In 1994, a major event occurred in Rwanda, a small African country, that shocked the world. In three months, about 1 million Rwandans were dying, which accounted for more than one-seventh of the country's population at that time, which means that more than 10,000 people died every day on average, not only that, but also hundreds of thousands of women were humiliated, it can be said that this small African country has almost become a purgatory on earth, and Rwanda has almost been destroyed by this world-shaking massacre.
But what is amazing is that in just two or three decades, Rwanda has not only shaken off this shadow, but even leapt into one of the most stable economic development, the safest country, the cleanest environment in Africa, and not even a cigarette butt can be seen on the streets of Rwanda, which is given the reputation of African Switzerland. And all this has changed because of one person– Paul Kagame. So who is Kagame? How did he transform a purgatory into a country of national peace and security? Welcome to today's story.
Rwanda Hotel in the film picture
To know why the tragic scene at the beginning happened, everything has to start with Kagame, the fierce man who descended from heaven. Born in 1957 in Rwanda's Gotalama province in east-central Africa, Kagame is worth mentioning that he belonged to a Tutsi aristocratic family and his mother was related to the royal family. Rwanda has a century of rule, so it is very powerful.
It was not until 1884, when the Berlin Conference on West Africa was convened, that Rwanda was colonized, and after World War II, the world was reshuffled and Rwanda was entrusted by Belgium, during which the Rwandan people were oppressed and enslaved.
However, this was not enough for the Belgian colonists, and in order to maintain their rule, Belgium began to deliberately distinguish them, ostensibly by implementing an identity card system, which identified the nationalities, Hutu, Tutsi, and other nationalities and naturalized persons, so as to distinguish Rwandans. Secretly, they stir up trouble between them.
In this way, the invaders deliberately exploited, which eventually led to the outbreak of contradictions between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, the two largest ethnic groups in Rwanda. During this time, the devalued hutu revolted indignantly, which allowed Rwanda, which had been colonized for many years, to finally gain independence.
However, the contradictions between the two communities are intensifying, and under the influence of belgium, there is also serious bloodshed, when a large number of Tutsi refugees were forced to leave Rwanda and flee to neighboring Uganda, where the Kagame family was only 2 years old.
Since then, The Younger Kagame has settled in Uganda, lived and studied, and gradually integrated into the local society, but the experience of his childhood has deeply affected him, for him Rwanda is his home, and one day he will return home.
It is also this belief that Kagame has studied very hard since childhood, and his grades have been very excellent, and he has received a doctorate in philosophy from the Vellore University of Science and Technology in India and a doctorate from Oklahoma Christian University in the United States. Later, he was introduced by a friend to join an armed army in Uganda, and every time he fought, he was always able to lead the troops to victory with a heroic, keen and calm character, giving his opponents a hard blow.
This allowed Kagame to quickly gain weight from his superior, Musevini, and to rise in the ranks of the troops. Museveni, who relied on Mao's campaign to fight guerrillas, eventually became Uganda's president, and soon after Kagame became the top of the military security service, a pivotal position. Imagine that a foreigner can do this position, which shows Kagame's ability.
However, Kagame did not linger in the daguan Houlu, on the contrary, it was through the killing of his compatriots, and the fact that he experienced and participated in this kind of thing again in Uganda, he had a deeper understanding that Kagame did not want his compatriots to continue like this.
On the other hand, Musevini's success, as well as the new ideas he was exposed to during this period, and the revelations brought to him by Mao Xuan, also allowed him to see the dawn of Rwanda, so he was more eager than before to return to his homeland and use his ability to end this situation.
In 1987, based on this ideal, Kagame and his friend Fred founded the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which was joined by many Rwandans who fought in Uganda, and as the number of personnel increased, Kagame also realized his lack of ability, so soon after, he went to the Fort Leavenworth Military Academy in the United States to learn military knowledge.
What he did not expect was that the accident also happened during this period. Friend Fred led the Rwandan Patriotic Front armed forces, during which the battle with the Hutu army was defeated, he himself was unfortunately killed on the battlefield, for a time the organization fell into a leaderless chaos, kagame, who received this news, resolutely decided to interrupt his studies, took over the organization, and soon became the commander of the organization.
In the following 3 years, Kagame and the Hutu army continued to fight, but unlike the previous way of fighting, according to his previous experience in fighting in Uganda, he tried to avoid head-on confrontation with the opponent and began to fight guerrilla warfare, with remarkable results, constantly breaking through the enemy's encirclement and suppression, thwarting the enemy at the same time, his own troops are also growing.
Even Rwandan President Habyarimana could not ignore this force, the Hutu army was fighting harder and harder, and it was not impossible for the Rwandan Patriotic Front armed forces to invade the Rwandan capital in time, so in order to preserve his presidential throne, Habyarimana offered peace talks, hoping to win Kagame to join himself through power-sharing, so as to end this war that could not be won.
However, Habyarimana would never have dreamed that tomorrow and accident would be here for him, and the latter would be menacing. Just as he was finishing a meeting and preparing to return home to negotiate with Kagame, his plane was suddenly shot down as it flew near the capital, Kigali. The murderer is never known.
Under the feud between the two communities, the death of Hutu President Habiyarimana was also counted by the Hutu on the head of the Tutsi. A particularly tragic scene in history has thus begun.
On 7 April 1994, the day after the attack on the plane, another bombshell exploded in Rwanda, killing the Tutsi female prime minister at the hands of the Hutus.
