Mobutu, King of Zaire - Part 3

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This is the definitive visual record of the rise and fall of Joseph Désiré Mobutu, ruler of Zaire (the Congo) for over 30 years. Drawing upon 140 hours of rare archival material found in Kinshasa, and 50 hours of interviews with those once close to him, MOBUTU, KING OF ZAIRE tells the story of the man at the heart of Central Africa's post-colonial history.

This is part three of three parts.

Part Three - THE END OF A REIGN
As the Cold War ended, Mobutu partied on the Mediterranean Coast with French and Belgian officials, prominent Americans and other dignitaries. Covering the years from 1988 to 1997, Part Three includes footage of these lavish affairs, even as close friend Nicolai Ceausescu is being tried and executed. A warning Mobutu did not heed.

Despite U.S. President George Bush's assertions, again captured on film, that Mobutu was 'our most valued friend in Africa,' with the Cold War over he felt increasing pressure from the West to pay his own way (and open the political process to opposition).

The film documents the emergence of an opposition movement in Kinshasa led by Etienne Tshisekedi, the development of the National Conference from 1990 to 1992, and the rebellion led by Laurent Desire Kabila in 1996. In May, 1997 Kabila, Mobutu, and South Africa's President Nelson Mandela met in Kinshasa, within weeks Kabila took the city, Mobutu fled, and he died in exile in September of that year. The film uses the best contemporary documentary material of all of these events.

Thierry Michel, whose two previous films on the Congo, THE LAST COLONIALS and ZAIRE, CYCLE OF THE SERPENT, are also distributed by First Run / Icarus Films, has crafted an essential history and documentary resource

'A stunning documentary of the life of Mobuto... one of Africa's most notorious postcolonial despots.'-American Historical Review

'Rejects shrill indictment in favor of the cumulative revelation of its subject through film and the testimony of knowledgeable Mobutu aides and other qualified individuals. [This film] is the devastating witness that lays bare the homicidal, corrupt, vainglorious tyranny of Mobutu Sese Seko.'-The New York Times

'Remarkable! A film of almost literally fantastic footage and revealing interviews. Students should see it... Excellent!'-David Moore, University of Natal, Durban, for H-SAfrica

'Previously unseen archive footage interspersed with interviews with survivors of Mobutu's inner circle makes for great cinematic drama. A rarity.'-Mail and Guardian

'A tremendous documentary on the folly of power.'-Le Monde

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Main credits

Michel, Thierry (creator)
Michel, Thierry (film director)
Michel, Thierry (screenwriter)
Michel, Thierry (narrator)
Pireaux, Christine (film producer)
Barbé, Martine (film producer)
Lalou, Serge (film producer)
Yoka Lye Mudaba (narrator)

Other credits

Music, Marc Herouet.

MARC Record See Worldcat record

Keywords

Michel; Thierry; Congo; Zaire; film; video; archival; archives; Joseph; Desire; Mobutu; Mobutu; Sese; Seko; Laurent; Desire; Kabila; Etienne Tshisekedi; Patrice Lumumba; documentary; film; video; DVD; congolese; "Mobutu; King of Zaire - Part 3"; Icarus Films;

WEBVTT

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[music]

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Having just being promoted to Lieutenant
General, Mobutu carries out a coup in 1965,

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and establishes a dictatorship in the former
Belgian Congo which he renamed Zaire.

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Two years later, he shows himself to be a

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Machiavellian prince, fearsome and especially
cunning. He uses every means available

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to a despond, based on bloodthirsty
repression, murder and disappearances,

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and trumped-up plots.
When civil war breaks out

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incited by his opponents in exile and by a
revolt of political dissidents, Mobutu\'s power

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is shaken and he institutionalizes a
dictatorship based on top-to-bottom corruption.

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In order to assure his durability, he
proclaims himself Marshal of Zaire

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and amasses for himself an immense fortune based on the
systematic plundering of the riches of the country.

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[music]

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Mobutu accruing and accumulating has
stopped counting his billions of dollars,

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his villas in Africa,
his mansions in Europe.

