European Union intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Building Democracy?

Abstract

This paper analyzes the cooperation of the European Union (EU) with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) whose main intention was to hold elections in 2005 and, at the same time, create the relevant and lasting electoral and democratic institutions in the aforementioned African country, promoting universal values ​​of democratic quality and respect for human rights. In that sense, the conflict situation of the DRC is briefly reconstructed with the intention of demonstrating not only the difficulty in carrying out its first free elections but the modern history of violence and state weakness that covers it. Then, the European intervention is explained and analyzed under the liberal and neocolonial visions, whose explanations are necessary to continue with the modern debate about international cooperation between designated countries.