ha joon 8 9 zaire indonesia germany japan
CHAPTER 8 Zaire vs Indonesia Should we turn our backs on corrupt and undemocratic countries? Zaire: In 1961, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) was a desperately poor country with a per capita annual income of $67. Mobutu Sese Seko came to power in a military coup in 1965 and ruled until 1997. He is estimated to have stolen $5 billion during his 32-year rule, or about 4.5 times the country’s national income in 1961 ($1.1 billion). Indonesia: In that same year, with a per capita annual income of only $49, Indonesia was even poorer than Zaire. Mohamed Suharto came to power in a military coup in 1966 and ruled until 1998. He is estimated to have stolen at least $15 billion during his 32-year rule. Some suggest the figure may even have been as high as $35 billion.His children became some of the country’s richest business people. If we take the mid-point of these two estimates ($25 billion), Suharto has stolen the equivalent of 5.2 times his country’s national income in 19...