Congo’s Problems Run Deeper than Oil

Nov 21, 2014 | Reuters
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Save the gorillas and save the Democratic Republic of Congo, urges “Virunga,” a new documentary from Netflix and enviro-mensches Leonardo DiCaprio and Howard Buffett. The film chronicles the machinations of British oil firm Soco International’s exploratory venture in Congo’s Virunga National Park, while park rangers struggle to thwart them.

The film is pitched as an exposé of Soco collusion with rebel group M23 to seize control of the park, which is one of two remaining sanctuaries for the 800 mountain gorillas left on the planet. The investigation drives the film’s narrative, whose most controversial footage claims to show Soco affiliates conspiring with a militia accused of war crimes by the United Nations and Human Rights Watch.