But the problem is that the present Hutu and Tutsi were originally distinguished by external conditions in Belgium, and the means of the Belgian colonists can be said to be very despicable in order to clearly distinguish between the two ethnic groups. Not only is the number of 10 cattle as the standard, less than this number is the lowly Hutu, and vice versa the noble Tutsi. What is even more outrageous is that because there is not much difference in the appearance of Rwandans, the two ethnic groups cannot see the difference from the appearance, so they use a ruler to measure the height, nose, etc. of Rwandans to determine ethnic identity.
Such absurd standards are vividly reflected in the film Rwanda Hotel, when there was a scene in which a Western journalist who was catching wind and shadows wanted to find some news material, but because he could not distinguish who was Hutu and who was Tutsi, he had to distinguish between the identity cards implemented in Belgium.
In this case, the massacre became even more chaotic, and some of the initiators of the Hutu tribe began to kill Rwandans indiscriminately and indiscriminately, and from this day on, in the three months after that, Rwanda became a hell on earth, full of bloodshed, bodies, and wars.
In total, some 800 to 1 million Rwandans have been brutally murdered, and more than 2 million refugees have fled their homes to other countries. Another 200,000 to 500,000 women have been defiled, shocking the world. It is said that the civil war is inherently self-inflicted, and such a tragedy undoubtedly made Rwanda jump into the fire pit with its illness.
Not only did this destroy the country, Rwanda was also labeled one of the most insecure countries in the world by the international community. And the irony is that in the face of this tragic incident in Rwanda, the Western countries have collectively remained silent as if they had made an appointment, and even the usual verbal solidarity has not been there.
Darler, commander of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Rwanda, said that at that time, the peacekeeping force only needed to send four or five thousand combatable soldiers to prevent this tragedy. But the fact is that instead of sending peacekeeping troops, Western countries have withdrawn their peacekeeping forces. The United States even made surprising remarks, with senior officials saying that there is no U.S. interest there, so we don't care what happens in Rwanda, and these boring humanitarian issues cannot be confused with problems like the Middle East.
The unashamed voice of the United States is shocking and angry, and at the same time, it also makes us see that only its own strength can change the status quo, just like our Chinese sentence that it is better to ask others than to seek oneself, and Kagame has seen the face of Western countries since this time.
In July 1994, Kagame led the Patriotic Front in an offensive and seized power in one fell swoop, and the tragedy in Rwanda was brought under control. In order to dispel the hatred between the two ethnic groups, Kagame did not assume the presidency, but recommended the Hutus Bichi Mongols as president, while he himself handled official duties as vice president.
It wasn't until 2000 that Kagame officially became Rwanda's president and reached the pinnacle of power, but the Rwanda he was facing was a completely devastated mess.
However, Kagame was not worried, because he already had a direction, and he had a good feeling for the mainland as early as when he led his troops to fight guerrillas. Especially after seeing the mainland all the way, he was even more friendly with the mainland after he took office. Therefore, with such a good homework reference, are you still worried about not being able to become a king?
Of course, Kagame was able to get to where he is today, and to bring about such a huge change in Rwanda, he himself has a rare ability that others have.
In order to get the two peoples out of the shadow of the past, change this situation. After taking office, the first thing Kagame did was to eliminate the distinction between the two ethnic groups, and the identity documents no longer identified ethnic groups, and they were all Rwandan. In pursuing the perpetrators of that tragedy, Kagame is not a one-sided punishment, but a principle that focuses on reconciliation and light punishment.
He has established nearly 10,000 traditional courts throughout the country, with the participation of all villagers in the trial of criminals, which has greatly contributed to reconciliation among the various ethnic groups, and he has publicly told the exiled exiles to return home and jointly build a new Rwanda.
To solve the problems between the various ethnic groups, Kagame realized that it was also crucial to form a clean and efficient government. He required public officials to declare their assets, and to that end he led by example in declaring his assets. As for all kinds of internal degeneration, he implemented means that he would not tolerate, even his comrades-in-arms and relatives.
In addition, Rwanda's economic development cannot be ignored, but the first problem before Kagame is the extremely high illiteracy rate of the whole population. He understood the need for universal education, so he demanded that 9 years of compulsory education be mandatory for all. In addition, people's welfare such as medical security must also keep up.
It is worth mentioning that the training of rwanda's army, Kagame is to learn from the training method of the mainland army, not only that, Rwanda also sent a large number of students to the mainland military school to study. After systematic scientific training, at the military parade ceremony, people saw the heroic military posture of Rwandan soldiers.
What is even more gratifying is that after years of efforts Rwanda has also made significant improvements in all aspects. Not only has the education level of the whole people increased significantly, but the average life expectancy has also doubled, and its economic growth rate has been ranked first in Africa for more than 10 years.
Rwanda has changed dramatically, and if you have the chance to travel here, you will find that most people are worried about the dirty mess in Africa, which is completely non-existent in Rwanda. Walking through the streets of the capital Kigali, you will find that the whole city is very well planned, with neat buildings, orderly vehicles, and lush greenery.
What is even more surprising is that after years of development and construction, Rwanda has become synonymous with environmental protection and hygiene, and there is hardly a scrap of paper or a cigarette butt on the street. Everything looks so vibrant, serene and peaceful.
In addition, Rwanda has also become one of the safest countries in Africa, and it is completely possible to relax the nervous nerves by traveling here, and living in small hotels at night without even locking the door, so it is called African Switzerland. Some people have said that such Rwanda is completely different from its neighbors, and people see a completely vibrant country.
Rwanda, which has been socially stable for a long time and has maintained economic growth, has also been internationally certified as a country with a top business environment, which has attracted more and more enterprises for Rwanda, especially Chinese enterprises to drive the rise of many local industries, which can be seen that Rwanda is becoming a benchmark, worthy of learning from many countries in Africa and even the world.