The thing about Congo

Can anyone guess what country in the entire world is the richest in mineral wealth?

How about what country has the total GDP of both the u.s.ofa. and Europe combined?

If you guessed the china or russia or any european nation you’d be wrong.

Yes, it’s the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Yet the poorest people on the African continent are Congolese.

Can you guess how this has happened? Try thinking about slavery and colonization and u.s. and european corporate greed – no something much stronger than greed. Corporations that are exploiting the vast mineral wealth of the DRC are not just taking all that gold and copper and diamonds and cobalt and what about crude oil?

This wealth of minerals our corporations are keeping and at the same time paying workers – if you can even call it paying – maybe $2 per day for some of the most dangerous work in the world.

How can the western wealthy justify getting so very rich off the backs of the very people who should own this wealth for themselves.

Every day that I’ve been at the border, there has been at least two people coming from the Congo and Angola.

The fellow from Congo today told me he first flew into Cuba, then he had to go to French Guinea, Suriname, Guyana, Brazil, Bolivi, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rico, Nicaragua , Honduras, Guatemala and finally into Mexico.

This fellow is very tall, slender and quite handsome as well as young. He said when he got Mexico, the police made him raise his arms while they put their hands into his jacket pocket and took all his money that was there.

He raised his arms several times, and showed me how the police reached into his pocket and took his money. He was in so much pain and disbelief. He had spent almost four months traveling through all thee countries and getting to the one country between him and his goal, he gets ripped off and by the police no less.

He was traveling with another man, an Angolan, – much shorter but also slender and young – who nodded his confirmation – he was there when they were stopped.

Why? Why would one human being take advantage of another human being like this? How desperate do you have to be?