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During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union also engaged in an intense struggle for influence on the African continent, particularly in Ghana, Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, Angola, and South Africa.
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00:00History is not an exact science.
00:06It is never set in stone.
00:17As time passes, knowledge of the past is refined and evolves.
00:21But, by definition, received ideas have thick skins and are hard to shift.
00:42I have a dream that all men are created equal.
00:46To understand the realities of the world, you sometimes have to shake them up and decipher the facts by looking at them another way.
01:17In our collective consciousness, the Cold War is remembered as a global conflict between the USSR and the USA, centered in Europe and Asia.
01:27And yet…
01:28On April the 18th, 1955, Bandung in Indonesia became the focal point of the world.
01:47Thirty heads of state from Africa and Asia gather there for an exceptional event.
01:53This is the first Intercontinental Conference of Colored Peoples, so-called Colored Peoples, in the history of mankind.
02:10In Bandung, the Third World burst onto the international scene.
02:18The people of India, China and Vietnam were determined to get their voices heard,
02:23and were encouraging subjugated nations to shake off their oppressors.
02:28Following the Second World War, European powers were forced to relinquish their colonies.
02:33After Asia, it was Africa's turn.
02:36Its new states had to find their place in an international order, shaped by the Cold War between the Americans and the Soviets.
02:46March 1957, on the streets of Accra, the capital of the Abuika,
03:10March 1957, on the streets of Accra, the capital of the Gold Coast, the people were ecstatic.
03:19The former British colony had just proclaimed its independence, adopting the new name of Ghana.
03:24Ghana, we now have freedom. Ghana, land of freedom.
03:33Toils of debris and the sweat of the alibos. Toils of debris which have brought results.
03:40It's not every day that a new name is written on the map.
03:44Ghana, first African colony to achieve full independence.
03:49The architect of independence was Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who had been an anti-colonial activist
03:56since his youth and had trained as an economist.
03:59This is an opportunity for the African to demonstrate to the world that the African give them the
04:09chance, can manage his own affairs. And with the experience we have had, I'm quite sure
04:15that we shall be able to live up to this opportunity.
04:18The new president's dream was to lift his country out of its underdevelopment through modernization.
04:26But his optimism collided with the harsh reality.
04:35For over a century, 200 million Africans lived under the domination of colonial powers.
04:42Great Britain, France, Belgium, Spain and Portugal exploited Africa's people and resources,
04:49controlled its territories and destroyed its local cultures to satisfy their own needs.
04:54In the 1950s, Africa was in turmoil. Much still needed to be done.
05:08This required resources that Ghana simply didn't have.
05:15And neither did the countries that took part in the Bandung Conference,
05:18whose promises of cooperation were never honored.
05:33The economic and technological resources needed for modernization
05:37could be found in the United States and the Soviet Union.
05:42Since 1945, the two superpowers were dividing up the world
05:46and establishing an impassable border in the middle of Europe.
05:57The Americans promised freedom and abundance.
06:01The Soviets, social justice and a five-year plan.
06:05The two opposing ideologies competed in every sector.
06:13The economy, sports, culture and even nuclear power.
06:23The goal? Prove the superiority of their system and export it to the rest of the world.
06:28During this conflict, known as the Cold War, it seemed almost impossible not to choose sides.
06:43A former student in the United States, the Ghanaian president first turned to America.
06:50He sought support for a major dam project on Lake Volta,
06:53which would enable his country to develop its electricity grid.
07:02For President Eisenhower, the emerging African states represented new markets,
07:07reservoirs of raw materials and strategically valuable regions.
07:15They would also provide the United States with additional allies
07:18and extra votes in international organizations.
07:23A windfall that they did not want to lose to Moscow.
07:28The dam project would be signed.
07:34In the Kremlin, Communist Party First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev
07:38was also closely following the awakening of the peoples of Africa.
07:42This is a remarkable phenomenon of our time, he proclaimed.
07:48Communists are revolutionaries.
07:50And it would be unfortunate if they did not take advantage of these new opportunities.
07:58To realize his ambitions, he ordered the creation of new departments
08:02responsible for international relations.
08:04The special services, the KGB and the GRU, received special briefings on the situation in Africa.
08:18The scramble for the continent was on.
