A village scene depicts life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country that has had a troubled, unstable history are quite large, and it holds an enormous hydroelectric potential The programs and policies of structural adjustment set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have a ruling presence in the country In the 1980s, the IMF played a leading role in the economic policies adopted by the DRC In exchange, the country‘s external debt was reconsidered and the IMF awarded a considerable loan In 1989 the DRC was forced to establish a new economic reform due to economic instability On the whole, the adjustments have improved the macroeconomic conditions in some countries, but the population’s living standards have worsened Relative peace in the country in 2002 let President Joseph Kabila, son of the first DRC president, begin implementing an economic plan, helped by the IMF and World Bank; exports increased, improving the situation But a country with immense economic resources continues to be dependent on external donors In 1959, as an answer to the increasing demands for complete independence by the main nationalistic parties, the DRC’s government announced the forthcoming elections with the aim of establishing an autonomous government In 1960 the Belgian Congo proclaimed its independence and was renamed Republic of Congo In 1966 the country became Democratic Republic of the Congo The post-independence period was distinguished by instability Ethnic disputes and military revolts had provoked violent disorders, all of which intensified when the prime minister of the mineral-rich province of Katanga proclaimed his independence from the country and asked Belgium for military help Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaïre) 119 A United Nations peacekeeping force was called to restore order However, Col Joseph Désiré Mobutu, chief of staff of the army, took over the government and declared himself president In 1971 he renamed the country the Republic of Zaïre During the cold war, Mobutu continued to enforce his one-party system of government, but at the end of this period the regime suffered from external and internal pressures, and he acceded to implement a multiparty system with elections and a constitution In fact, Mobutu continued ruling until 1997 Between 1994 and 1996 Zaïre was involved in the Rwanda conflict, hosting large numbers of refugees in its border territory This situation caused trouble when the presence of Hutu refugees, among them several responsible for the Rwanda genocide, provoked the Tutsis to revolt This rebellion, supported by the United States, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, and Angola, spread over the Zaïre territory, weakening Mobutu’s regime, which was supported by France This first war in Congo ended when rebel leader Laurent-Désiré Kabila, declared himself president and changed the name of the nation back to Democratic Republic of the Congo But relations between Kabila and his foreign backers deteriorated, and in 1998 Kabila’s government was subsequently challenged Troops from Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, Chad, and Sudan intervened to support him The series of wars in this nation was determined not only by ethnic factors but also by natural resources The control of diamonds and other important minerals has contributed to encourage both wars as well as the maintenance of the authoritarian governments In 1999 a cease-fire was finally signed, but Kabila was assassinated in 2001 He was succeeded by his son Joseph, who signed a peace agreement with Rwanda the next year and established a transitional government With the United Nations presence, a new constitution was formally adopted in 2006, and on July 30 the first free multiparty elections were held In November 2006 Joseph Kabila won the presidency in the country’s first democratic elections since 1960 See also Mobutu Sese Seko Further reading: Klare, Michael T Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict New York: Henry Holt, 2001; Manning, Patrick Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa 1880– 1985 Cambridge University Press, 1988; Nzongola-Ntalja, George From Zaïre to The Democratic Republic of Congo Current African Issues No 28 Second and revised edition Nordiska: Afrikainstitutet 2004 Verónica M Ziliotto