Gradually, the idea of a UN intervention was taking shape.
So we can say today that two simultaneous errors were committed by Africans.
And first by Lumumba when he sought the intervention of the
UN. He should have never called on the
United Nations. The UN has never been
able to properly solve problems brought to man’s consciousness by colonialism,
and whenever it has intervened, it was to actually come to the aid of the
colonial power to the oppressed country.
Look at Cameroon. What kind of
peace do the subjects of Mr. Ahidjo kept in check by a French expeditionary
force, which most of the time, made its
debut in Algeria, enjoy? The UN,
however, controlled the autodetermination of Cameroon and the French government
has set up a “Provisional Executive” there.
Look at Viet-Nam.
Look at Laos.
It is not true to say that the UN fail because the causes
are too difficult.
In reality the UN is the legal card used by imperialist
interests when brute force has failed.
The sharing, the mixed controlled joint committees, under guardianship
are international means of torture to break the will of the people, cultivating
anarchy, banditry and misery.
For, before the arrival of the UN, there were no massacres
in Congo. After hallucinating rumors
spread deliberately at the departure of the Belgians, there were only a dozen
deaths. But since the arrival of the UN,
we have gotten accustomed to hear each morning about Congolese killing each
other. We are told today that repeated
provocations were mounted by Belgians dressed as soldiers of the United
Nations. We are being shown today that
UN civilian staff had in fact established a new government on the third day of
the inauguration of Lumumba. Now we understand better what people had called
the violence, stiffness, and susceptibility of Lumumba.
Actually, everything shows that Lumumba was unusually
quiet. Heads of UN mission made contact
with the enemies of Lumumba and were taking decisions with them about the State
of Congo. How should a government leader
react to this? The goal sought and
achieved is as follows: proving the absence of authority, proving the failure
of the state. Thus motivating the
sequestration of the Congo.
Lumumba’s fault was then initially to believe in the
impartiality of the UN. He forgot that the UN, particularly in the current
state, is only a reserve assembly established by the Greats to continue,
between two armed conflicts, the “peaceful struggle” for the balkanization of
the world.
If Mr. Ileo in August 1960 was telling to anyone who would
listen that Lumumba should be hanged, if Lumumba’s cabinet members knew not
what to do with dollars, which from that time, invaded Leopoldville, and
finally if Mobutu every night was going to Brazzaville to hear how and what we
can only guess better now, why then turn with such sincerity, with such lack of
reserves to the United Nations?
Africans should remember this lesson. If outside help is necessary to us, let us
call on our friends. Only they can truly
and fully help us achieve our goals precisely because the friendship between us
is a friendship of struggles.
But African countries for their part, have made a
mistake by agreeing to send their troops under the guise of the UN. In fact, they admitted to be neutralized and
unwittingly, allowed others to work.
They should have, of course, sent troops to Lumumba, but not
in the UN framework. Directly. From
country to country, friend to friend.
African troops in the Congo have suffered a historic moral defeat. Weapon in hands, they assisted without
reacting (because being UN troops) to the disintegration of a state and nation
that the whole of Africa had once greeted and sung. Such a shame.
Our mistake, as Africans, is to have forgotten that the
enemy never backs down sincerely. He
never understands. He surrenders, but is
not converted.
Our mistake is to have believed that the enemy had lost its
militancy and its harmfulness. If
Lumumba disturbs, Lumumba should disappear.
Hesitation in commiting murder has never been a feature of
imperialism.
See Ben M’Hidi, see Moumie, see Lumumba. Our mistake was to have been somewhat
confused in our efforts. It is a fact
that in Africa today, traitors exist. We
should have denounced them and combat them.
Whether it is hard after the magnificent dream of an Africa picked up on
itself and subject to the same requirements of true independence does not
change anything to reality.
Some Africans have endorsed the policy of imperialism in
Congo, served as intermediaries, endorsed the activities and the strange
silence of the UN in Congo.
Today they are afraid.
They compete for hypocrisy around Lumumba shredded. Make no mistake about the point, they express
the fear of their constituents. The
imperialists are afraid too. And they
are right because many Africans, many African-Asians have understood. The imperialists will mark a pause. They will wait until “the legitimate emotion
calms down. ” We must take advantage of
this short respite to abandon our timid steps and decide to save the Congo and
Africa.
The imperialists have decided to kill Lumumba. They did.
They decided to form legions of volunteers. They are already in place.
The Katanga aviation, under the command of South African
pilots and Belgian, has began several days strafing the ground. From Brazzaville, several foreign aircrafts
crowded with volunteers and officers paratroopers fly to the rescue of a
certain Congo.
If we decide to support Gizenga, we must do so
resolutely. Because nobody knows the
name of the next Lumumba. In Africa,
there is a tendency shown by certain men. It is this dangerous trend for
imperialism that is at issue. Let us
never forget: it is our fate, to all, that is being played in Congo.
Dr Frantz Fanon
Afrique Action, n°19, 20 février 1960
repris dans “Pour la Révolution Africaine” (1964)
