"The Congo is the heart of Africa," Joseph Mobutu likes to boast. "When the heart is ailing, the rest of the body suffers. But the heart has resumed its normal beat." By any standard, the Congo's President has reason to be proud of his country's recent progress. When the Belgian Congo received its independence ten years ago this week, it was woefully ill prepared for self-rule; of its 14 million citizens, only 13 were university graduates. On the fifth day of independence, the army rose in mutiny. In the ensuing seven years,...
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