Canada Cheers on 'Africa's Most Ruthless Regime'
AUGUST 13, 2024
BY YVES ENGLER
While the Canadian government questions whether Nicolas Maduro really won 51% of the vote in Venezuela’s presidential election it has no trouble with Africa’s most bloodstained dictator claiming 99%. Ottawa also has no trouble supporting the Rwandan government despite UN experts accusing it of aggression.
Two weeks ago, Paul Kagame ‘won’ 99.18% of the vote in the Rwandan presidential election. It was an improvement on the 98.63% he received in 2017 but Kagame should be concerned as he’s running out of room to improve his tally in future elections.
Kagame’s main competitors were formally excluded from running. Victoire Ingabire and Diane Shima Rwigara have spent time in jail for challenging the strongman and were not allowed to run. Kagame has repeatedly assassinated political opponents both inside Rwanda and across the continent. In 2020 the regime kidnapped its most famous opponent, Paul Rusesabagina, who is the namesake for the Hollywood film Hotel Rwanda. A Belgian citizen and US Green Card holder, Rusesabagina was snatched from Dubai and flown to Rwanda where he languished in jail for three years.
Kagame has ruled Rwanda with an iron fist for 30 years. His regime has also unleashed three decades of mayhem in Congo, as has been detailed in countless UN and other reports. In their Final Report released last month the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo concluded that as many as 4,000 Rwandan troops were in eastern Congo. It also noted that Rwandan forces’ have “de facto control and direction over M23 operations.” In late 2021 M23 rebels instigated a new round of fighting in eastern Congo that’s killed thousands and displaced 2 million. (About seven million Congolese were already internally displaced due to years of violence, which Rwanda has played an important role in.)
More:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/08/13/canada-cheers-on-africas-most-ruthless-regime/
