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by Mimick 3878 days ago
Most of the west support the corrupted politicians over the straight ones on Africa, just because a corrupted one is willing to give you advantages on his land over a straight one. So change isn't easy on Africa.
1 comments

That's very simplistic.

Here's a great case :

It is often said that the West picked Mobutu over Lumumba because the lattest was seen as a threat to mining interests.

Yet Mobutu nationalized the mines, then nationalized and redistributed most foreign assets.

And yet he was still supporter by the West.

The explanation: Mobutu played his cards right. The West was worried about Communism, he declared himself as strongly anti-communist and that was enough.

Also overly simplistic: "The West".

Remember there were often multiple competing powers each eager to sabotage the others if they couldn't get what they wanted.

Sometimes a corrupt government was a sort of "area denial" on resources. The old "If I can't get them, then neither can you" approach.