Africa: the White House in the Dock

Tony Blair had announced to a leftist British electorate, whose feelings were starting to run high due to the Iraq war, his intentions of making Africa a priority of the G-8 summit - presided over by Great Britain. This weekend, the countries of this organization cancelled the debt of 18 states, 14 of them being African, and agreed to pay their debts to their creditors.
This decision contributed to draw some media attention over Africa but, for how long? Andrew Stroehlein, in charge of Communication for the International Crisis Group, called on the media to raise public awareness about the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In an article published by the Christian Science Monitor and the Gulf News, he invites journalists to visit that country and to report what is going on there. Perhaps, once aware, the peoples will force their governments to offer assistance.

In general, the G-8 summit did not fulfill its promises as to development assistance for Africa. And, like on the occasion of the tsunami in Asia, Washington is criticized for its stinginess.
Bob Geldof, a singer and organizer of humanitarian concerts, expressed his satisfaction in the Times of London after the first measures announced by the G-8. However, he believes it is not enough and he asked Tony Blair to pressure Canada, Japan and the United States so that they give more. Kofi Annan’s advisor, Jeffrey Sachs, also expressed in the International Herald Tribune that Washington is not living signs of good will to help Africa and, however, spends fortunes in weapons. Today, the United States earmarks three billion dollars for African assistance, an amount that actually is used to pay American consultants in charge of helping the African countries. It is true that George W. Bush announced a 674-million dollar increase of the US assistance, but this sum, far from being a global increase, was taken from another assistance program.
In the other side of the political board, he former Cold warrior (supporter of the Cold War), Arnaud de Borchgrave, denounced the inertia of the United States in the Washington Times. However, for the voluntary veteran of the apartheid regime in Zimbabwe, it is more important to stabilize oil producing countries like Nigeria or Algeria than helping Africa.
Accused, George W. Bush, staged the US assistance to Africa welcoming in Washington five African heads of state (Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia and Niger). The State Department was in charge of spreading his speech for the occasion. The American president praised the US law about the development assistance that conditions the American aid to the opening of the markets of the beneficiary countries and their docility. It is also emphasized in the Millennium Challenge Account, a neocolonial program f which we have written in detail in our columns. Let is see that this debate is based on arguable postulates: due to the lack of capital, the Africans would not manage to develop their countries, so they need financial assistance. But, if we look at the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, cited as an emblematic case by Andrew Stroehlein, we can see that this country has a vast mineral wealth. There, underdevelopment is not caused by the lack of capital. It is the result of organized plundering accompanied by constant wars. Rather than financial assistance, African states need stability and political sovereignty. For his part, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, told Izvestia that he wants Russia, who will succeed Great Britain ahead of the G-8 in 2006, to follow the path he began. However, the essential part of his words is not linked to this point. The author takes pleasure in saying that he was one of the first world leaders who met Vladimir Putin after he took power and recalls the strength of the alliance between the United Kingdom and Russia during World War II. But, are these memories supposed to make everyone ignore the fact that the Chechen separatist movements have their headquarters in London? On Sunday, June 12, 2005, Russia celebrated its national day for the 11th time. On June 12th, 1990, during the session period of the USSR Parliament, its members approved a declaration about the sovereignty of the country. The day became a national celebration in 1994. Izvestia took the opportunity to ask several personalities where the country’s independence is 15 years later.
For Konstantin Eggert, a BBC correspondent, Russia currently depends, to a large extent, on oil prices. Former Russian Prime Minister and currently Russian Ambassador to Ukraine, Viktor Chernomyrdin, affirms that Russia is dependant on its neighbors of the former Soviet Union adding that the dependence is reciprocal and he invites the Ukrainian president, Yuschenko, to turn again to Moscow.