Mobutu, King of Zaire (1999)

Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, an emblematic figure of the Cold War and the era of decolonization, was one of the longest-serving and most tenacious dictators of his time. In November 1965, with the backing of the CIA, he orchestrated a military coup to seize power in the former Belgian Congo.

Renaming the country “Zaire,” Mobutu established a regime built on fear, repression, and violence. Within just a few decades, this young sergeant of the colonial army became one of the richest and most feared men in the world. As a strategic ally of the West, he constructed an autocratic and predatory system in which money reigned supreme.

He skillfully distributed favors and punishments, consolidating his rule over a nation plagued by corruption and impoverishment. Driven by boundless pride, Mobutu bestowed upon himself grandiloquent titles such as “The Enlightened Guide,” “Father of the Nation,” and even “Marshal of Zaire.” His reign, characterized by opulence and predation, eventually collapsed in the face of an armed rebellion and his own illness.

Forced into exile, he died far from his homeland, in a tragic and inglorious end. The story of Mobutu is that of an extraordinary destiny, marked by excessive ambition, betrayals, and tragedies. Like a Shakespearean character, he embodied both grandeur and decline, leaving behind the ruins of a lost kingdom.

00:00 Introduction & opening credits
03:06 Mobutu’s youth in the Belgian Congo
04:12 Mobutu as guest at Expo 58 in Brussels
06:15 Round Table Conference and independence
09:45 Mobutu becomes Commander-in-Chief of the Force Publique
10:43 Mutiny of the Force Publique (1960)
11:05 Tensions with Patrice Lumumba
12:59 Mobutu’s first coup d’état
15:52 Assassination of Patrice Lumumba
18:08 Congo Crisis and Simba Rebellion
21:30 Mobutu’s second coup d’état
24:03 Mobutu becomes the sole ruler of Congo
28:52 Mobutu declares Lumumba a national hero
30:12 Mobutu’s first diplomatic tour
32:28 King Baudouin’s state visit (1970)
33:43 Launch of the MPR
35:10 Congo becomes Zaire
36:33 Launch of Mobutism
43:08 Student protests in Zaire (1969)
45:33 The Pentecost Trials (1978)
51:53 Mobutu’s private life
1:00:15 Economic crisis and Zairianization policy
1:06:50 Zaire’s space program
1:07:45 Shaba War (1978)
1:13:07 General elections of 1984
1:16:11 Mobutu’s wealth
1:21:06 Mobutu’s second diplomatic tour
1:28:03 Fall of the Ceaușescu regime
1:29:59 End of the one-party state
1:33:18 National Conference of Zaire
1:36:26 March of Hope (1992)
1:39:47 Mobutu retreats to Gbadolite
1:45:35 Unrest in Zaire (1991-1993)
1:47:04 Death of Konga Mobutu (Mobutu’s son)
1:53:03 Mobutu undergoes surgery in Switzerland
1:54:35 Beginning of the First Congo War
1:56:02 Mobutu returns to Congo
2:01:23 Mobutu meets Laurent-Désiré Kabila
2:04:35 Fall of Zaire
2:06:26 Mobutu dies in exile
2:07:12 End credits

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