-The White House
Madrid, December 4 (European Press) –
The presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Felix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame, respectively, on Thursday signed with White House chief Donald Trump the “peace” agreement reached half a year ago dubbed the “Washington Accords” that seeks to end “decades of violence and bloodshed.”
Before signing the document at the US Institute of Peace, Trump explained that this agreement “formalizes the terms agreed upon in June, including a permanent ceasefire, the disarmament of non-governmental forces, guarantees for the return of refugees to their homes, and justice and accountability for all those who committed illegal atrocities.”
For the American President, it is “a very important day” because the “historic” agreement “will put an end to one of the longest conflicts, which claimed the lives of more than ten million people.” “Today we commit to ending decades of violence and bloodshed, and ushering in a new era of harmony and cooperation,” he said.
In this sense, he condemned that “one of the worst conflicts in the world has been taking place in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo for more than 30 years”, causing deaths that “continue forever and the displacement of many others from their homes”: “Families have been destroyed. It has been a disaster. Many governments have tried, but perhaps it is not very difficult (…) They say they tried but we are trying harder.”
He added: “More importantly, this agreement also creates a new framework for economic prosperity. There is enormous wealth in that beautiful land. It is a beautiful land stained with blood, a lot of blood. But in a region that will support lasting peace, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have agreed to integrate their economies more closely rather than fight.”
“These two gentlemen have spent a lot of time talking behind the scenes and in the Oval Office,” the New York businessman noted, although they “spent a lot of time killing each other, and now they’re going to spend a lot of time hugging and holding hands and taking advantage of the United States economically.” “They’re going to do very well, and they’ll have very valuable things. They’ll have a lot of money and a lot of success.”
Economic topic
During his opening remarks at the event, Trump also announced that he had signed bilateral agreements with Kinshasa and Kigali that “will open up new opportunities” for Washington, especially in the field of critical minerals.
He defended this by saying: “They will provide economic benefits to everyone, and we will participate in sending some of our largest and most prominent companies to both countries. We will extract some rare earth elements and some assets, and we will all make a lot of money.”
For his part, Tshisekedi “conveyed his gratitude” to Trump, his administration and the American people, while Kagame, who also expressed himself in this regard, praised that “no one asked” the US president to participate in these negotiations. “When he saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he joined immediately,” he added.
The talks began this year in the face of escalating conflict following an attack by the M23 movement, made up mainly of Congolese Tutsis, which managed to seize the capitals of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces, sparking angry accusations from the Democratic Republic of the Congo against Rwanda, which for its part denounces Kinshasa’s suppression of Tutsis with the support of armed groups such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda – founded by Hutus who fled after the 1994 Rwandan genocide – and other local militias.