Soviet Union—Zaire relations
From Roach Busters
In contrast with Zaire's warm relationship with the Western world, its relations with the Soviet Union have been cool, due in part to Soviet support of Lumumba during the Congo Crisis. When Mobutu seized power after his first coup, in 1960, one of his first acts was to sever relationships with the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia and issue an order for all Soviet and Czech personnel to leave the country within 48 hours. The Simba rebellions of 1963-1965 provided fertile opportunity for an expanded Soviet role in the country. In January 1964, when the Chinese-trained Maoist rebel Pierre Mulele began his rebellion in Kwilu, all Soviet personnel were again expelled, in response to Soviet complicity (albeit highly dubious) in the rebellion. In fact, most Soviet "aid" to the rebels was rhetorical only. Later, when they began to send supplies to the rebels via Sudan, Sudanese rebels seized the supplies and used them against the government in Khartoum, resulting in the Sudanese closure of the route to Zaire. From then on, the bulk of the Simbas' support came from the Chinese and Cubans, whose work was uncoordinated with the Soviet Union.
The Soviets were critical of Mobutu's second coup, in 1965, and denounced the alleged American complicity and derided Mobutu as an American puppet.
Mobutu, wanting to maintain an image of non-alignment, began negotiations with the Soviets in late 1967 regarding renewal of diplomatic ties. In early 1968, the Soviet embassy reopened, as a newly arrived Soviet ambassador presented his credentials to Mobutu. Mobutu did, however, join the U.S. in condemning the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia that year.
In addition to maintaining his image of non-alignment, the Soviet presence also readily provided Mobutu with a scapegoat; throughout the 1970s, Mobutu would lay the blame for whatever ills befell Zaire on the Soviets. In 1970, he expelled four Soviet diplomats for carrying out "subversive activities," and in 1971, twenty Soviet officials were declared persona non grata for alleged complicity in student demonstrations at Lovanium University.
Mobutu has never visited the Soviet Union, even though he accepted an invitation to do so in 1974. The visit never materialized, reportedly because the Soviets declined to provide the extravagant ceremonials to which the vain and haughty Mobutu was growing accustomed to receiving. Instead, he paid a visit to China and North Korea, at the time he was scheduled to visit Moscow.
Relations deteriorated further in 1975, when Zaire and the Soviets found each other supporting opposing sides in the burgeoning Angolan Civil War. This had a dramatic effect on Zairian foreign policy for the next decade; bereft of his claim to African leadership (Mobutu was one of the few leaders who denied the Marxist government of Angola recognition), Mobutu turned increasingly to the U.S. and its allies, adopting pro-American stances on such issues as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Israel's position in international organizations, etc.
Mobutu, who had joined the West in publicly condemning the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, was the first African leader to support the U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. Throughout the 1980s, he maintained his anti-Soviet stance, "playing the Soviet card" to maintain generous Western support and continuing to scapegoat the Soviets for Zaire's ills, whether political, social, or economic in nature. In the mid-1980s, he described Zaire as being surrounded by a "red belt" of radical states affiliated with the Soviets and/or Libya, the latter being especially antagonistic to Mobutu.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 deprived Mobutu of both a ready scapegoat for Zaire's problems as well as a catalyst for continued U.S. aid.
