Having
lived in Belgium for 18 years, I figured it was time to start learning about
the country’s colonial past. Or should I say present?
My
research is at an early stage but it has lead to an unavoidable conclusion: the
Belgian elite still behaves as if it calls the shots in Congo.
The
French-language magazine Marianne recently published the names of 10 men
implicated in the 1961 assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the first Congolese
prime minister after its independence. The list — compiled by Lumumba’s
family for a legal investigation opened in Brussels two years ago — include
Etienne Davignon, a former member of the European Commission and chairman of
that “gentlemen’s club” for global capitalism, the Bilderberg Group.
Davignon worked for the Belgian foreign ministry at the time of Lumumba’s
murder and reportedly drew up a telegram recommending the prime minister’s
“removal”.
Now
in his 80s, Davignon remains a high-flying corporate lobbyist. His appearance
on the Lumumba list prompted me to check if his commercial activities are in
any way connected with Congo. The short answer is “yes, they are”.
