2023-10-27 12:26:25
6,000 km from Paris, very far from the debates that are tearing the French left apart, Jean-Luc Mélenchon began a six-day tour of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, October 24. A visit – his second to the African continent in less than a month, after Morocco – marked by support for the Congolese authorities in the face of “expansionist aims” you Rwanda.
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“Europeans, who are often used to giving advice to others, must show humility in the face of such a new and dynamic world, while we, the old Europe, are a little slower to understand”, launched the “rebellious” upon his arrival in Kinshasa. No advice, therefore, but a few certainties, which Jean-Luc Mélenchon repeated under the white and pink marble of the banquet hall of the National Assembly, as warm as a station hall.
He spoke there late Thursday afternoon in front of around twenty hand-picked deputies, members of the Assembly office or presidents of parliamentary committees. “Africa is not part of the future of humanity, it is the future, you are the future,” he proclaimed, basing his demonstration on the youth of the population and the strength of numbers.
Emmanuel Macron is never criticized by name, as is customary for a French political figure abroad, but it is him that Jean-Luc Mélenchon is referring to when he repeats that he does not want ” to give advice “. During his visit to Kinshasa on March 4, as part of a tour of Central Africa, the French president offended his audience on an explosive subject: Rwanda’s responsibility for the permanence of the crisis in the east of the DRC for thirty years.
Proposal for a resolution to the French Parliament
While the United Nations group of experts denounced in 2022 the involvement of the Rwandan army on Congolese soil, Emmanuel Macron suggested to President Félix Tshisekedi, present at his side during a press conference, to recover in question. “Since 1994 [date du génocide des Tutsi au Rwanda, qui allait ensuite déstabiliser toute la RDC et l’est du pays en particulier]you have not been able to restore sovereignty [de votre pays]. We must not look for responsibilities outside”, he declared. Avoiding naming Rwanda, which has once again become a French ally in the region, he also invited Kinshasa to ensure that those responsible for Congolese atrocities are brought to justice.
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Nothing of the sort with the co-president of the La Boétie Institute (a think tank affiliated with La France insoumise), while the violence in the east of the DRC has experienced a new peak of intensity in recent days. “I wanted to reaffirm the fraternity that is ours towards the Congolese people, at a time when we know that they are encountering a difficulty which is totally imported and for which they have no responsibility, since for their part , he respected all the ceasefire commitments”said Jean-Luc Mélenchon after an hour of interview, Thursday noon, with President Tshisekedi.
The line is a little enlarged. Shortly before, in fact, the Congolese media Radio Okapi had reported “heavy weapon fire” around Goma, the capital of North Kivu, by the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) on the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23), supported by Kigali.
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Jean-Luc Mélenchon achieved some success with the deputies by reminding them that the elected representatives of La France insoumise (LFI) have been since July “signatories of a proposal [de résolution] before the French Parliament which condemns the intrusions and abuses made by Rwanda on the territory of the DRC”. The left leader denounced “the resumption of aggressive military activities at a time when the DRC is organizing its elections”. Presidential, regional and legislative polls are due to be held on December 20. “I expect the condemnation of France, through the resolution presented by my colleagues, to bring Rwanda back together. The largest French-speaking country in the world [la RDC, forte de 100 millions d’habitants] aspires to peace and to organize its elections as it sees fit”he said.
Part of the delegation will go to Goma
According to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Rwanda has clearly demonstrated its intention to disrupt the holding of elections in the DRC: “We can clearly see that it is a deliberate desire to disrupt the mechanism of the functioning of democracy, and it is only a way of prolonging the questioning of its sovereignty, because the sovereignty of a nation is expressed through elections. » A development which makes a European diplomat say that“he is on the same line as the Congolese president”. “It’s sure, it’s a change from Macron”says a deputy also present during the last presidential trip.
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Jean-Luc Mélenchon will have the opportunity to repeat these remarks during his stay, which includes an exchange with students from the University of Kinshasa (Unikin), at whose invitation he is making this trip. He will present his latest book there, Do better! Towards the Citizen Revolution. “But without interference in Congolese politics”, he said. Part of his delegation, composed in particular of three LFI deputies – Carlos Martens Bilongo (originally from the DRC), Nadège Abomangoli (originally from Congo-Brazzaville) and Arnaud Le Gall (member of the foreign affairs committee at the National Assembly) – , will go to Goma.
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Finally, in addition to a detour planned through the Mangroves marine park, in Muanda (west), the rebellious leader will speak at the brand new Patrice-Emery-Lumumba memorial, in Kinshasa, dedicated to the former prime minister, hero of independence and martyr of decolonization, tortured then assassinated in January 1961.
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