08:21But this time, Africans were attempting to set their own rules.
08:28To prevent further colonization, Mkrumah decided to play the competition.
08:35Back from Washington, he contacted Moscow and asked for help with a second project.
08:41The construction of a hydroelectric power station.
08:49What's more, Mkrumah was seduced by the Soviet growth model based on centralism,
08:54collectivization, and mass mobilization.
08:57In different to the sensitivities of his American partners, the Ghanaian president declared,
09:07Capitalism is too complicated a system for a newly independent nation.
09:11That's why we need a socialist society.
09:23A rapprochement that made Uncle Sam cringe.
09:26But withdrawing aid from Ghana would be tantamount to throwing the country into the arms of the Kremlin.
09:35That was out of the question.
09:36Mkrumah entered the Cold War without restricting himself to a single side.
09:49To multiply his alliances, the Ghanaian head of state also turned to the Chinese premier,
09:54Zhou Enlai, and cultivated relations with his former British colonists.
10:02His method was emulated on the African continent.
10:07Notably in the Congo, a former Belgian colony,
10:09where King Baudouin announced independence.
10:16Nous reconnaissons avec joie et émotion
10:21que le Congo accède ce 30 juin 1960
10:26à l'indépendance et à la souveraineté internationale.
10:31Cet indépendance du Congo ne signifie pas chasser le belge du Congo ou nous séparer de la Belgique.
10:57Mais au contraire, nous voulons constituer un gouvernement souverain,
11:00où les Congolais et les BNJ pourraient travailler main dans la main au service de la nation congolaise.
11:11Full of idealism, his appeal sounded like wishful thinking.
11:18In reality, nothing was in place for a successful transition.
11:22And some of the Belgian colonialists were not ready to relinquish their power.
11:33Five days after Lumumba's announcement,
11:35a mutiny by black soldiers against white officers erupted.
11:40It turned into a general strike and led to violent demonstrations.
11:46Many whites fled the country.
11:48Lumumba tried to control the situation by ridding the army of its Belgian officers.
12:08But he was faced with another even more serious conflict.
12:11The secessionist struggle in the southern province of Katanga.
12:21Its governor, Moïse Chumbe, called in mercenaries to gain independence for his province.
12:33A crisis that the Americans and Soviets were following closely.
12:36After all, Katanga boasted large reserves of uranium, essential for the nuclear programs being pursued by both superpowers.
12:48Thanks to an agreement with the Belgian colonists, the Americans had hitherto enjoyed the right to mine it.
12:54Uranium from Katanga was even used to make the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
12:59But now that the Congo had become independent, there was nothing to stop Lumumba doing business with Moscow,
13:07even if the prime minister denied any collusion with the Kremlin.
13:11You are a communist, Mr Lumumba?
13:13I always have to laugh when I ask myself this question.
13:18I am simply a nationalist, a leader, a nationalist who fights for an ideal.
13:24I am not a communist at all and I will never become a communist.
13:31But in the context of the Cold War, these words did little to ease the fears of the Western powers.
13:37Encouraged by its American ally, Brussels sent 10,000 troops to the Congo.
13:44Officially, they came to protect the white population against violence.
13:49In reality, some Belgians lent a hand to the Katanga secessionists.
13:57A month later, Belgium signed an agreement with the province's governor,
14:01de facto recognizing its independence.
14:06The UN sent peacekeepers to restore order, but not to stop the Belgians.
14:27Backed into a corner, the Congolese prime minister decided to go all out and requested Soviet support.
14:33The Kremlin saw an opportunity to win a new African ally.
14:42As a sign of support, a Soviet embassy opened in Leopoldville.
14:48The USSR strongly condemned the Belgian interference, accusing Brussels of neo-colonialism.
14:54Lumumba became a symbol of the struggle against American imperialism.
14:58CONCLUSION
15:02Número 25, cidade de Irkúteca, Lomumba-Nami.
15:22Confronted with this new development, Washington wondered what course to take.
15:27Lomumba's rapprochement with Moscow was worrying, and Secret Service reports were alarming.
15:36Larry Devlin, CIA station chief in Leopoldville, wrote,
15:41We believe he will become a strongman, eliminate moderate opposition,
15:45and establish a regime under the influence of, if not totally controlled by, the commies.
