© Valentyn Ogirenko/ReutersFormer Prime Minister of Uganda Ruhakana Rugunda, Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema, Senegal's President Macky Sall, President of the Union of Comoros Azali Assoumani, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egypt's Prime Minister Mustafa Madbuly visit a site of a mass grave in the town of Bucha outside of Kyiv, Ukraine, June 16, 2023.
Today I have this piece by reporter Gevorg Mirzayan. Whom I don't usually read, because he really ticked me off during the "Summer of Riots" in the U.S. Where some of his anti-BLM pieces verged on outright racism and showed that did not understand the American racial/caste system at all. (Not that I'm defending BLM, but some of the stuff he wrote at the time really was racist.) Anyhow, things have changed since then in Russian mainstream thinking. Now black people are the good guys, well at least African-Africans, if not necessarily African-Americans. The real Africans, as Russians have discovered, are pretty nice people overall and don't hate Russia. Thank goodness the Russian Empire never tried to colonize Africa! Modern Russians should thank their stars for this historical fact, because it gives them a clean conscience, and a nice clean slate to work with, while duking it out on the Ukrainian battlefield against the White European hordes.
© Awful AvalancheSouth African Prez Cyril Ramaphosa: Tough guy, but nice smile.
Unfortunately, after putting in all that work and organizing these meetings, these guys had to endure Zelensky's cold and unbearing attitude, as he rejected their plan and all their great ideas without even bothering to read what they wrote.
The delegation was headed by the democratically-elected President of South Africa, Cyrill Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa is a member of a Bantu tribe who went from rags to riches. In his busy career he has worked both sides of the class divide, both as a Trade Union leader as well as a wealthy businessman; which only proves that Marxism is an idea and not a personality. Ramaphosa also serves as the head of the powerful African National Congress and has pretty much gathered all the reins of power into his hands. I should mention that he is widely criticized for his poor handling of the economy. When they came to power, the ANC inherited a first-world nation with all the trimmings. Now you have a country that can't even keep the lights on, according to what I have been reading. Oh well, what can you do. In any case, say what you will about him, Ramaphosa is clearly a very powerful man and important international figure. You would expect that he would be treated with respect wherever he goes.
But no... His delegation were insulted and denigrated even before they arrived in Kiev. Landing in Warsaw, Poland in two planes (one for the leaders, the other for their security detail), the latter was forced to sit on the tarmac for 2 days, and the armed security not allowed to exit the plane. Why did the Poles treat these guys like prisoners? Because the Africans had brought with them 12 containers of weapons, as needed to defend their leaders. But who can blame them? They were about to enter a war zone, after all. They couldn't trust Zelensky further than they could throw him; and for all they knew, they might have to bust their way out of that hellhole in the end.
No, the Poles would not budge: the weapons, security detail and also accompanying journalists were not allowed to continue with the trip. Hence, the African political leaders were forced to continue the rest of their trip (via train to Kiev) without their usual security and weapons. They must have felt like being naked. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to them. However the African press was indignant; accused the Poles of racism; and also noting that the Poles are contemptuous of South Africa (and BRICS countries in general) because of the latter's friendly relations with Russia.
The Dog And Pony Show
© Awful Avalanche“What are we looking at?” African VIPs given the typical tourist treatment.
As if Bucha were not enough, the African leaders were then treated to the blarings of air raid sirens, as the Ukrainians assured them, excitedly, that the capital city was under attack. Dmitry Kuleba, of the Ukrainian Foreign Office, tried to explain to the Africans that this was Russia's way of saying "Hello" and proving that it doesn't want peace. By trying to kill the guests. Again, the guests responded with typical African cool-headedness and skepticism. One South African delegate tweeted out later that he had not noticed any bombs falling and thought the whole affair was just some kind of show put on for them. "Obviously this was disinformation. We saw people strolling down the streets just like normal."
In Ukrainians' defense, we did actually learn (the following day, I believe) that there actually was a Russian missile strike at that precise time. The Russian Ministry of Defense actually boasted about it and patted itself on the back, with a cryptic message about hitting a "Ukrainian decision-making center" in Kiev. The precision strike was apparently so precise that it didn't even make a sound, which is why the Africans didn't hear it and were not even aware that anything was going on, except that the Ukrainians were running around like maniacs. This incident reveals a certain dollop of Russian chutzpah, but needless to say, those Russian missile guys are very confident in their precision. In the end, no Africans were harmed in the course of this operation. Some Ukrainians - yes.
Anyhow, the final indignity occurred when, at the press conference, Zelensky simply rejected the African peace plan out of hand, without so much as a "How do you do?" He should have uttered at least a few words of respect and gratitude, before roughly spitting on all their hard work. But that's not the Zelensky we all know and love. This is the guy who is used to be fawned all over while barking out commands and making impossible demands of all around him.
In the final result: Media outlets throughout Africa are confirmed in their opinion that Poles and Ukrainians are disrespectful racists; and that they were right to take Russia's side in this conflict. Ukraine had hoped to get a little something from this visit, like maybe make a friend or two from the influential "Southern hemisphere" but they ended up with bupkis.
All the better for Russia.