rich Shaba province of Zaire.” The Daily News? No, The Call, organ of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist). It is no accident that the Call article with the exception of an occasional, obligatory Marxist phrase, reads like a Zbignew Brzezinski speech. It does not bother the leaders of the CP-ML that at a time when the Carter administration is raising the roof about Soviet-Cuban “invasions” to justify expanding imperialist intervention throughout Africa, its newspaper is providing them with ammunition. Parroting the line of the most anti-Soviet imperialists is a working principle of these “revolutionaries” and “internationalists.”
Internationalism for the CP-ML means a blind defense of the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China, no matter where it leads them. China has been aiding Zaire since the early seventies and has recently stepped up its support. For China and thus for the CP-ML, the Soviet Union is the main danger in the world today. In the name of combatting this danger, alliances with even the most unsavory anti-Soviet forces is the order of the day.
Both the Chinese and the CP-ML describe the efforts of the Mobutu regime aided by French legionaires and Belgian paratroopers to suppress the Shaba rebellion as the “defense of national independence.” That Mobutu’s regime, which is owned lock, stock and barrel by imperialist interests, can be characterized in these terms is the height of cynicism.
How can France, formerly a colonial power in Africa and presently the West’s gendarme on the continent with troops in half a dozen countries, promote the national independence of Zaire? To China, French intervention in Shaba last year was a prime example of the growing unity of the Second World (Western Europe, Japan) and the Third World (Asia, Africa and Latin America) in the struggles against hegemonism. (From People’s Daily, November 1, 1977.) To portray this imperialist power, one of the biggest oppressor nations in Africa, as a friend of national independence is truly amazing.
The Call is sensible enough to realize the truth about Mobutu, will only embarrass them so they ignore his regime and focus on the FNLC, the so-called Katanganese “mercenaries.” They blindly equate the FNLC with the Katanganese rebel army of Moishe Tshombe which was active in the late fifties and early sixties. Tshombe’s rebel army fought for the secession of Shaba from the newly independent Zaire, formerly the Belgian Congo. They fought against the progressive and democratic national movement led by Patrice Lumumba, and in fact killed Lumumba after the CIA handed him over to them. After Mobutu came to power in 1965, he was able to virtually wipe out the Katanganese secessionists, although some fled into Zambia and Angola.
They blindly equate the FNLC with the Katanganese rebel army of Moishe Tshombe which was active in the late fifties and early sixties. Tshombe’s rebel army fought for the secession of Shaba from the newly independent Zaire, formerly the Belgian Congo. They fought against the progressive and democratic national movement led by Patrice Lumumba, and in fact killed Lumumba after the CIA handed him over to them. After Mobutu came to power in 1965, he was able to virtually wipe out the Katanganese secessionists, although some fled into Zambia and Angola.
Not a great deal is known about the FNLC and thus its revolutionary credentials are open to speculation. But it is clear that the FNLC of today is not the Kantanganese secessionist movement of almost 20 years ago. The bulk of the FNLC leadership and rank and file were young children in 1961. The surviving remnants of the secessionist forces have since fought with the MPLA and been subject to anti-imperialist political influences. The FNLC insists its aims are not secessionist but rather to overthrow the Mobutu regime throughout Zaire. While any number of question marks remain, to portray the FNLC as “invaders” and mercenaries cannot be justified.