Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–5, Part 1, Documents on Sub-Saharan Africa, 1969–1972

235. Memorandum of Conversation¹ ²

Washington, August 4, 1970

PARTICIPANTS:

• The President
• President Mobutu
• Mr. Kissinger (part of the time)

The President renewed his welcome and spoke of the significance of President Mobutu being the first leader of one of the newer African countries to visit with him. The President also said he was very pleased that Mobutu was able to make the trip at this time. Although he had met some Prime Ministers and Chiefs of State of African countries informally, on their private visits to this country, he felt that it was important to have a State visit from the Chief of a major African country in order to emphasize and highlight the U.S. interest in helping the Congo and the newly independent countries. The Congo is certainly a very fine example of what the independent countries can achieve.

The President was pleased that President Mobutu was going to New York to talk to the business leaders there. Since 1967 President Nixon has often told business leaders that the Congo is a very good investment. President Nixon knows that it is a country with a strong leader which welcomed private investment, where the people work hard and he wished Mobutu every success not only in the government program but in encouraging private investment in his country. The President emphasized that he likes his private discussions with visiting chiefs of state to be conducted in an atmosphere of complete frankness and of complete confidence that the discussion is kept private. He would like President Mobutu to tell him what are the dangers and needs of his country, and also of Africa. He wanted President Mobutu to speak of some of the countries whose leaders he would not be meeting.

President Mobutu expressed his thanks, he felt completely at ease with the President and would speak with an open heart. The U.S. must know that in the Congo it has a firm, and strong ally. The problems of the Congo are of three types; political instability, security, and economic development. In the five years that he has been head of state, progress has been made in all three areas, but more needs to be done. The Congo today is stable, calm and peaceful but it is surrounded by the Congo (B) Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda and the Sudan. All of which have strong Chinese Communist penetration. In the CAR, Bokassa is unstable. So the Congo is stable, but surrounded by subversion that can endanger its stability.

President Nixon asked for the relative sizes of the armed forces of the Congo and its neighbors and Mobutu answered that his armed forces are stronger than any of the surrounding countries, but his country is not sufficiently mature to be able to contain the threats of subversion. He had had a long talk with Secretary Rogers on the Chinese Communist dangers and the fact that the Congo is rich, non-communist, stable and the target for infiltration.

President Nixon asked what forms the subversion takes and what form of opposition President Mobutu faces domestically? President Mobutu responded that he has no opposition in the Congo having squashed it when he came to power, but there are 6 to 8 thousand Congolese refugees in Tanzania all of whom are trained and equipped by the Chicoms. There are smaller dissident groups in the Sudan, Congo (B) and Uganda.

President Nixon asked what was the answer to this. Obviously, a stronger Congo for one thing, but what could be done to stop the Communist operations from Zambia and Tanzania. President Mobutu pointed out the ease with which Lake Tanganyika can be crossed at night and ammunition and supplies landed in the bush and the interior. Land forces were adequate but the Lake and the river could not be adequately controlled and the budget was too heavily burdened as it was, hence the need for patrol river craft.

(This, and possible avenues for solving it, had already been discussed briefly with General Westmoreland. President Nixon asked Mr. Kissinger to come in at this time.)

President Nixon thought that some of the riverine craft now used in Vietnam might be gotten to President Mobutu. President Mobutu referred to Secretary Rogersʼ latest message through Mr. Newsom concerning the C–130s. He emphasized that his 7,000 paratroopers only had DC–3 available for transportation and referred to the recently announced authorization of purchase.

President Nixon emphasized that there are divided views in the United States as to whether countries should emphasize military or economic development.

In his view both should be taken care of. There was no point in building up a country economically if it were left defenseless and at the mercy of another poor but militarily strong country. He understood the need and the interests of the Congo. He asked if President Mobutu felt that Chinese influence had increased in central Africa, and whether Chinese or Soviet influence was dominant.

President Mobutu stated that the Chinese were the more dominant and dangerous of the two. The Soviets have shifted their tactics. They focus on students and cultural exchanges and scholarship programs. President Mobutu had just put an end to this through his Foreign Ministry. Scholarships will only be accepted for medicine, agriculture and mining studies in countries of the eastern bloc. They will no longer be permitted for the study of sociology, philosophy and law. The Soviets know they cannot overthrow the government and are working for the future, preparing cadres of young men trained in communist countries.

Chicom tactics are more dangerous. They are trying to precipitate bloody uprisings which will force the governments to use their armed forces, thus making themselves unpopular. Congolese refugees in the Sudan have admitted that they have been sent back to the Congo to start trouble. Now when Congolese refugees return from Sudan, Uganda etc. they are not allowed to return to their native provinces but are relocated elsewhere.

The President asked if African students have enough opportunity to study in non-communist countries or are communist countries offering to them more opportunities for studies. President Mobutu said that when the students come back from eastern bloc countries, they see the difference. Only the embittered and stubborn remain pro-communist. His experience was that some students who have studied in the U.S. or Belgian or French Universities come back with Communist ideas.