15:53The response was swift.
15:54CIA chief Alan Dulles made a radical decision.
16:00Lomumba's removal is our most important objective.
16:04To achieve its ends, the USA recruited a high-ranking member of the Congolese army
16:23and a former Lomumba protégé.
16:26His name was Joseph Mobutu, and he was fiercely opposed to communism
16:31and consumed by the desire to rule the Congo.
16:37Backed by Uncle Sam's military and financial power, Mobutu did the dirty work.
16:41He deposed Lumumba, placed him under house arrest, and cleaned up the country.
16:49Hiding in a small car,
17:17Lumumba managed to escape from his residence.
17:21A week later, he was caught by Mobutu's men and handed over to the Katanga rebels.
17:30The Congolese prime minister was executed on January the 17th, 1961.
17:36His body was dissolved in acid to avoid any commemoration.
17:40For the Americans, Mobutu was the perfect candidate to replace him.
17:45It is in our interest to support Colonel Mobutu as a counter-power,
17:54Larry Devlin wrote to the CIA.
17:57He is waiting for our instructions now and in the coming days.
18:01Washington had won a round in the Congo.
18:08The Americans had put a pro-Western pawn in office and ousted the Soviets.
18:17Freshly elected to the White House,
18:19President Kennedy personally congratulated Mobutu for his help.
18:23General, without you, this whole thing would have failed and the communists would have taken power.
18:33CIA archives would later reveal that nearly $20 million had been transferred to Mobutu
18:39without any accounting records.
18:48Lumumba's death sparked a worldwide wave of indignation.
18:52At the United Nations, African-American activists burst into a Security Council meeting
19:05and accused the United States of assassinating the Congolese prime minister.
19:14Demonstrations against U.S. imperialism multiplied,
19:17as did hostile declarations by African leaders.
19:22In Ghana, Nkrumah's fierce speeches even jeopardized funding for his dam.
19:33The United States wasn't managing to win people over on the African continent.
19:41All the more so, as it continued to support South Africa and its apartheid regime,
19:47a system of strict racial segregation created by the white minority,
19:53who were convinced that they had been chosen by God to rule over black people.
19:57Each nation has its place in the plan of God,
20:07as it is written in the Bible.
20:10If you believe in Jesus Christ, you have met your problems.
20:11If you believe in Jesus Christ, you will be able to solve the half of your problems.
20:16Then, you will be able to help them, and you will be able to help them.
20:19Segregation was enforced through violent repression.
20:32O que é isso?
21:02O que é isso?
21:32O que é isso?
21:34O que é isso?
21:40O que é isso?
21:42a oportunidade for a Kremlin to take a leading role.
21:47Moscou offered to train ANC leaders
21:49and fully exploited this support
21:51while accusing America of racism.
21:59In the early 1960s,
22:00the USSR enjoyed an excellent reputation
22:03on the African continent.
22:07Unions top salesman of communist doctrine
22:09gets the VIP treatment in Ghana
22:11as he arrives with a briefcase full of promises.
22:17African and Soviet dignitaries met regularly
22:20and new projects were approved.
22:29Almost 40 African countries benefited
22:31from the presence of the 40,000 engineers,
22:34political and military advisers sent by the Kremlin.
22:39And that's not all.
22:44In Moscow, the People's Friendship University,
22:46aptly renamed Patris Lumumba University,
22:48offered generous scholarships to African students.
22:52Moscow.
22:53Moscow.
22:54Moscow.
22:55U.S.
22:56University of London,
22:57the name Patris Lumumba University,
22:58offered generous scholarships to African students.
22:59Moscow.
23:00U.S.
23:01U.S.
23:02University of the United States,
23:03the name Patris Lumumba University,
23:04the name Patris Lumumba University.
23:05The training of specialists
23:09is carried out here on six faculties.
23:11The physics,
23:12the mathematical and natural sciences,
23:14the engineering,
23:15the medical,
23:16the industrial,
23:17the industrial,
23:18the history and philological,
23:19the Faculty of Economics and the Right.
23:21The program included language courses,
23:35a visit to Lenin's mausoleum on Red Square,
23:41and a taste of the Russian winter.
23:59The seduction operation was well underway.
