For years, The Democratic Republic of the Congo – the heart of Africa, and considered the richest country in the world, in terms of natural wealth – has been enduring relentless interference by covetous hands; plundering its natural wealth.
The movie, “Crisis in the Congo: Uncovering The Truth”, according to Friends of the Congo, “explores the role that the United States and its allies, Rwanda and Uganda, have played in triggering the greatest humanitarian crisis at the dawn of the 21st century. The film is a short version of a feature length production to be released in the near future. It locates the Congo crisis in a historical, social and political context. It unveils analysis and prescriptions by leading experts, practitioners, activists and intellectuals that are not normally available to the general public. The film is a call to conscience and action”.
“The situation in the Congo is not just a Congolese issue, it’s not just an African issue but it’s a global issue – it’s a worldwide issue. Congo is part of the second largest rainforest of the world; it’s vial to the fight against climate change. If you’re concerned about climate change then you should be concerned about the Congo. Half of those who died in the conflict are children under the age of 5; so if you’re a child advocate, if you’re concerned about children, you ought to be concerned about what’s happening in the Congo. If you’re concerned about women – if you have a mother, a sister – you ought to be concerned about the Congo. If you drive an automobile or fly an airplane or own a cell phone, as a human being, at the very least, you ought to be concerned about the Congo. You ought to say something. You ought to want to find out why this is happening. You ought to be moved to want to bring an end to it.” [Expert from the movie]
Pertinent Information on Exploiters
According to information obtained from Friends of the Congo, besides the mentioned countries, some of the primary exploiters of Coltan – short for Columbite-tantalite – a black tar-like mineral found in major quantities in the Congo – are foreign multi-national corporations. Hence, here are some of the major United States Corporations listed as identified by the UN:
- Cabot Corporation, Boston, MA
- OM Group, Cleveland, Ohio
- AVX, Myrtle Beach, SC
- Eagle Wings Resources International, Ohio
- Trinitech International, Ohio
- Kemet Electronics Corporation, Greenville, SC
- Vishay Sprague. Malvern, PA
Additional listing by Friends of the Congo, of some corporations from a number of other countries include: Germany’s HC Starc and EPCOS; China’s Nigncxia; and Belgium’s Traxys and George Forrest International.
Once the coltan is processed and converted to capacitors, as stated by Friends of the Congo, it is then sold to companies such as: Nokia, Motorola, Compaq, Alcatel, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lucent, Ericsson and Sony for use in a wide assortment of everyday products ranging from cell phones to computer chips and game consoles.
You can learn more about what coltan is used for in modern society, here