Even the ancient Greeks and Romans highly appreciated the natural properties of diamonds and even believed that fantastic in attractiveness precious stones are the tears of the gods. Indeed, diamonds that are born from diamonds under the skillful hand of a jeweler are highly valued by mankind, since they are often one of a kind, unique in color, transparency and durability, creations of nature and man. No wonder diamonds are a symbol of eternity.
The natural resources of the country have become a terrible curse for its people - after all, everyone wants to seize them.
For a number of countries in the world, diamond mining is an important item of national income, a striking example of this is the African state of Botswana. For this country, the development of significant diamond deposits made it possible to achieve fantastic GDP growth rates, which in the period from 1966 to 2014 averaged 5, 9% - the third place in the world after China and South Korea.
CAR today
In the case of the Central African Republic (CAR), its diamond and other natural resources have become a terrible curse for its people. The CAR lies in the heart of Africa and encompasses an area comparable in size to Ukraine. Time as a difficult landscape and climatic conditions, as well as a significant distance from the sea coast made TsAR a sparsely populated space - now only 4, 7-4, 8 million people live in TsAR (39th place in Africa in terms of population).
At the same time, the quantitatively small size of the population did not prevent its frantic fragmentation, because the puzzle of the local society is made up of more than 80 ethnic groups. Each of the ethnic groups has its own language, but the state language - Songo - although it is understood by 92% of the population, it is really native only for 0.5 million locals, which significantly complicates the formation of a common linguistic identity. In fact, the CAR is a mosaic of ethnic groups that have very little in common.
The era of French colonial rule, which lasted almost 60 years, partially streamlined the local ethnic cocktail due to the introduction of education in French, but in general, the core of the nation was not formed, and now only 22% of the CAR population speak French. A completely negative role was also played by the fact that on the eve of independence of the Ubangi-Sloe colony (the so-called Central African Republic of 1960), officials in Paris reshaped its territory, demolishing almost half of the land, and included in the neighboring countries of the Central African Republic - Chad, Cameroon and Congo (Brazzaville).
This disunity still weighs on a state that has lost its ancient borders in the north and west. In addition to the ethnic and linguistic fragmentation of the population and the trauma of territorial loss, the CAR society was further divided along religious and regional lines. 80% of people in the country profess Christianity (51% are Protestants, 29% are Catholics), another 10% are Sunni Muslims, and another 10% are local cults.
Most Muslims live in the metropolitan area and on the eastern borders of the CAR. Historically, almost all the top leaders of the republic came from Christians, therefore, Muslims felt themselves on the sidelines of political life. President Jean-Bidel Bocassi's transition to Islam for three months in 1976 pending financial assistance from Libyan Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi and the annual reign of Muslim President Michel Jotodia (2013-2014) did not improve the lives of local Muslims in any way.
A series of dictators
Another line of internal division within the country is the division of its elites into "northerners" and "southerners." The formation of these enemy elite groups took place during the presidency of General André Colingby (1981-1993), who distributed the most attractive positions in the country to those from his Yakoma ethnic group, who came from the Sawan region. They began to be called the "southerners" clan. During the reign of his successor, Ange-Felix Patassé (1993-2003), power passed into the hands of the alliance of the Sara-Kaba, Souma and Kara ethnic groups, who live in the forested regions of the Ubangi River. They are called “northerners.” The conflicts between the two regional alliances took the form of inter-ethnic violence and the organization of armed rebellions.
After the overthrow of the Patassé government and the coming to power of President François Bozizé in 2004, an uprising of the Muslim population began, which escalated into three civil wars. The first war, the "war in the bush" (2004-2007), allowed Muslims to win seats in the government of national reconciliation.
However, Bozize's reluctance to fulfill all the demands of the Muslim rebels destroyed the peace accords and sparked a second civil war (2012-2014). During another conflict, a coalition of Muslim rebel movements "Seleka" ("union" in translation from the Sango language) seized the capital of Bangui and handed over power to the Muslim Michel Jotodia.
However, the situation in the country has not returned to normal. The government controlled only the capital, while statehood ceased to exist on the other territory of the TsAR. Security and legality have disappeared, the police, the prosecutor's office, and the judiciary have also disappeared. The medical system and educational institutions ceased to function. 70% of hospitals and schools were looted and destroyed. The penitentiary system collapsed: out of 35 prisons, only 8. Thousands of former criminals took to the streets.
The Seleka fighters did not receive a salary and began to engage in robberies and racketeering, as well as kidnapping. At the same time, they began to systematically destroy Christian settlements without affecting Muslim ones. In response, the Christians formed their own military alliance - "Antibalaka" (translated from the Sango language - antimachete), headed by Levi Maket. Christian militants undertook to carry out terror against the Muslim minority, massacres on religious grounds began in the country. During the attempt to overthrow the Jotodia regime on December 5, 2013 alone, more than 1,000 Muslims were killed in the capital.