24:03Magnanimous,
24:04Khrushchev declared to the students,
24:07We won't be saddened if you don't become communists,
24:09yet you will always remain honest
24:11if you devote your lives
24:13to the faithful service of your people
24:15and not to the money bag,
24:17the gold coin.
24:30Faced with the Soviet onslaught,
24:31the Kennedy administration had to react.
24:34and their own system.
24:36The African continent
24:37could not be left to the USSR.
24:43We can welcome diversity,
24:45the Communists cannot,
24:46for we offer a world of choice,
24:49and they offer a world of coercion.
24:57The centerpiece at the heart
24:58of the new American soft power
25:00was the Peace Corps.
25:01Young volunteers on humanitarian missions
25:04to teach English, mechanics and medicine.
25:06I'm gonna join the Peace Corps,
25:13hard workin' Peace Corps,
25:15gonna be a Valentino across the blue.
25:19I'm gonna join the Peace Corps,
25:21every lovin' Peace Corps.
25:23I'm gonna teach them foreign gals a thing or two.
25:34Our Peace Corps, I want to emphasize,
25:36is not designed as a weapon of propaganda,
25:40is not designed as a tool in the Cold War.
25:43It is a genuine effort by the people of the United States
25:48to play their part in working for peace.
25:52They will live at the same level
25:54as the citizens of the country
25:56which they're sent to,
25:57doing the same work, eating the same food,
26:00speaking the same language.
26:01The need to restore the image of the United States
26:14was all the more urgent
26:15after the outbreak of the Vietnam War,
26:18which had slowed the scramble for Africa
26:20and revived the specter of American colonialism.
26:29Embroiled in the conflict in Asia,
26:31America gave up on new adventures in the tropics.
26:44All the more so because in Africa,
26:46everything had gone wrong.
26:50Just a decade after the first wave of independence,
26:55the people of Africa were disillusioned with their leaders,
26:59who had failed to deliver on the promises
27:01of social justice and growth.
27:04Some, like Nkrumah, even took an authoritarian turn,
27:07establishing a single party
27:09and imposing a personality cult.
27:17The Ghanaian leader,
27:18a leading figure of decolonisation,
27:20was ousted in a coup d'état in 1966.
27:25His statue removed.
27:29And his writings burned.
27:31The cost of Nkrumahism became too great for the people to bear.
27:38Vast prestige projects
27:40theft the country's dwindling wealth.
27:42The rulers lived in opulence,
27:44while the average Ghanaian worker
27:46would be lucky to earn $40 a month.
27:48in the late 1960s,
27:58a new generation of African nationalist leaders emerged.
28:08One of these was Somali general Mohamed Siad Bari.
28:11In 1969, he instigated a putsch against the pro-Western government in Mogadishu.
28:22In the aftermath, he declared,
28:24To guarantee the interests of the Somali people,
28:27we declared that Somalia will henceforth be a socialist state.
28:35To back up his statements,
28:36the general circulated placards and symbols
28:38that left no doubt about his convictions.
28:41It was an invitation that the Kremlin leadership
28:55and its new strongman Leonid Brezhnev couldn't ignore.
29:02From a geostrategic point of view,
29:04Somalia was a very valuable country.
29:06Its ports controlled the major maritime trade routes
29:09between the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean.
29:15In 1974, a cooperation agreement was signed.
29:20Soviet engineers arrived to build a missile base
29:22and a naval center near the Red Sea.
29:29The Somali Democratic Republic
29:30thus became the most substantial Soviet investment in Africa.
29:39That same year, Europe's last colonial power, Portugal,
29:44freed itself from 40 years of dictatorship
29:49with the Carnation Revolution.
29:54The new democratic government decided to withdraw from Angola,
29:58which it had occupied since the 16th century.
30:01The first colony on the African continent
30:05and a former hub of the slave trade
30:07would be one of the last to regain its independence.
30:13The date was set a year and a half later,
30:15for November the 11th, 1975.
30:20In accordance with the agreement signed with the Portuguese,
30:22the MPLA, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola,
30:27was to take power.
30:35The party was led by the socialist Agosto Neto.
30:39A medical student in the Portuguese capital,
30:41he was trusted by the former colonists.
30:43but his position as leader was fragile.
