Freedom Writer - December 1995

Diamonds are Robertson's best friend

By Ju-lan Kim

Thirty-five years ago, Pat Robertson founded the Christian 
Broadcasting Network (CBN), which laid the foundation 
for his financial empire. Using CBN resources, Robertson 
launched numerous other business ventures, including: 
the Family Channel, designed to
 distribute  "The 700 Club," which became International 
Family Entertainment in 1990; Northstar Entertainment; 
Broadcast Equities; CBN Travel; American Sales Corporation; 
International Charter Jet; Kalo-Vita; and the Founders 
Inn and Conference Center. 

Under International Family Entertainment, a for-profit 
organization, Chairman Robertson and his son, Tim, 
received over $1.1 million in salaries and bonuses 
in 1993 alone. According to Robertson, his close relationship 
with God has given him the insider's
 scoop on successfully using what he calls "God's marvelous 
system of money management". With so many projects 
to run, Robertson seems to have his hands full (with 
cash, that is). 	

Although the financial success of CBN is well-known, 
one of Robertson's lesser known organizations is his 
African Development Company (ADC). ADC is a private 
venture that invests in various land-based operations 
in Africa, such as mining and agriculture, 
with the stated goal of redirecting profits toward 
humanitarian projects. In Zaire, the ADC operates a 
diamond-mining project in the center of Zaire's prime 
diamond mines and forestry concessions.

Zaire is a country with a population of approximately 
43 million, most of whom live in poverty. At the same 
time, Zaire's head of government, Mobutu Sese Seko, 
a dictator who has plundered the wealth of his nation 
for over thirty years, is able to live lu
xuriously surrounded by the comforts of vacation homes, 
yachts, and champagne. Corruption, health concerns, 
and human rights abuses in Zaire have long been an 
international concern, causing many countries, including 
the U.S., to turn a diplomatic cold sho
ulder toward Mobutu.

U.S. intelligence agencies have reported that billions 
of dollars in aid given to Zaire during the Cold War 
now find a comfortable home in Mobutu's personal bank 
accounts. Human rights groups around the world have 
campaigned against the numerous atrocitie
s committed against the Zairians during his thirty-year 
reign, including the deaths of tens of thousands of 
citizens. Mobutu has refused to implement any democratic 
reform that would lessen his power. 

President Mobutu continuously campaigns to distance 
himself from his appalling human-rights record, which 
has earned him more foes than friends. However, despite 
the innumerable strikes against him, it seems that 
Mobutu has attained a new trading partner,
 Pat Robertson. Mobutu's partnership with Robertson 
is another of Mobutu's attempts to build ties between 
his illegitimate regime and the U.S., as a way of gaining 
international acceptance.

Robertson, the former U.S. presidential candidate, 
has shown that he is not the least bit uneasy with 
utilizing Mobutu's personal fleet of planes and yachts, 
which were purchased off the backs of Zaire's oppressed 
citizens. Dr. Makau Mutua, projects direc
tor of the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, 
in the February 27, 1995 issue of TIME magazine observed 
that "Robertson is Mobutu's biggest American catch." 
  

When presented with more of the facts surrounding ADC, 
one is forced question the nature of Robertson's relationship 
with such a dictator. Should a "good Christian" profit 
from diamonds and lumber mined by the functional equivalent 
of slave labor? While o
ther Christian relief programs donate aid to Zaire 
via private organizations to avoid any connection with 
Mobutu's corrupt government, Robertson rushes forth 
with open arms towards Mobutu. 

On February 16, 1992, Zairian Protestants and Catholics 
held a demonstration asking for reform. Mobutu's troops 
opened fire on the demonstrators. Despite the bloody 
massacre that followed, coupled with criticism by the 
U.S. State Department, Pat Robertson
 was among the first in line to wine and dine with 
Mobutu in Zaire.

Perhaps Robertson's financial gains are enough for 
him to ignore any humanitarian pleas for reform in 
Zaire. Not only does Robertson profit handsomely off 
of his tidy diamond-mining operation, but Mobutu also 
makes his own, more than satisfactory income, 
through his country's $300 million-a-year mineral trade. 
Although Robertson has supported a number of dubious 
causes, his relationship with a character like Mobutu 
is one that may lead to more questions than Robertson 
is willing to answer. The love (of mo
ney) relationship between Robertson and Mobutu may 
leave Robertson's associates feeling a bit more than 
uncomfortable. 

_Ju-lan_Kim,_an_IFAS_intern,_is_a_student_at_Simon's_
Rock_College_of_Bard._

_
Anonymous. "Zaire Trip Criticized." _The_Christian_
Century_, April 15, 1992, 394.
Lipez, Dick. "Friends of Pat." _Freedom_Writer_, September 
1995, 9.
Lippman, Thomas W. "A Dictator With Friends in High 
Places." _Washington_Post_ national weekly edition, 
August 14-20, 1995, 20.	 
Purvis, Andrew. "Jewels for Jesus." TIME, February 
27, 1995, 30.
_

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