In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz

Posted on 18 August 2017 by Michela Wrong

He was known as the Leopard, and for the thirty two years of his reign Mobutu Sese Seko, president of Zaire, showed all the cunning of his namesake, seducing Western powers, buying up the opposition, and dominating his people with a devastating combination of brutality and charm While the population was pauperized, he plundered the country s copper and diamond resources, downing pink champagne in his jungle palace like some modern day reincarnation of Joseph Conrad s crazed station manager.Michela Wrong, a correspondent who witnessed firsthand Mobutu s last days, traces the rise and fall of the idealistic young journalist who became the stereotype of an African despot Engrossing, highly readable, and as funny as it is tragic, her book assesses how Belgium s King Leopold, the CIA, and the World Bank all helped to bring about the disaster that is now the Democratic Republic of Congo If, in this poignant account, the villains are the Big Vegetables les Grosses l gumes the fat cats who benefited from Mobutu s largesse the heroes are the ordinary citizens trapped in a parody of a state Living in the shadow of a disintegrating nuclear reactor, where banknotes are not worth the paper they are printed on, they have turned survival into an art form For all its valuable insights into Africa s colonial heritage and the damage done by Western intervention, In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz is ultimately a celebration of the irrepressible human spirit. Free Read Books In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz by Michela Wrong – kino-fada.fr I have never been to Congo, or Zaire It is one of the countries on the African continent I, despite all my curiosity and lust for adventure, will probably never experience.Nearly 150 years have gone by since The Congo Free State was established 150 years of terror, divide and rule governance and kleptocracy, internal wars and closed eyes to Hutu Tutsi conflicts, letting the genocides happen.From colonialism to relative freedom one bad ruler was exchanged for another Painstakingly depressi I have never been to Congo, or Zaire It is one of the countries on the African continent I, despite all my curiosity and lust for adventure, will probably never experie...As a candidate for the past century s worst country it has no parallels In order you ve got pillage, rape, genocide,rape, CIA sponsored political assassinations, a brutal dictatorship, the world s first genuine kleptocracy , corruption on a grand and almost immortal scale, bad interior decorating, a surfeit of Louis Vutton luggage, hunger, AIDS, bankruptcy, civil war,genocide,civil war, and evenrape There is even a fucking decaying nuclear reactor there, if you can be As a candidate for the past century s worst country it has no parallels In order you ve got pillage, rape, genocide,rape, CIA sponsored political assassinations, a brutal dictatorship, the world s first genuine kleptocracy , corruption on a grand and almost immortal scale, bad interior decorating, a surfeit ...As a foreign correspondent stationed in Zaire Congo, Michela Wrong witnessed the strangeness and tragedy of Mobutu Sese Seko s gangster dictatorship up close For three decades of kleptocracy, Bretton Woods the World Bank and the IMF didn t just look the other way they acquiesced in Mobutu s corruption, allowing himthan 3 million per month for his presidential endowment personal security, an entourage, and travel expenses Bretton Woods kept doing business with Zaire even after Mob As a foreign correspondent stationed in Zaire Congo, Michela Wrong witnessed the strangeness and tragedy of Mobutu Sese Seko s gangster dictatorship up close For three decades of kleptocracy, Bretton Woods the World Bank and the IMF didn t just look the other way they acquiesced in Mobutu s corruption, allowing himthan 3 million per month for his presidential endowment personal security, an entourage, and travel expenses Bretton Woods kept doing business with ...Michela Wrong s biography of President Mobutu of Zaire is also part travelogue and part political commentary The sketch she gives of Mobutu can be gleaned from the press of the time, but the travelogue and commentary may be unique.Wrong shows how the brutality of the Belgians working literally for King Leopold this was King s personal colony, and not that of Belgium created the society that made Mobutu possible There is some speculation as to how Mobutu prevailed in the early days of liber Michela Wrong s biography of President Mobutu of Zaire is also part travelogue and part political commentary The sketch she gives of Mobutu can be gleaned from the press of the time, but the travelogue and commentary may be unique.Wrong shows how the brutality of the Belgians working literally for King Leopold this was King s personal colony, and not that of Belgium created the society that made Mobutu possible There is some speculation as to how Mobutu prevailed in the early days of liberation I got a new perspective on the Mobutu Lumumba relationship.Mobutu is said to be charming hard to ...I found the first half of this book to be riveting An analysis of the historical background to the Congo, Leopold, the rise of Mobutu, and a fascinating analysis of the anatomy simply of a dictatorship, but of the particular form of kleptocracy that Mobutu pioneered The second half describes different sectors of the society, economic, mining, the hyper inflation, the abysmal condition of infrastructure ...Wrong, a journalist, documents the reign and fall of Mobutu, head of Zaire for thirty years, and his influence upon the country s fortunes