Searching for the Truth
Dr. Edward Fisher | Jubilee USA Network
Until then, I had no
inkling of the secret webwork of greed and intrigue in which the entire
continent of Africa is entangled. Like most Americans, I was naïve—spoon-fed a
steady diet of media images that would lead one to believe that Africa is
simply hopelessly backward, corrupt and full of violence. Rich in natural
resources beyond belief, the West has been robbing it blind with calculated
cruelty since the 16th century. The
grip of the colonial powers was weakened somewhat following World War II, but
returned with a vengeance after the Independence Movements of the 1960s.
The old, original corporations of the past, like the British
East Africa Company, referred to the territories they ravaged with names like
the Slave Coast, Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, and Skeleton Coast.
Today, many places on the continent are merely facades for
global interests, serving as storefronts for what amounts to little more than
organized criminal enterprises. So, nation-states that go by such names as Nigeria
(BP and Shell), Liberia (Firestone), Angola (DeBeers), Namibia (DeBeers), etc.
are really are in many ways victimized by multinational corporations that take
advantage of the country’s need for investment.