3 - US foreign policy toward Zaire

Summary

Zaire is among America's oldest friends and its President — President Mobutu — one of our most valued friends [on the] entire continent of Africa. … One of Africa's most experienced statesmen, President Mobutu has worked with six US Presidents. And together, they and we have sought to bring to Zaire, and to all of Africa, real economic and social progress, and to pursue Africa's true independence, security, stability as the bases for that development.

Remarks made by President George Bush, White House meeting with Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko, June 29, 1989.

Introduction

Spanning more than three decades and the administrations of nine US Presidents, the US—Zairian “special relationship” was forged in the Cold War atmosphere of the early 1960s as the Eisenhower administration mounted a large-scale covert operation to maintain the territorial integrity and the pro-Western orientation of this formerly Belgian-ruled colony. In the aftermath of what would be the first of many interventionist episodes in Zaire, US Presidents from Kennedy to Bush identified US interests with the continued stability of that country. In particular, since 1965, Presidents publicly have reiterated Washington's special relationship with Zairian leader Mobutu Sese Seko. In a notable example of these close ties, Mobutu was the first African head of state to be invited by the Bush administration to come to Washington for an official state visit.