The "
CIA-approved puppet" in question was
Mobutu Sese Seko, the archetypal
African dictator. He was in turn deposed in 1995 by
Laurent-Désiré Kabila, a long-time
guerillero (once a
compañero of
Ernesto Che Guevara), in one of the most
pathetic coups ever. The
Americans, who tend to prove much more clever than the
French when big intere$t$ are at stake, arranged the actual "transition".
Today the "Democratic" Republic of
Congo (Congo-
Kinshasa, in opposition to Congo-
Brazzaville) is little more than a huge
battlefield, in which at least six countries are involved (not to mention numerous local
tribes), in what will be remembered as the first wide-scale international conflict in
African
history. Yet another
benefit of Western "
civilization", I guess.