Continued…….. In Haiti, Cuban doctors played a crucial role in disaster relief after the 2010 earthquake, while in Algeria, Cuba has supplied medical aid since 1963. Similarly, Ghana and South Africa have relied on Cuban doctors to bridge healthcare gaps, especially in rural areas.

Despite Rubio’s claims, Cuba argues that its doctors participate willingly and that the revenue generated supports its public healthcare system. Cuban officials maintain that their doctors serve humanitarian and economic purposes, helping sustain Cuba’s hospitals and clinics. 

Critics also accuse the US of hypocrisy, pointing to its use of poorly paid prison labour that some call ‘slavery.’ Based on US history, Rubio’s push seems aimed at undermining Cuba’s influence while the island nation continues to be a global leader in healthcare and genuine solidarity.

Sources

Rubio vs Cuba
https://editorials.voa.gov/a/expanded-penalties-for-those-exploiting-cuban-labor/7995240.html
https://x.com/SecRubio/status/1894439449666187593

Algeria Cuba
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/06/68716/us-bill-against-cuban-doctor-trafficking-could-impact-algeria/
https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intejcubastud.15.2.0203
https://time.com/5467742/cuba-doctors-export-brazil/?ref=hir.harvard.edu

Haiti Cuba
https://www.counterpunch.org/2012/12/14/medical-internationalism-in-cuba/
https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intejcubastud.15.2.0203
https://themilitant.com/2010/7404/740457.html

South Africa/Ghana Cuba
https://theperspective.org/2018/0319201801.php

Cuba provided more than G7/WHO
https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/latamcaribbean/2017/02/10/cubas-strong-tradition-of-medical-internationalism-looks-set-to-continue-despite-upheaval-in-the-americas/

Millions must live
https://cubabusinessreport.com/cuban-medical-internationalism/#:~:text=The%20Cuban%20medical%20internationalism%20sends,received%20during%20the%20Cuban%20Revolution

Is it slavery
https://johnriddell.com/2020/04/08/cubas-unique-model-of-medical-internationalism/
https://en.granma.cu/cuba/2024-05-23/cuban-doctors-are-still-there-where-they-are-most-needed

Cuba doctor-patient ratio
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?locations=CU

US doctor-patient ratio
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS?locations=US

South Africa doctor-patient ratio
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1413514/medical-doctors-per-10-000-population-in-south-africa/

US prison industrial complex and slavery
https://harvardpolitics.com/involuntary-servitude-how-prison-labor-is-modern-day-slavery/

Fidel quote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opjtk9NgyUw

Started in 1960
https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/556/oa_edited_volume/chapter/3914141

CONGO’S ELITES DRIVE TESLAS AMIDST WAR

Kivu News 24 reported spotting the first Tesla cyber truck in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in the capital of Kinshasa. Joël Bakonga, son of former state minister Willy Bakonga—both of whom are convicts—apparently owns the electric truck.

This viral video sparked angry reactions among Congolese, who see Bakonga’s alleged purchase as evidence of the elite’s alienation from the three-decade-long, Western-backed conflict that has displaced more than 7 million people in the country’s mineral-rich east. The electric-powered truck, depending on trim options, costs between $79,990 and $99,990.

The sad irony is the battery powering Bakonga’s flashy new toy may have been manufactured using Congo’s ‘conflict minerals,’ like cobalt, which desperately poor Congolese mine under horrific conditions.

Continued…….. According to Medafrica Times, the senior Bakonga was sentenced in 2021 to three years in prison for money laundering and illegal transfer of capital abroad. In the same case, a court convicted the younger Bakonga to six months in prison. When authorities arrested the father and son in Brazzaville on a Paris-bound plane, they reportedly found $30,000 on the duo before extraditing them to Kinshasa. However, a presidential pardon released both men after seven months.

The Bakongas’ case showcases the stark contrast between the opulent lifestyles of the DRC elite and the harsh realities the majority of its citizens face. According to the World Bank, an estimated 73.5 per cent of Congolese live on less than $2.15 per day. A small group of well-connected people collaborating with foreign interests is siphoning off Congo’s estimated $24 trillion in mineral reserves.

While rich politicians in Kinshasa enjoy lavish parties, complete with imported champagne and gourmet food, their soldiers in the war-torn eastern provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu have retreated in the face of lightning advances by the Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 militia, partly due to a lack of modern arms and low pay.

Video credits: @congomood.cd / @peoplecd243 (IG) / @kivunews24 (X)

Sources

https://x.com/kivunews24/status/1896521299209699495

https://www.caranddriver.com/tesla/cybertruck

https://www.tesla.com/cybertruck

https://www.barrons.com/articles/dr-congo-ex-minister-gets-three-years-for-money-laundering-01619789116

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBirsuDxrU0

https://www.instagram.com/joebak7?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

https://medafricatimes.com/tag/joel-bakonga

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/congo-army-desertion-trials-cast-spotlight-on-a-broken-force-4949376

https://www.dw.com/en/mapped-out-why-isnt-the-dr-congo-the-worlds-richest-country/video-70620354

IS U.S. HELPING GABON COUP LEADER RUN FOR PRESIDENT?

Gabon’s coup leader, Brice Oligui Nguema, has officially announced his candidacy for the 2025 elections on 12 April. However, unlike recent coups in French-speaking Africa, some suspect the West backs this one. 

In this video, we look at how Gabon has inched closer to France and the United States since Nguema took power on 30 August 2023. 