Only the intervention of France, which in December 2013 for the seventh time carried out a military intervention in the CAR, stopped the transformation of the republic into a "second Rwanda". Although the French managed to disarm some of the Seleka and Antibalaki militants, these alliances seized power on the ground. Until the end of 2014, the country actually fell apart: the south and west fell under the control of the Anti-Balaki militants, while the north and east remained under the control of the scattered Séléka units (60% of the territory), which was disbanded in 2013. separatism began to spread in the east, and in December 2015, the creation of a quasi-state, the "Republic of Logone", was proclaimed there.
In total, 14 enclaves arose on the territory of the CAR, controlled by autonomous armed groups. On the territory of each of the enclaves, the militants set up their own checkpoints, collected illegal taxes and payments, carried out millions of transactions through the smuggling of coffee, diamonds and valuable timber.
After the 2016 presidential elections, power passed to Christian Faustin-Arschange Touaderi, and France withdrew its armed contingent from the country, which greatly weakened the position of the central government and actually marked the beginning of the third civil war in the country. Its meaning lies in the attempt by the central government to restore the territorial integrity of the country and to bring numerous groups of militants under its control.
So, for 14 years the population of the CAR has been going through terrible trials, and the country, without exaggeration, has turned into a land abundantly flooded with human tears. At least 1.2 million local residents were forced to leave their homes, that is, every fourth is a refugee or internally displaced person. In 2017 alone, the number of internally displaced persons increased by 70%.
On 80% of the CARs, there is total lawlessness and arbitrariness of warlords - field commanders of militants and their accomplices, these people block the normal activities of humanitarian organizations that provide food and medical assistance, the need for which is felt by 50% of the population of the CAR. The situation is aggravated by the fact that 75% of the population of the republic are young people under 35 years old. In the absence of jobs and widespread unemployment, they become easy prey for recruiters of combat units of various rebel groups. At the same time, the HIV-AIDS epidemic is raging in the CAR - 15% of the adult population are infected with this disease.
Prospects for the CAR
The picture of total despair and hopelessness in the CAR makes one think that the country could have had a different fate. Paradoxically, this question can be answered in the affirmative.
The first factor of success could consist in good starting conditions: at the dawn of independence, only a little more than 1 million people lived on its territory, therefore, against the background of significant resource potential, almost a welfare state could be created, then something similar in terms of living conditions to relatively prosperous Gabon or Kenya. Stability in the country could be based on a relatively equitable distribution of the country's natural wealth.
Before the civil war that began in 2012, the CAR was in 10th place in the world in terms of diamond production in the world, while they are of high quality (5th in the world for this indicator). The CAR also has significant reserves of gold, uranium concentrate, and iron ore. Exploration and prospecting for oil and gas continues, while there is significant hydro potential for electricity generation. At present, attracting foreign investment in the mineral extraction sector remains the main task of the government of President Touaderi.
Only the intervention of France, which in December 2013 for the seventh time carried out a military intervention in the CAR, stopped the transformation of the republic into a "second Rwanda"
The second factor in the country's success could be associated with the emergence of a national leader who would serve his state and work faithfully in its favor. Oddly enough, tormented by military coups by the terrible period of the reign of Emperor Bokassi, who was remembered by his people and the whole world for spending 25% of the country's annual sports profit on his Napoleon-style coronation, killing people, including children, at his own discretion and even a country wounded by three civil wars ate their bodies - once had such a person.
We are talking about Bertelemi Bogandu - men of an extraordinary and difficult fate. In early childhood, he lost his parents, he was raised by the Catholic mission of St. Paul in Bangui. Thanks to his innate talents, he was able to become the first Catholic priest of local origin in Ubangi-Sloe. Subsequently, he founded the "Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa". This party fought for a quick and complete decolonization of the republic and granting it sovereign rights.
Through violent political activity, Boganda enjoyed great prestige among the local population. He was called the most prominent leader of the African decolonization movement and the most talented, gifted and inventive of the entire generation of African politicians during the decolonization era of French Africa. Locals even gave him a name - "Black Christ", because they believed that he was so talented that he could cross the Ubangi River on foot by water. In fact, Boganda became the father of the modern independent CAR, he laid the foundations of its political system, became the author of the modern anthem and flag republics.
Realizing that most of the young African states are artificial formations in terms of their borders, he called for rallying on the basis of the former French West Africa. He campaigned for the unification of Central Africa in the form of the "United States of Latin Africa", which would unite the countries of the region whose inhabitants speak Romance languages - as opposed to British influence.
However, Bogandi's grandiose plans were not destined to come true - during the flight from Berberati to Bangui, his plane exploded. There is a version, although it has not been proven, but it is extremely not unreasonable that in this way the French got rid of their sworn enemy. One way or another, the CAR has lost a person who could turn this country into the foremost power in the world.
This logically leads to the idea that external forces played a huge role in shaping the tragic fate of the Central African Republic. Figuratively, the postcolonial history of the republic can be described as a pendulum swinging in the direction of Paris, then in the direction of other states. It was France that for a long time acted as the kingmaker in the CAR land. The creatures of the Elysee Palace were presidents David Daco, Jean-Bedel Bokassa - so, despite all that he did, André Colingba, Catherine Samba-Panza. In turn, Ange-Felix Patassé focused on Libya, François Bozize sought support from Canada, China and South Africa, Michelle Jotodia focused on Ugar and the monarchy of the Persian Gulf.