31:06The foreign forces were represented by two other factions vying for power.
31:10In the north, the FNLA,
31:15the National Liberation Front for Angola.
31:18And in the south, Jonas Savimbi's UNITA.
31:23Both parties were backed by the United States
31:25and Mobutu's Congo, now known as Zaire.
31:29Their aim, to prevent the establishment
31:31of a socialist government in Angola.
31:34Civil war broke out between the three factions.
31:45Whoever took control of the capital, Luanda,
31:47on November the 11th, 1975,
31:50the day independence was to be announced,
31:52would win power.
31:57For the two rival blocs,
31:59a new opportunity to gain ground in Africa opened up.
32:02The only obstacle to their expansionist ambitions
32:05was the policy of detente
32:07that Moscow and Washington had been pursuing
32:09over the past ten years.
32:12Given this,
32:14actively intervening in Angola
32:16would be seen as a provocation by both sides.
32:18After a brief period of hesitation,
32:30Moscow decided to become involved in the conflict.
32:35To avoid jeopardizing the rapprochement,
32:37sending troops was out of the question.
32:39Instead, the Kremlin opted for logistical and materials support.
32:47Soviet weapons enabled Agosto Neto's troops
32:50to take Luanda in June 1975.
32:58The White House was in panic.
33:00The Soviet Union has sent close to $200 million worth of military equipment to Angola.
33:09Soviet actions in Angola, if continued,
33:13are bound to affect the general relationship with the United States.
33:18In response, Henry Kissinger, advisor to the U.S. President,
33:25and Bill Colby, head of the CIA, met in the Oval Office.
33:30The MPLA had to be stopped at all costs.
33:37The CIA set up a secret operation
33:39to send $50 million worth of equipment to Neto's opponents.
33:50The deliveries were routed through Mobutu Zaire, an American ally.
33:57He wasn't the only supporter on the continent that the USA rallied around.
34:04There was also South Africa.
34:06Pretoria sent 3,000 soldiers to Angola.
34:16And so began one of the bloodiest confrontations of the Cold War.
34:23Armed with American equipment,
34:26rebel troops advanced from the north and south towards the capital.
34:29The Polish journalist, Richard Kapuscinski, described the tension in Luanda as the troops approached.
34:47Who is going to get there first?
34:49The FNLA is a brutal army.
34:52A few days ago, they took the town of Lukala.
34:55Not a single survivor was left.
34:59Women's heads were scattered along the road.
35:02Bodies with hearts and livers cut out.
35:10On November the 2nd, a week before the date of independence,
35:14the rebel armies were only 30 kilometers from Luanda.
35:16Neto's MPLA soldiers were surrounded.
35:27He sent an urgent telegram to Moscow asking for help.
35:33When the Kremlin refused, Neto turned to another communist ally.
35:38Fidel Castro in Cuba.
35:39With Moscow's tacit agreement, Castro launched Operation Carlota two days later.
35:53The last-ditch rescue of a socialist Angola.
35:56Three Cuban army planes made 70 round flights between the island and Luanda,
36:06a total of 18,000 kilometers each way,
36:09transporting almost 4,000 volunteer soldiers and weapons.
36:15In Angola, thousands of kilometers from their homes,
36:19the Soviets and Americans were waging a hot war through proxy armies.
36:23The fighting ended in a resounding Cuban victory,
36:50allowing Agosto Neto's MPLA to take power.
36:57On November the 11th, 1975,
37:00Neto proclaimed the country's independence and became its president.
37:08Although Moscow officially distanced itself from the conflict,
37:11no one was fooled.
37:13The USSR had won.
37:15A triumph that was difficult for its American rival to accept.
37:18We don't think the Russians are going to have any permanent foothold in Africa, in Angola or anywhere else.
37:26The whole record of the African countries is that while they may smile for once in a while on Russian help,
37:32they get rid of them as soon as they're able to.
37:34Moscow savored its triumph.
37:35The tide is finally turning in our direction, claimed a Kremlin official.
37:47The Americans, on the other hand, were humiliated by the outcome of the war.
37:57They were also widely criticized for their support of the South African regime.
38:01Some elites were convinced that their country was losing the battle for Africa.
38:15Galvanized by their success, the Soviets continued their offensive on the African continent.