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Instead, he holds sumptuous receptions in his villa
on the Cote d\'Azur for the International Jet Set.

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[music]

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Among the invited that day, General Lacaze,
chief of staff of President Mitterrand,

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Mr. Bemba Saolona,

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President of the Employers of Zaire,

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Mr. Herman De Croo,
former Belgian minister,

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Mr. Pierre de Vos, Director
of News RTB Television,

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Mr. Melvin Daimali(ph),

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President of the Black Caucus
on the American Congress,

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President Mobutu\'s family.

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Mr. Raymond Burr former
prime minister of France,

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Mr. Jean-Christophe Mitterrand,

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son of the President of
the French Republic.

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[music]

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[music]

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[music]

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Soon one reception starts to
resemble another for Mobutu.

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In spite of the intoxication of power,

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in spite of the fortune, (inaudible)

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sometimes gains the upper hand.

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[music]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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Well, Zaire is among
America\'s oldest friends.

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And its president, President Mobutu,

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one of our most valued friends.

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Entire continent of Africa. I\'ve found

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President Mobutu\'s analysis
valuable and we support him

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as he strives to peacefully resolve problems.
And we thank him for his leadership.

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And we\'re proud and very, very pleased

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to have you with us today. Thank you, sir.

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He also played upon of course the potential, the economic
potential of Zaire in the international community.

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I mean, look, we have this cobalt, we have this
copper, we have diamonds, we have everything.

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Therefore you have to understand the importance
of this country. At that stage for example,

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cobalt was considered by the United States to be a
strategic mineral. We needed for our defense industry

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so we bought several thousand tons of
cobalt in a special purchase from Mobutu

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which he liked very much.

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Mobutu is a murderer. (inaudible)

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.

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Mobutu is a murderer.

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(inaudible)

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. Mobutu is a murderer.

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Mobutu is a murderer. (inaudible)

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.

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(inaudible)

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Mobutu is a murderer.

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[music]

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Great dictators end up by both

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recognizing and meeting each other.
For the second time, Mobutu visits

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his old friend Nicolae Ceaușescu, President
of the Socialist Republic of Romania

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in power for more than 20 years.

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[music]

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[non-English narration]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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My impression was he was forced into
the step of the democratization.

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He didn\'t really believe in it.
But he felt it was necessary

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if he was to avoid a civil
war, another civil war.

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And also I suppose through oppression,
pressures coming from the western…

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from Europe, from possibly
the… the United States.

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Under the pressure of
events, the guiding light

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has no choice but to accept a major
debate in public. A national conference

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is charged with organizing
the transition to democracy.

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Under the leadership of
Monsignor Monsengwo,

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the 2,850 participants from all over
the country publicly denounced the

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totalitarian rule of the supreme
guide, Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko.

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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While poverty becomes

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more and more widespread among the
populous, the Mobutu clan strives to

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guarantee its political survival and
self-finance by a systematic withdrawal of funds

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from companies. This heralds the final
collapse of the public services

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and the main industrial
structures of the country.

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

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His pride hurt, Mobutu suspends
the National Conference.

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He doesn\'t forgive them for setting up
a popular tribunal against his regime.

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The party\'s, the press and the
population mobilized themselves

00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
and organized a peaceful protest,
\"The March of Hope\" also known as

00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
\"The March of the Christians.\"
The demonstration

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ends in a bloodbath. Dozens of protesters are
injured. Dozens of others are shot out of hand.

00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:53.000
[sil.]

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[sil.]

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Spat out by Kinshasa,

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reviled by the whole country, Mobutu withdraws
to the village of his childhood at Gbadolite.

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Here the leopard King realizes

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a fairytale dream, a luxurious
presidential palace built deep

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in the heart of the equatorial forest.

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[sil.]

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[sil.]

00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:08.000
[sil.]

00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:35.000
[sil.]

00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:48.000
[sil.]

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Breaking his solitude,

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President Mobutu seeks comfort among
the local villages of the region.

00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:13.000
[sil.]

