Rwanda and Uganda used their rebel forces to invade Congo and fight against the militias and plunder the alluring natural resources - especially gold, diamonds and copper. Only military intervention by Angola saved Kabila's regime. In exchange for this aid, Angola's president, Jos Eduardo dos Santos, received assets in the Congolese petrol industry and control over future oil exploitation within its territorial waters, as well as the distribution of petrol inside Congo. The war which ravaged the country has led to the deaths of one million people in what is called the 'first African world war'. One-third of all children are malnourished.
Most schools are closed.
Often teachers do not receive their wages in order to finance the war. Even the agrarian survival economy is not an option for most people from the cities as the threat from wandering army units has become too great. During the last year the number of refugees has more than tripled from 750,000 to more than two million. Oxfam speaks of 'one of the most serious humanitarian situations in the world'. This is the terrible price workers and peasants have had to pay for Kabila not being prepared to break decisively with imperialism.