38:20Their new target, Ethiopia, in East Africa.
38:28Ethiopia was never colonized.
38:30It was one of the oldest monarchies in the world.
38:33Its king, Haile Selassie, had been reigning like a despot for decades,
38:37ruling over a people living in poverty,
38:40with only 5% of the population able to read and write.
38:43In 1974, a revolution broke out.
38:52A movement called the Derg overthrew and executed the king.
38:57At the head of the movement was Mengistu Haile Marian,
39:02a military officer from a working-class background.
39:05He announced his intention to transform the country
39:09according to the principles of Marxism-Leninism.
39:20Addis Ababa University, funded by the USA since the 1950s,
39:24became the focal point of the revolution.
39:33Mengistu also launched a campaign against his opponents.
39:36During a public speech, the new Ethiopian leader broke a bottle of red liquid
39:42to show that he intended to spill the blood of counter-revolutionaries.
39:57A wave of terror swept through the country.
39:59Over the next two years, 500,000 men, women, and children were rounded up and executed.
40:11The atrocities did not prevent Moscow from supporting the country's socialist transformation.
40:20Ethiopia nationalized its enterprises and collectivized its land,
40:23all under the benevolent eye of its Soviet big brother.
40:32Though the Kremlin turned a blind eye to the Red Terror,
40:35it would have to take a position in the conflict between Ethiopia and the Somalia of Siadbari,
40:41another of its African protégés.
40:42On July 23, 1977, Somali troops invaded their Ethiopian neighbor.
40:51The cause of this attack, the Ogaden Desert.
40:57Located in Ethiopia, it was claimed by Somalia.
41:02The Kremlin had to weigh up the pros and cons in choosing sides.
41:09There was Somalia on the one hand with its favorable geo-strategic location.
41:16Siadbari was aware of this asset and made sure he wasn't confined to a relationship with the USSR.
41:24He also cultivated ties with China, Saudi Arabia, and even the United States.
41:33On the other hand, there was Ethiopia, which was more ideologically compliant.
41:40Mengistu went so far as to erect a statue of Lenin in the center of Addis Ababa,
41:45the largest outside of Europe.
41:46The Ethiopian leader also sparked enthusiasm among some European communist leaders,
41:54notably the East German Erich Honecker.
41:57General Secretary of the Socialist Union Party of Germany,
42:02товарищ Honecker, who came to the celebration of Addis Ababa,
42:05and товарищ Mengistu Hayli Mariam,
42:07opened the memorial to Karl Marx.
42:10But it wasn't all about ideology.
42:14Ethiopia would be useful in alleviating some of the shortcomings of the East German economy.
42:20In particular, a shortage of coffee,
42:23which made the GDR leaders fear a popular revolt.
42:30Mengistu agreed to exchange precious coffee beans for East German weapons.
42:35Honecker was convinced.
42:46Fidel Castro also wanted to make his position clear.
42:49After a meeting with Somalia's Siadbare and Ethiopia's Mengistu,
42:54Castro concluded,
42:56Siadbare is above all a nationalist,
42:59and the socialism he espouses is an empty shell.
43:02Mengistu, on the other hand, is a calm, serious, and sincere man,
43:07aware of the power of the masses.
43:10But it was up to Brezhnev to decide.
43:15In the war for the Ogaden Desert, he gave priority to Mengistu's Ethiopia.
43:19The Red Army undertook its biggest foreign military intervention since the Korean War in the 1950s.
43:28In just six months up to the summer of 1978,
43:43weapons and equipment valued at over a billion dollars were sent to Ethiopia.
43:49Fidel Castro added 11,000 of his own soldiers,
43:52a huge military force that crushed the U.S.-backed Somali army.
44:07Once again, the proxy battle between the two superpowers ended in a Soviet victory.
44:12But the U.S.S.S.R.'s relationship with the United States had reached a breaking point.
44:30Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter's National Security Advisor, later wrote,
44:35Détente was lost in the Ogaden Desert.
44:42It was time for America to strike back.
44:48In 1981, Ronald Reagan became the new occupant of the White House.
44:56For him, the U.S.S.R. was nothing less than an evil empire
44:59that had to be destroyed at all costs.
45:01Bloodshed.