It s a tale of tragicomic proportions, with all the requisite details From the gold taps in the bathrooms of the president s palace to the hangar sized lobby of the never used greeting area of the mammoth presidential retreat, Mobuto lived and stole like a king Meanwhile the CIA, World Bank, IMF and other Western agencies poured money into Zaire s coffers Wrong, a journalist, documents the reign and fall of Mobutu, head of Zaire for thirty years, and his influence upon the country s fortunes It s a tale of tragicomic proportions, with all the requisite details From the gold taps in the bathrooms of the president s palace to the hangar sized lobby of the never used greeting area of the mammoth presidential retreat, Mobuto lived and stole like a king Meanwhile the CIA, World Bank, IMF and other Western agencies poured money into Zaire s coffers in the name of anti communism, conveniently ignoring the unpaid wages of the soldiers, the mismanaged diamond mines, the human rights abuses, the internal strife, and myriad other reasons the West should have given Mobutu the cold shoulder.It s the old African story of mismanagement, meddling, and money, and Wrong tells it perfectly She s an intrepid...Ms Wrong is a talented journalist and here she s written a solid obituary to the Mobutu era with some real time observations on the brief and tumultuous reign of Mzee Laurent Kabila The entire story of post colonial DR Congo Zaire is painted as outlandish and foolhardy with brushes of acerbic irony.The book brought together several pieces of the puzzle for me and several times provoked an aha out loud as I made connections to the life I observe daily in present day DR Congo.Footsteps is well Ms Wr...When the new Congo nation said goodbye to its Belgian overlords in 1960, there was enthusiasm and hope in the air for the new nation The horrid times of amputations and slavery were suddenly in the past and the resource heavy Congo was going to be a big player on the African continent The wildcard factor turned out to be a young soldier who was to turn everything upside down while showing how easy it was to slough off one foreign oppressor for one native oppressor.The new nation s leader, Patr When the new Congo nation said goodbye to its Belgian overlords in 1960, there was enthusiasm and hope in the air for the new nation The horrid times of amputations and slavery were suddenly in the past and the resource heavy Congo was going to be a big player on the African continent The wildcard factor turned out to be a young soldier who was to turn everything upside down while showing how easy it was to slough off one foreign oppressor for one native oppressor.The new nation s leader, Patrice Lumumba, didn t last long Worried that he was turning to the Soviets for assistance he was , the Belgians with American assistance encouraged secessionists in an effort to topple Lumumba The army s chief of staff was supposed to be loyal, but instead toppled the new government and made himself the de facto ruler Mobutu entered the scene and never left Lumumba was taken away and shot by the Belgians and the ...A wonderful historical account of the life of Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of Congo Zaire It s very readable, and comes across as a balanced account of the man and the historical events surrounding his rise to power It also provides a lot of insight into how such a kleptocracy can come about support from the west CIA, IMF, World Bank, European governments etc etc It s their corruption that undoubtedly aided his regime, and which probably account for similar situations in Africa Mugabe co A wonderful historical account of the life of Mobutu Sese Seko, dictator of Congo Zaire It s very readable, and comes across as a balanced account of the man and the historical events surrounding his rise to power It also provides a lot of insight into how such a kleptocracy can come about support from the west CIA, IMF, World Bank, European governments etc etc It s their corruption that undoubtedly aided his regime, and which probably account for similar situations in Africa Mugabe comes to mind.I love the way the book starts The feeling struck home within seconds of disembarking When the motor launch deposited me in the cacophony of the quayside, engine churning mats of water hyacinth as it turned to head back across the brown expanse of oily water that was the River Zaire, I was hit by the sensation that so unnerves first time visitors to Af...This is a richly detailed account of Zaire aka Congo under Mobutu It s chock full of amusing anecdotes and evdence of the corruption that has permeated every level of Zaire s society It lucidly explains how Mobutu s kleptocracy and the fend for yourself culture has decimated a country that is rich in natural resources It also outlines the hypocrisy of Western nations that used Zaire as a pawn during the Cold War I enjoyed reading this book, and yet.there is something missing The auth This is a richly detailed account of Zaire aka Congo under Mobutu It s chock full of amusing anecdotes and evdence of the corruption that has permeated every level of Zaire s society It lucidly explains how Mobutu s kleptocracy and the fend for yourself culture has decimated a country that is rich in natural resources It also outlines the hypocrisy of Western nations that used Zaire as a pawn during the Cold War I enjoyed reading this book, and yet.there is something missing The author, Michela Wrong, is, essentially, a muckraking journalist writing an expose on the economic self destruction of Zaire She produces a stinging condemnation, but her book lacks the empathy that even the most venal o...

English
18 August 2017

Michela Wrong