When Donald Trump boasts about all the wars he has supposedly ended, he often mentions one in central Africa. In December he brought together the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose on-again, off-again conflict has been one of the continent’s bloodiest, and persuaded them to sign a peace deal called the Washington Accords. „They’ve spent a lot of time killing each other and they’re going to spend a lot of time hugging,” he said.
But there is still a lot more killing than hugging. Most of the 8m or so Congolese who have fled from their homes are too scared to return. Over the past year the battlefield has expanded in the eastern Congolese provinces of South and North Kivu, leading to hundreds more civilian deaths. As we report, M23, a Rwandan-backed rebel group that controls most of the region, is building a statelet there and is eager to cut its own deals with America.
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To its credit, the Trump administration has tried to enforce the Washington Accords. In March it put sanctions on Rwanda’s armed forces to try to persuade Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, to reduce support for M23. Yet it seems unwilling to exert similar pressure on his Congolese counterpart, Félix Tshisekedi. Many locals fear that Mr Trump cares more about getting his hands on Congo’s abundant minerals than he does about peace.
