AhlulBayt News Agency: African people have been the victims of Anglo-Zionist capitalism, imperialism and colonization that have created a false demand for blood diamonds, says a political analyst.
Ramiro Funez, an activist and political commentator based in Los Angles, made the comments in an interview with Press TV aired on Sunday.
"The reason for the exploitation of African children and the extraction of blood diamonds is the current Anglo-Zionist world order that created the diamond industry, to begin with," Funez said.
"The demand has created a whole market around the extraction of these rare minerals and jewels that ultimately resulted in the loss of millions of lives, especially young children, so the African people have been a victim to Anglo-Zionist capitalism, imperialism, and colonization that has created a false demand for something that has no intrinsic value," he added.
A new report by the Global Witness states that much of the world's supply of coltan, tungsten, and tin minerals were extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo using child and forced labor.
The beneficiaries of these blood or conflict minerals are the world's biggest tech companies, including Alphabet, BMW, Apple, and Tesla.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is considered to be among the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources. Its untapped deposits of raw minerals are estimated to be worth in excess of 24 trillion dollars.
Despite this, the DRC has some of the poorest people in the world. Numerous reports indicate that global tech giants have been looting Congo's rare minerals. To add insult to injury, they are buying minerals extracted by children working in slavery-like conditions.
Funez mentioned the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei's remarks describing the US as "a great Satan" and "a great deceiver."
"The great deceiver always lies about their true intention; the US and the European powers go into continents like Africa, Asia, and Latin America with the claim of wanting to develop the area or promoting human rights and uplifting people," he said.
"They are in there with the sole intent of extracting minerals and raw materials resources."
Funez went on to add that the increased fighting between groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring areas as well as the so-called South Sudan, an artificial nation created by the US and backed by Israel, is because of the high demand for rare earth minerals.
The people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, also believe the UN peacekeeping forces in the region are working at the behest of imperialist powers. Recently, Congolese civilians attacked a United Nations peacekeeping convoy, injuring several people.
They accused the UN mission of failing to protect them from worsening militia violence.
"There's a huge contradiction in the resources that are available in the DRC and in Central Africa, versus how these resources are distributed," Funez rued, suggesting that leaders who are subservient to the World Trade Organization, London and Wall Street, and international banking institutions, must know that the only solution to this is to bring the power back to the people.
The investigation by the campaign group Global Witness found that smelters and manufacturers that use coltan, tungsten, and tin in cars, mobile devices, and other electronics can't be sure the minerals have been extracted without using children or forced labor.
The International tin supply chain initiative, which is supposed to guarantee responsible supply chains has ignored or downplayed failures in the monitoring and chain of custody of mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tech companies, mostly from Western countries are ready to obtain blood or conflict minerals from Africa, even if that means walking on the skeletons of African children.
Clearly, slavery is still being practiced by Western countries, such as the US, France, and Britain that claim to champion human rights. The Western powers are looking away amid this gross violation of the rights of African children by Western tech giants.
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Ramiro Funez, an activist and political commentator based in Los Angles, made the comments in an interview with Press TV aired on Sunday.
"The reason for the exploitation of African children and the extraction of blood diamonds is the current Anglo-Zionist world order that created the diamond industry, to begin with," Funez said.
"The demand has created a whole market around the extraction of these rare minerals and jewels that ultimately resulted in the loss of millions of lives, especially young children, so the African people have been a victim to Anglo-Zionist capitalism, imperialism, and colonization that has created a false demand for something that has no intrinsic value," he added.
A new report by the Global Witness states that much of the world's supply of coltan, tungsten, and tin minerals were extracted in the Democratic Republic of Congo using child and forced labor.
The beneficiaries of these blood or conflict minerals are the world's biggest tech companies, including Alphabet, BMW, Apple, and Tesla.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is considered to be among the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources. Its untapped deposits of raw minerals are estimated to be worth in excess of 24 trillion dollars.
Despite this, the DRC has some of the poorest people in the world. Numerous reports indicate that global tech giants have been looting Congo's rare minerals. To add insult to injury, they are buying minerals extracted by children working in slavery-like conditions.
Funez mentioned the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei's remarks describing the US as "a great Satan" and "a great deceiver."
"The great deceiver always lies about their true intention; the US and the European powers go into continents like Africa, Asia, and Latin America with the claim of wanting to develop the area or promoting human rights and uplifting people," he said.
"They are in there with the sole intent of extracting minerals and raw materials resources."
Funez went on to add that the increased fighting between groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring areas as well as the so-called South Sudan, an artificial nation created by the US and backed by Israel, is because of the high demand for rare earth minerals.
The people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, also believe the UN peacekeeping forces in the region are working at the behest of imperialist powers. Recently, Congolese civilians attacked a United Nations peacekeeping convoy, injuring several people.
They accused the UN mission of failing to protect them from worsening militia violence.
"There's a huge contradiction in the resources that are available in the DRC and in Central Africa, versus how these resources are distributed," Funez rued, suggesting that leaders who are subservient to the World Trade Organization, London and Wall Street, and international banking institutions, must know that the only solution to this is to bring the power back to the people.
The investigation by the campaign group Global Witness found that smelters and manufacturers that use coltan, tungsten, and tin in cars, mobile devices, and other electronics can't be sure the minerals have been extracted without using children or forced labor.
The International tin supply chain initiative, which is supposed to guarantee responsible supply chains has ignored or downplayed failures in the monitoring and chain of custody of mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tech companies, mostly from Western countries are ready to obtain blood or conflict minerals from Africa, even if that means walking on the skeletons of African children.
Clearly, slavery is still being practiced by Western countries, such as the US, France, and Britain that claim to champion human rights. The Western powers are looking away amid this gross violation of the rights of African children by Western tech giants.
/129