Mr. Kissinger said that this bears out his understanding that African students in Moscow are unhappy there because of the strong racial feelings of the Soviets and of the hard regimentation which is alien to the African mind. But, on the other hand, when they come to western universities the radicals single them out for indoctrination. President Mobutu stressed that the remedy lies in economic development.

The President said that speaking very frankly we face a problem in Congress, which is well intentioned but believes that the answer is in economic development alone and opposes military assistance. Many in Congress feel that the danger of Soviet and communist subversion is a myth. Given this attitude, we have a problem in getting money and sale authorizations from Congress for such things as the C–130s President Mobutu wants. The President did not want to make any promises he could not keep but he understood the importance of military as well as economic assistance. He would examine the question of river craft and would see that emphasis was put on it. Many in Congress and the government would say that the Congo needed to emphasize economic development, build schools etc., but President Nixon understood that there was no sense in cultivating something that could be snatched from you.

President Mobutu emphasized that this view was very sound. To give military aid and to neglect economic development would kill Africa. But the Congo was a special case. It was a country which after independence had suffered trouble, secession, anarchy and chaos. Thanks to U.S. financial aid, this had been ended and the Congo had become strong. President Mobutu emphasized the importance of helping preserve what had been built, likening it to placing a lightning rod on a house. It was agreed that Mr. Kissinger would come to talk to President Mobutu about the specific requirements for river patrol craft. Mr. Kissinger felt that some, if not all, 50 boats could be procured from surplus or re-programming. President Mobutu emphasized that military assistance had not been placed on his schedule, which focuses on economic development, but he could not fail to stress this threat against his country. He felt that three C–130 and some river craft would assure the security of his country and that this was not asking for military aid but for a contribution to the security of his country. (Mr. Kissinger left the meeting.)

President Nixon stressed the importance of emphasizing stability when talking to businessmen and Mr. McNamara. They all knew that the Congo is rich, and the greatest incentive to investment is its stability and the confidence that there will be no expropriation and no revolution.

President Nixon referred to the explosive situation of the Near East and the growing Soviet presence in the Mediterranean and northern Africa. Did President Mobutu feel that this posed a threat to Central Africa for the future? President Mobutu responded that the threat was very real, the line goes from the Mediterranean to Algiers, Tripoli, Cairo, Khartoum and now the CAR which is the Congoʼs neighbor. He was for peace and the Rogers Plan, but it would be very sad if Israel were placed in a weakened posture. President Nixon stressed that the balance of forces must not be disrupted. President Mobutu stressed the assistance his country had received from Israel. He stood firmly behind Israel at all international gatherings. President Nixon asked if Mobutu could convince some of the other OAU leaders of the existence of the danger. President Mobutu replied that he was distressed by the fact that some U.S. diplomats and U.S. special agencies representatives said that there was no communist danger in Africa today. The President could look at the number of countries which used to vote against Chicom admission in the UN and who had now fallen into its orbit. Because of its standing the Congoʼs voice was not neglected. After its recovery it tried to help other countries but its means were limited. President Nixon knew how costly it was to be leader of the free world. The Congo was trying to do the same for the free African countries.

President Mobutu wanted to know how the efforts of U.S. diplomacy throughout the world and of Congo diplomacy in Africa could be harmonized so that we could save what could still be saved. President Nixon felt that the most important thing was to work together and see that a country like the Congo was able to defend itself. President Nixon remarked that he was impressed by the fact that President Mobutu was not asking for spectacular and showy weapons but for what he needed for defense; some river craft and C–130s. He felt it was important also for his voice to be heard for some of the new leaders in Africa might feel there was no danger. In his trip here President Mobutu would have a chance to talk about this, although not over-stating it, and show that Africa wants to develop without communist domination, and without capitalist domination, following its own path. A modest defense force was essential. This was President Mobutuʼs philosophy and we could subscribe to it.

President Nixon wanted his visitor to know that in the President of the U.S. he had a man who understood the problems of his country and who was his personal friend. President Mobutu thanked the President and said he hoped the President would help influence American investors to invest in the Congo.

President Nixon stressed that a direct channel of communication to him personally was available to President Mobutu. He said that it was important that he had been the first U.S. President to visit Africa before taking office, and that he planned to be the first President to visit Africa while in office. President Mobutu said that he would have to come to the Congo.

President Mobutu also raised the question of supporting the GRAI because if the other Angolese movement took over it would be very dangerous for the Congo. President Nixon said that he understood the importance of the situation and would be talking to the Portuguese possibly within the next six months and would take the matter up with them. President Mobutu felt that the GRAI ought to be encouraged by the Portuguese and perhaps the Portuguese ought to make a start and open negotiations with them.

1. Source: Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Kissinger Papers, Box CL 278, Memoranda of Conversations, Presidential File, June–Sept 1970. Secret. The meeting took place in the White House.
2. The President discussed with Congo President Mobutu political instability, security, and economic development. Mobutu expressed his concerns about Chinese and Russian Communist influences in neighboring countries.