The Tragic State of the Congo - From Decolonization to Dictatorship

The Congo is rich in minerals and agricultural potential. What keeps it from emerging as a viable, even prosperous, state? During four centuries of the slave trade, the Portuguese alone claimed over 13.25 million lives. Then, King Leopold II of Belgium took the Congo as his own fiefdom in 1876, and the exploitation of the populace was even more horrendous. The Belgian Congo was ruled by the Church and the State in cooperation with private companies. Education peaked at the secondary level, ...