Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has offered the United States access to his country vast natural resource...
Félix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has offered the United States access to his country vast natural resources in-exchange for helping him defeat powerful rebel groups in his country, many of which are linked to terrorist groups like ISIS.
The letter to President Donald Trump, sent early last month, offered “mining opportunities for the U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund,” an entity created by Trump after coming back into office.
“Your election has ushered in the golden age for America,” Tshisekedi wrote in the letter obtained by The Wall Street Journal. “Our partnership would provide the U.S. with a strategic advantage by securing critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, copper and tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
Tshisekedi asked the president for “formal security pact” to boost his country’s military in its fight against the rebel forces that are not only destabilizing the country but are also beating his army at times.
The report said that the fighting by rebel groups in the eastern part of the country was set up by the Rwandan genocide more than three decades ago when ethnic Hutus slaughtered 800,000 Tutsis in just three months.
The report added:
When Tutsi forces under current Rwandan President Paul Kagame defeated their Hutu rivals in 1994, many Hutu extremists fled across the border into Congo.
Rwanda has denied providing military backing to M23, whose members are predominantly Tutsis, and says its only interest is in securing its own borders and protecting ethnic kinsmen from persecution in Congo.
But a U.N. panel of experts reported in December that Kagame had dispatched 4,000 soldiers to help M23.
The report also suggested that both Rwanda and Uganda are trying to steal natural resources from the country.
The country is rich in natural resources that are critical for manufacturing in every leading industry from communications to electric cars, defense, and aerospace.
Having the U.S. get involved in beating back the rebel forces would likely curtail Russian and Chinese influence in the region as they seek to drive America out of country’s across the continent.