International bids to make peace, bring withdrawal of all foreign soldiers, and find a political settlement for the Congo's internal problems have failed. For Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, the Congo is too rich a cash cow to abandon. When Laurent Kabila was assassinated last January, his son Joseph succeeded him, but it is not clear who holds the power in the Congolese phantasmagoria. Meanwhile, Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi turned looting into an ongoing business. The UN report cites how, for instance, a Uganda-Thai forest company in cahoots with rogue Congolese has cut mahogany and other timber at an alarming rate without any regard for law and forest management.
Coffee is taken from private plantations.
Wildlife has suffered. In one national park only two of 350 elephant families remained last year, when a total of 5 tons of tusks went into the international black market for ivory. The most lucrative trade is in diamonds, gold, and minerals, including coltan, which is valuable for jet and rocket engines. Prison labor, forced labor, and child labor are employed. The occupiers levy taxes in their areas.