The Ambassador

---

Thank you very much, sir.

Hello, everybody. It's a pleasure to

be with you warm, wonderful people.

My name is Mr. Cortzen.

I'm a businessman, I'm a diplomat.

I make matches.

Soon I'm going

to the Central African Republic -

- to represent

the interests of Liberia there.

I hope you will pray to God

to watch over me there.

It is a dangerous place, but I will

do my best to accomplish my mission.

Praised be the Lord, and

it's wonderful to be with you today.

I hope to see you again soon.

- Hey, Mads.

- Colin, nice to see you.

- Likewise, likewise.

- Let's go.

- Wow!

- This here...

- This is...

- It's like a castle.

Leave our jackets,

because it's going to be quite hot.

I'd appreciate it if you left your

mobile phone. I'm going to leave mine.

- And your bag. Just leave everything.

- Yes, okay.

I've asked you to leave

your mobile phone and everything -

- because I don't want

this conversation to be recorded.

This conversation that

we're about to have never happened.

I have a good feeling -

- that your interest in the Central

African Republic goes deeper.

I think that your goal is -

- you want to have uncluttered access

with diplomatic credentials -

- in and out

of a diamond-producing zone.

- That as well.

- Okay.

From this point

there's no going back.

Here ends my life

as a Danish journalist.

What awaits me is a life

where I can operate freely -

- beyond all moral boundaries

known to man -

- while still being

a respectable member of society.

A life where I can indulge myself

in secret state affairs -

- enjoy red carpet treatment -

- and travel the world

with a suitcase full of diamonds.

What I'm talking about is, of course,

a life as an African diplomat.

Welcome to the

Central African Republic (CAR).

I'm having sundowners

with a Sudanese diplomat -

- overlooking the capital Bangui.

In my tuxedo pocket is

a diplomatic passport which says -

- I'm the Liberian consul

and ambassador at large to the CAR.

As such, I did my very best

to represent Liberia.

On behalf of Liberia, I'd like

to welcome you all to this soiree.

To be frank with you,

I'm not a very skilled diplomat.

- I'm bad at protocol.

- Mads is not a talented diplomat.

But I'm very good with alcohol,

which I hope you will appreciate.

How did I become a diplomat in the

CAR? The story begins in Portugal.

Here on the outskirts of the town of

Coimbra reside the Evans brothers -

- a second-generation British

diplomatic title brokerage -

- headed by the oldest brother -

- former Royal Marine

commando Colin Evans.

A white European with a reason to

travel back and forth out of Europe -

- to a diamond-producing country

in Africa -

- and back again on a regular basis

with diplomatic credentials -

- is a very, very,

very valuable piece of kit.

And I know exactly how valuable it is.

I could put that up on the brokerage

as a definition.

For a million euros

it would go in a week.

Working as a freelance diplomat -

- Colin Evans inhabits a highly

bizarre unchartered netherworld.

For lots of money

he brokers diplomatic titles -

- between cash-starved,

desperate third world countries -

- and people

who desire to become diplomats.

My concern is this:

If there is any monetary transaction -

- between you and me

or you and the brokerage -

- and you do get involved

in anything that is nefarious -

- it will come back on us badly.

And we're frankly not prepared

to take the risk on that.

But we have a plan.

Not wanting to put my eggs in one

basket, I contacted another broker -

- the Dutchman Willem Tijssen.

He met me in a hotel in Copenhagen

for a quick business lunch.

Did you have a nice flight?

That's great.

- I didn't have to do it myself.

- So it's a success already.

Tijssen represents a brokerage

called Diplomatic Services.

He's the go-to guy

for diplomatic positions -

- from the small, poor

West African country Liberia -

- which has begun recovering

after many years of civil war.

Willem says he works for a secretive,

highly influential power broker -

- in African state affairs

named Dr. Eastman.

I don't know exactly what he's doing.

He has extremely big influence -

- into heads of states.

How mysterious.

I really like the name Dr. Eastman.

It has a spy thriller ring to it.

- A spy! Don't think he is a spy.

- No, no, it's just the name.

He is very close to...

You know, in the world -

- you have the underworld,

the criminals -

- you have the upper world

where we live, business people -

- and the back world, the people

who are very influential -

- who actually most of the time

pull the strings.

Tijssen was sure he could set me up

as a Liberian diplomat to the CAR.

This would cost me $135,000, but

the full package would also include -

- an honorary MBA

from Monrovia University -

- as well as

a Liberian driver's license.

We discussed all the opportunities

I could have as an African diplomat.

You can travel with your suitcase

with $10 million in cash.

I cannot do it. Nobody can.

But a consul

or an ambassador can do that.

If you are going to do

what I think you're going to do...

If you do it the way

we will set you up to do it -

- you have a very high probability

of success.

If you do it any other way -

- the best that you can hope for

is to be arrested and go to jail -

- and lose everything you've got.

That's the best you can hope for.

The worst you can hope for -

- is that you end up dead

in a ditch in Africa.

I'm giving it to you on a plate.

As the name says, the CAR is

situated in the middle of Africa.

It offers itself as a Jurassic Park -

- for people who long for Africa

of the 1970s.

If the Congo was the heart

of darkness, this is the appendix.

Some call it a failed state,

but this would only be true -

- if there at some point had ever

been a functioning state structure.

Instead there's a lawless territory

the size of Texas -

- where a couple of thousand poorly

equipped soldiers try to protect -

- the capital Bangui

from the horrors of the wilderness.

Here, a small political elite

spends most of its time -

- being involved

in criminal activities -

- while waiting for the weekly flight

to Paris, its former colonial master.

Of course, a country such as this

works as a magnet -

- on white men with hidden agendas.

- Wonderful, wonderful.

- I'm a Liberian, Paul.

- So now you're a Liberian?

- Yes, I'm a Liberian.

- You know how to struggle.

- Yes, I've been working a lot on it.

Paul is my charge d'affaires

in Bangui. He is a diplomat fixer.

We share a fascination with

the former Central African tyrant -

- the cannibal Emperor Bokassa

who went mad as a hatter.

Here we're touring the ruins

of Bokassa's jungle castle.

Magnificent.

People in Europe think of Bokassa

as an evil dictator -

- but how is he to people here?

Bokassa as such is very humanist,

because his first goal is -

- to develop the country.

To save the area.

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