Most notable may be the recently dismantled US Agency for International Development (USAID) granting the Gabonese government $5 million in October 2024 for the upcoming elections despite the US accusing other countries of interfering in US presidential elections. 

Is this not hypocritical? Let us know in the comments.

DRC CUTTING OUT THE MIDDLEMAN?

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Félix Tshisekedi’s administration is offering the US exclusive access to its critical minerals and infrastructure projects in exchange for military assistance against Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 rebels. 

This proposal, outlined in a letter from the Africa-USA Business Council lobbying on behalf of the DRC government to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seeks urgent discussions between Tshisekedi and US President Donald Trump. The president’s brother, Jacques, also travelled to the UAE to secure military equipment. However, the feasibility of these diplomatic efforts remains uncertain, given the US and UAE's strong ties with Rwanda. 

Continued……. Despite over two years of M23 activity, the US sanctioned a Rwandan official and an M23 militia spokesperson who don’t rank high in Rwanda, raising questions about whether a direct deal would prompt a shift in US policy. 

Additionally, the DRC is going in the opposite direction of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—made up of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger—which has taken greater control of its resources, expelled foreign powers and secured better mining deals following coups d’état over the past few years. Questions remain about how well recent talks went between Malian President Assimi Goïta and the DRC’s justice minister, Constant Mutamba.

Let us know what you think in the comments.

Sources

https://www.mining.com/web/congo-courts-trump-for-strategic-minerals-tie-up-as-war-looms/

https://archive.ph/kwI0A#selection-1193.4-1193.69

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-open-minerals-partnerships-with-democratic-republic-congo-2025-03-09/

https://archive.ph/4j8DC

https://www.africaintelligence.com/central-africa/2025/03/05/tshisekedi-dangles-mineral-resources-in-exchange-for-help-against-m23,110382753-eve

https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/transition-minerals/the-itsci-laundromat/#resource-library

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0022

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czjd70mzge2o

https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2024/09/04/burkina-faso-reclaims-gold-mines-from-largest-british-mining-firm/

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/new-mali-mining-law-could-boost-state-local-interest-projects-35-2023-07-14/

JOHN LEGEND BLASTED OVER RWANDA CONCERT

As Rwanda faces increasing criticism for supporting the M23 militia in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), public figures, including musicians, are feeling the heat to boycott the East African state.

However, John Legend forged ahead to headline a concert in Kigali on 21 February, organised by ‘Move Afrika,’ a touring initiative by NGO Global Citizen to create economic opportunities for young Africans in the creative sectors. @johnlegend stood by his choice to perform in Rwanda, saying that the Rwandan people shouldn’t be punished for their leaders’ choices.

Continued……. However, in this video, Legend received pushback from Carine Kanimba, a human-rights activist and the daughter of Paul Rusesabagina, the hero portrayed in the film, ‘Hotel Rwanda.’ Rusesabagina is known for providing refuge to more than 1,200 Hutus and Tutsis during the 1994 gen*cide by sheltering people in a hotel. He fled Rwanda in 1996 due to threats from his outspoken criticism of the Kagame government. Then, in 2020, Rusesabagina was forcibly returned after boarding a flight in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates' relationship to Rwanda involves buying gold looted from the DRC and smuggled through Rwanda, per multiple sources. In September 2021, a Rwandan court convicted @rusesabaginapaul (IG) on t*rrorism-related charges, sentencing him to 25 years. Following a letter requesting a pardon in October 2022, his sentence was commuted, and he was released in March 2023.

Carine criticised Legend for accepting what she termed ‘dirty dollars’ from a dictator, accusing him of ignoring the suffering Rwandan youth as they are dispatched to exploit the DRC.

In a contrasting move, Nigerian singer Tems (@temsbaby on X), also a Grammy winner, decided to cancel a 22 March concert in Kigali, citing her awareness of the real-world implications of the three-decade-long, Western-backed conflict over natural resources that had k*lled at least 6 million people by 2010 and internally displaced more than 7 million by 2024.

Video credit: @ckanimba (IG + X)

sources

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly8nzpwnn4o

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/10/rwanda-rusesabagina-was-forcibly-disappeared

https://forbiddenstories.org/paul-rusesabagina-no-one-can-silence-me/

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58604468

https://www.okayafrica.com/tems-rwanda-concert-cancellation-drc-unrest/

TRAORÉ UPLIFTS WOMEN FARMERS

International Women’s Day, or as it was initially called, International Working Women’s Day, is a revolutionary holiday founded to recognise working-class women’s quest for humanity.

The first known celebration took place in 1909 in New York. In 1910, German communist Clara Zetkin (1857-1933) changed it from ‘Women’s Day’ to ‘Working Women’s Day.’ In 1922, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) announced that 8 March would be celebrated as ‘International Women’s Day’ to honour women’s contributions to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

Continued……In Burkina Faso, the holiday has retained much of its revolutionary roots, largely thanks to the liberatory work of assassinated Pan-African leader Thomas Sankara (1949-87). Today, President Ibrahim Traoré continues to honour, celebrate and uplift women.

On 8 March, Traoré visited the village of Zongo, located in the department of Loumbila in the Central Plateau region, to meet with a cooperative of women farmers. The women were surprised and thrilled to be face to face, exchanging with the president. Traoré thanked them for their hard work and promised to relieve many of their hardships with more tools and resources necessary for their agricultural production. Traoré called women farmers the backbone of the country’s economy.

Let us know in the comments how you or your country honours the day.

Video credit: @faso7_bf (IG + X) / @sigbf (X)

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream