by Gian Guido Vecchi, sent to Kinshasa
The Pope against “economic colonialism” and exploitation at the Apostolic Visit. The thought of the migrants crossing the Sahara during the flight
“Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo! Hands off Africa!’ Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the avenue that leads from the airport to Kinshasa, tin shacks in the suburbs, shells and tufts of poles sticking out of the concrete, a megalopolis of fifteen million people, right up to the condos and houses of the center, a luxury for a few along the business district of La Gombe and the colonial districts on the banks of the Congo. So Pope Francis marches on the way to the Presidential Palace, sweltering heat and overcast skies, welcome posters and flags, songs and smiles, people on the rooftops looking out from the balconies, clinging to rusty poles, an unimaginable crowd of children and young people in Europe. And it is as if in his first speech to the authorities the voices of those who cannot have it were raised, the robbery of very rich natural resources, the greed of foreign powers, the ethnic clashes that favor covert deals, corruption , a “war-torn” country, suffering from “terrible forms of exploitation inhumane and degrading to creation”, “struck by violence like a punch in the stomach” that “takes your breath away”, a “forgotten genocide” in a country “far plundered” in which “the poison of greed has made its blood diamonds”.
On the plane, a few hours and a half after takeoff from Rome, the Pope stopped by to greet the journalists and before bowing his head in silence said: “We are crossing the Sahara. Let’s bring up a thought, let’s pray for all those people who have gone through it in search of a little wellness and freedom and have not made it. For the many sufferers who arrive on the shores of the Mediterranean and are taken to concentration camps and suffer there. Let’s pray for all these people.” And now he speaks for those who stayed or couldn’t go anywhere else, in the house he chooses the picture of the diamond as a symbol for all the other immense riches of the country, gold, cobalt, 80 percent of the worldwide coltan reserves in which the batteries of computers and cellphones work, mines in which women and children dig 12-14 hours a day for one to two dollars a day with their bare hands: “After the political came an equally enslaving “economic colonialism” unleashed. It’s a drama to which the more economically advanced world often turns a blind eye, ear and mouth. But this country and this continent deserve to be respected and heard, they deserve space and attention.”
“Hands off,” shouts Francis: “Stop suffocating Africa, it’s not a mine to be exploited or land to be plundered. May Africa be the protagonist of his destiny! May the world remember the disasters that have wrought to the detriment of local people over the centuries, and not forget this country and this continent. Africa, smiles and hopes of the world, matters more: if it is talked about more, it will have more weight and representation among nations!». The Pope evokes “a diplomacy from person to person, from peoples for peoples, in which the focus is not on the control of areas and resources, expansion goals and increasing profits, but on the growth opportunities of the people”. The country has been plagued by attacks by over a hundred “rebel” armed groups, particularly in the eastern part of the country, the epicenter of tensions with neighboring Rwanda, unsurprisingly the area of the mines: “We can’t get used to blood that has been flowing in this country for decades now, causing millions of deaths without many knowing about it. Know what’s happening here. The ongoing peace processes, which I wholeheartedly endorse, are being supported with deeds and promises being kept.”
Because “the stubborn taking of sides for one’s own ethnic group or for particular interests, the stirring up of spirals of hatred and violence, goes back to the detriment of everyone”. For this reason, those who bear “civil and governmental responsibilities” must “act with crystal clear clarity”. The capital is littered with election posters, people are voting at the end of the year, and the Pope’s voice is influential in a country with a Catholic majority, half the population. Francis calls for “free, transparent and credible” elections and has very sharp words against the “greed for money” which for St. Paul is “the root of all evil”, against “the darkness of injustice and corruption”: let us allow it to ourselves manipulate, let alone buy, from those who want to hold the country in violence, exploit it and engage in nefarious deals: that only brings discredit and disgrace, combined with death and misery”. He quotes Saint Augustine, who was born on the African continent: “If the Justice is not respected, what are states if not big gangs of thieves?” It is about “counteracting impunity and the manipulation of laws and information.” And invest in the education of the most valuable resource children: “Many do not go to school , instead of receiving a decent education, they are exploited! Too many die by slave labor in the mines. Efforts are spared, i To denounce and end the scourge of child labor. And how many girls are marginalized and their dignity violated! Children, girls, young people are hope: let’s not let them die, let’s nurture them with passion!”.
Finally the environment. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has the second largest rainforest on earth after the Amazon, “one of the largest green lungs in the world that needs to be preserved”, concludes Francis: “As far as peace and development are concerned, so too in this area It is important to have a broad and fruitful collaboration that allows effective intervention without imposing external models, more useful to those who help than to those who are helped. Many have asked Africa for commitment and offered help to fight climate change and the coronavirus. These are certainly opportunities that need to be seized, but above all we need health and social models that not only respond to the urgencies of the moment, but also contribute to effective social growth: solid structures and honest and competent staff, to be serious to overcome problems that nip them in the bud, such as hunger and malaria.
January 31, 2023 (change January 31, 2023 | 18:12)
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