45:04And it seemed like a good time to strike.
45:07For the past two years, the Soviet Union had been bogged down in Afghanistan,
45:12where it was draining precious resources.
45:15Reagan wanted to deliver the death blow
45:18and launched a new arms race dubbed Star Wars.
45:21The Strategic Defense Initiative, an extensive research and development program,
45:32is designed to explore ways of defending America and its allies from ballistic missile attack.
45:39Great progress has been made since the program began.
45:41Freed from the burden of Vietnam, the Americans were able to focus on the African continent again.
45:54Reagan received Jonas Zavimbi of Angola's UNITA, an opponent of the existing socialist government in power,
46:00and reaffirmed his support.
46:09Washington also reviewed its relations with South Africa,
46:12where the apartheid policy was becoming increasingly problematic.
46:19Numerous riots broke out in the townships where the black population was concentrated.
46:22The South African army violently suppressed them.
46:34Under pressure from the black civil rights movements,
46:37the United States had to distance itself from this repression.
46:40South African politicians, Westerners, and ANC opposition leaders secretly began negotiations.
46:57For the first time, white leaders contemplated abolishing apartheid.
47:01And in exchange, the ANC, hitherto supported by Moscow,
47:05promised to abandon its socialist policies.
47:07By the mid-1980s, communism was no longer inspiring African people.
47:18On the contrary, its record had been disastrous.
47:30Notably with the faithful comrade Mengistu in Ethiopia,
47:33land collectivization led to terrible famine.
47:37In the north-eastern province of Wallow alone,
47:40it claimed the lives of over 500,000 people.
47:53In Moscow, the aging political class had no answer to the erosion of its influence.
47:57The Red Empire had its own economic problems to contend with.
48:10Appointed head of the Communist Party in 1985,
48:13Mikhail Gorbachev recognized his country's difficulties.
48:19Under his leadership, the USSR began to withdraw from Africa.
48:22So, when Eritrean independence fighters threatened to break away in northern Ethiopia,
48:29Gorbachev did not support Mengistu.
48:32This was partly due to a lack of resources.
48:36But, above all, it was because good relations with Europe and the United States
48:41had become his priority.
48:42Commenting on Africa, Andrei Kozyrov, the soon-to-be Minister of Foreign Affairs, said,
48:52The majority of developing countries do not suffer so much from capitalism as from its absence.
48:59An admission of failure in 1988 that heralded the definitive end of the Soviet project in Africa.
49:08One year later, the Berlin Wall fell.
49:18And two years later, the Soviet Union was dismantled.
49:22The Cold War was over.
49:37And on the African continent, the alliances that had been woven over more than 30 years collapsed like a house of cards.
49:43America successively dropped its anti-communist pawns, Mobutu in Zaire and Zavimbi in Angola.
49:54In Ethiopia, Mengistu declared his intention to abandon communism and opened up the country to a mixed economy.
50:03An opportunistic change of heart that did nothing to prevent the breakup of Eritrea, the last African country to gain its independence in 1993.
50:18In 1994, after 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela became the first president of a new South Africa.
50:25Polish journalist, Richard Kapuscinski wrote,
50:36In Africa, the Cold War was waged in a particularly brutal and cynical way.
50:42And Africa was incapable of doing anything to stop the slaughter.
50:46The end of the Cold War provided Africa with the opportunity to regain control of its fate.
51:01In 2002, the Organization of African Unity became the African Union.
51:06A new tool for economic and political cooperation and a deterrent to the foreign greed that continues to prey on Africa.
51:23Americans, Europeans, Russians and Chinese alike are investing in the continent to exploit its precious resources.
51:29To mark the 60th anniversary of the African Union in 2023, its president warned against a potentially dangerous future.
51:41The will of each and of the others threaten to transform Africa into a field of geostrategic battle.
51:48By creating a new version of the cold war, we must resist all forms of instrumentalization of our members.
51:57The challenge for Africa is to confront the new forces of imperialism and prevent history from repeating itself.
52:10The prohibitive creature is removing this become brutal and intense.
52:11Live evidence in order of being persecuted at the summit at the summit by the frontier,
52:12and with its weak and the army from more than thearena.
52:13The limit of the attack previously needed to
52:38A CIDADE NO BRASIL
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