00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:38.000
[sil.]

00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:05.000
[sil.]

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:58.000
[sil.]

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Meanwhile the country sinks into chaos.

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In Kinshasa as well as in
the rest of the country,

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the soldiers owed several months in
back pay revolt. They loot shops,

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warehouses, houses, offices.

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[sil.]

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Very soon the population starving join in the
looting which takes on a political turn.

00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
[sil.]

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At Gbadolite, entrenched in his palace,

00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
Mobutu still hopes to save an
illusory sovereignty over more than

00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:10.000
14 million inhabitants taken
hostage by his predatory power.

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[sil.]

00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:15.000
[sil.]

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In less than two years, Mobutu loses
two of his children in succession.

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But the death of Konga Mobutu
is also a political windfall.

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Suddenly the anger of the National Conference
softens, suddenly the Bantu feelings reappear

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recalling deep-rooted alliances.

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[music]

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Politicians from all parties are present at the
funeral, with at their head Monsignor Monsengwo

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President of the National Conference,

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along with the leader of the opposition,
the uncompromising Etienne Tshisekedi.

00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:08.000
[music]

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[sil.]

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At Gbadolite, Mobutu and his
entourage hang onto power.

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After three decades of robbing the country,

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they have enough put away to hold
their own. Billions of dollars

00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
are sitting in western banks allowing them
to wait patiently for better days to come.

00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
[sil.]

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If necessary they make their own plates

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and print money in Austria,
in Argentina, in Brazil,

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and in England which they need to
bribe, or to reward, or to corrupt.

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[music]

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[sil.]

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Diagnosed as having cancer of the prostate, Mobutu is
hospitalized in Switzerland to undergo an operation.

00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:54.999
[sil.]

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Suddenly Zaire realizes that the

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old dinosaur is not invincible and that the
illness can have a bearing on the logistics

00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
of the ballot box or on the
lore of the strongest.

00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
[music]

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Taking advantage of the prolonged absence
of their leader, a rebellion breaks out

00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
in the east of Zaire and sweeps through the
majority of the country. The insurrection

00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
is lead by an old Lumumbist
rebel Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:35.000
[music]

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Convalescing in his villa
on the Cote d\'Azur,

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Mobutu finds himself alone, faced with
old age, sickness, and rebellion.

00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:08.000
[sil.]

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[sil.]

00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:18.000
[music]

00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:28.000
[sil.]

00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:15.000
[sil.]

00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:28.000
[sil.]

00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:45.000
[sil.]

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The return of the old leopard is
a disappointment to his people.

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Saying that nothing has changed
after all, the population

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mobilizes around the leader of the
opposition, Etienne Tshisekedi.

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[sil.]

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The demonstration is brutally repressed by
soldiers of the special presidential division.

00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:43.000
[sil.]

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[sil.]

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Mobutu driven back by the
advance of the insurgents

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agrees to a meeting with the rebel
leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila.

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The peace talks are conducted
in the presence of the

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President of South Africa, the
wise old man Nelson Mandela.

00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
[sil.]

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It was a great honor for me

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to preside sovereignty

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of two of the greater son of Africa.

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[sil.]

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President Mobutu has cooperated very
well to make this agreement possible.

00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
[non-English narration]

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And he understands that
as the head of state

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the responsibility lies primarily on him.

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Court, thank you.

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[sil.]

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Laurent-Désiré Kabila has but one word

00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
for the dictator, resign.
Mobutu humiliated,

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thinks of his family, his
generals, his relatives.

00:55:30.000 --> 00:55:35.000
[sil.]

00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:48.000
[sil.]

00:56:15.000 --> 00:56:20.000
[sil.]

00:56:25.000 --> 00:56:29.999
Thrown on to history\'s rubbish
tip, exiled and lonely,

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Mobutu dies in Morocco far from
the country of his ancestors.

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His burial in the Christian
cemetery of Rabat

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is a strictly family affair.

00:56:45.000 --> 00:56:49.999
The half God was not immortal.

00:56:50.000 --> 00:56:58.000
[music]

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