Public conference : “Mobutu’s Ascension”

On the occasion of the publication of the book Michel Collon will be interviewing:

Ludo de Witte, author of the book

Jean Ziegler, sociologist

Anatole Tshizubu Malu, President of the African People’s University

Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m.
University of Geneva (UniMail), Room MR280
Bd de Pont d’Arve 40 / Tram 15 stop Unimail

Congo, 24 November 1964. Hundreds of Belgian paratroopers are launched on Stanleyville and Paulis. Official objective: to save Belgian civilians in danger. Humanitarian? De Witte reveals the hidden side by exhuming first-hand testimonies in all camps: the “liberation” was rather a bloodbath where the West helped Mobutu’s army to assassinate tens of thousands of Congolese.

The previous book by historian Ludo De Witte – The assassination of Lumumba – caused a political earthquake in 2000: Belgium was obliged to create a parliamentary commission of inquiry and to present an official apology! His new book digs the sometimes nauseating undersides of Belgian and American politics in this dark period. How a very lucrative dictatorship was installed for some by trampling the interests of the Congolese population.