Zairian relations with Ariddia
Mobutu's Zaire has had cooler relations with the People's Democratic Social Republic of Ariddia than with most other major states, the coolness stemming in large part from a controversial interview that PINA granted to Zairian dissident Étienne Tshisekedi. The interview was itself a response to the late Jérôme Bamba's hard-writting editorial, "A Nation in the Throes of Chaos: The Human Cost of Living in Mobutu's Zaire". Although the Ariddian government maintained that it had neither the authority nor the desire to prevent the interview - honoring Ariddia's cherished tradition of free speech - Mobutu summarily rejected this explanation, accusing both Tshisekedi and the Ariddian government (in spite of the fact that the contents of PINA's broadcasts are 100% independent of the government) of plotting to instigate "instability" and "chaos" to undermine his rule. Ariddia tactfully refuted the charges and asked for evidence, which Mobutu was not able to provide.
Although the two nations have formal diplomatic relations, there is mutual distrust between the two countries. Ariddia, itself strongly committed to human rights and democratic values, finds the appalling state of human rights in Zaire to be morally reprehensible, and Mobutu, in turn, distrusts the Ariddian government, in part because of his staunch anti-communism.
Even so, Ariddia is working to resolve its differences cordially, and to promote change through peaceful means. A contingent of volunteers from the Ariddian Red Star was recently deployed to Zaire to do humanitarian work, a gesture of which Zaire was visibly - if grudgingly - appreciative. However, Mobutu has not forgiven Ariddia for the Tshisekedi interview, or for the decidedly anti-Mobutu slant of most major Ariddian media organs, and he has adeptly played upon the chilly relationship to utilize the Ariddian presence in Zaire as a visible scapegoat for problems that are entirely domestic. The greatest example of this is when he accused Ariddia of plotting his overthrow and "physical elimination." Though neither Ariddia nor most Zairians considered the accusation credible, it did lead to a further chill in an already tense relationship.
