“The Russians first came to the Central African Republic in 2018 legally, as instructors, because Russia provided weapons to the national army. And then it changes. They were supposed to be officers of the Russian army and after a while it is discovered that there were none, but that they were mercenaries of the Wagner group. So, for years to come, the Central African Republic will be the perfect place to try out a lot of new propaganda techniques and new projects instead of just having military or mining activities.”
Some surprise. Others are applied today in the war in Ukraine. Others beyond.
Carol Valade, a journalist who worked on the ground for months to document these changes, explains this to La Vanguardia. She now receives the Daphne Caruana Galizia prize for journalism from the European Parliament in Strasbourg together with Clément di Roma.
Because the propaganda machine took various forms. And always in the Central African Republic, because here “it is very, very cheap to try other things. It costs less than two euros for a person to demonstrate on the street. It is very easy for them and it has a very low political and monetary cost to prove”, he continues.
Valade highlights how an action film was produced about the role of Russian mercenaries in the country in which they appear as heroes and liberators, in true Hollywood style. "But heroes - he continues - mercenaries who tell what is happening in Central Africa avoiding citing war crimes, mass executions, looting and rape as they have been documented".
Beyond there are others. Some almost unbelievable. For example, distilling a vodka made in Central Africa “which was a failure. It never worked. Nobody drinks it. It is awful! But they tried. Also with food.
-Food?, he is questioned.
“In distribution, yes. They brought tons of sugar. They gave it to the elderly and the population under the control of Yevgeni Prigozhin." And this is considered the leader of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, directly related to the Kremlin and which is believed to have some 5,000 members in the world. "With the Russian flag and everything," adds Valade.
Other more classic strategies had demonstrations with Russian flags in the streets as their protagonists – and then the same have largely occurred in Burkina-Faso or Mali. Or also the press, because upon arrival in the country “there was a general repression against the press in the Central African Republic and freedom of expression. Everyone was afraid to talk about it in Bangui, and so it was almost three years before it was denounced: the EU suspended military trade with the armed forces of the Central African Republic in 2021. The US does the same. Although between 2018 and 2021, there was almost no reaction. There was silence” recalls critic Valade.
And all from the hand of the Wagner paramilitary group, directly related to the Kremlin. And all in the Central African Republic, considered, for that very reason, its original "testing ground".
Now its presence, beyond Africa, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, has also been confirmed in Latin America. In Venezuela, according to Reuters.
“The Wagner group is different from all private military companies. It is a network. They are armed forces. It mines minerals like diamonds and gold. He works in the field of counterinformation. And Prigozhin even founded the Internet Research Agency, which interfered in the American elections. All these activities are almost equally important to the group. It's a whole galaxy of different societies working together and achieving different goals in many different countries." And that they were successful, according to their experience on the ground. The government of the Central African Republic regained control of the state when, upon arrival, there was a rather failed state.
And from there, to other scenarios. Like in Ukraine.
And it is that “without being the same, it takes influences from here; It is not the same but we can see some similarities. For example starting the propaganda machine even before any accusation of committing crimes. And also the promise of well-being; claim to be an alternative and that everything the West and its media ensure is because they are against Russia”, the journalist resumes.
And why doesn't Russia directly use the military?, he is asked. The answer draws an ideal scenario for Moscow: “It is cheaper, it has no official losses and if they are accused of something, the argument is used that the group does not exist. And much more can be done when you don't have a known address. It is much more effective because there is no chain of command but there is a normal army. They can move faster and do more things. Without rules. Because, if it does not exist, there is no legal responsibility. Look at the case of Syria: it is very very difficult to document and bring a case to trial because there is no responsibility, the country is not directly politically involved, ”he concludes.
Syria was his other test bench, here military.
But is Russia in charge or is Russia not in charge?, is questioned again, given the centrality of the Wagner group. “Well, the group is for money in the first place but also – and that is why it is different from other private military companies – it activates very political aspects. Those who run it are very close to the Kremlin and have this vision of Africa as another world front and they fight on it. This is what Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin reason. It's part of their policy,” explains Carol Valade.
