The Ambassador Page #4

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- They're small and very black.

- So we have to put black here.

And this is for the workshop to explain

to the Pygmies who the enemy is.

I want to tell them they have

to stop depending -

- on the French and the Chinese

and empower themselves.

The baguette. This is a French man,

and this is a Chinese man.

He knows the Chinese are like that.

He says the hair should be

more French and stand out -

- and the Chinese should look

more Chinese with smaller eyes. Nice!

The only way to become a certified

diamond dealer in the CAR -

- runs through

the Department of Mines in Bangui.

To obtain the government's approval

of my partnership with M. Gilbert -

- I had to sign a standard contract

issued by the Department of Mines.

This contract ensures -

- that if M. Dalkia, the cooperative,

finds diamonds he wants to export -

- they can go out legally.

So I can take stones

with me to Europe.

This paper will be like the

Swiss army knife of contracts.

- This paper is like the Swiss army...

- Yes.

This Swiss army knife of contracts

stipulated that I'd oblige myself -

- to pay all M. Gilbert's expenses

for ever.

To avoid this, I went to a law office

recommended by Minister Gaston.

The head of the office, a member

of parliament, would help us make -

- a modified version of the contract.

In short, business was good.

- How long is it to the Pygmies?

- Only 20 minutes.

Is the minister waiting for us? We have

soap and cigarettes for the Pygmies?

Yes, we have soap and cigarettes.

Small, small things.

And the minister...

As we are there -

- he wants to buy some wine

and drinks -

- to make a small celebration

with them, to see them dancing...

- A Pygmy party?

- Pygmies party!

- Did the minister ever meet Bokassa?

- Yes, he imprisoned me.

- Really? He put him in jail.

- He put me in jail. He was a dictator.

- Do the Pygmies live close to here?

- They are at the corner. By the lake.

- Is it their drums I can hear?

- Yes.

They've started to dance -

- and have made the spirit go out

like a whirlwind in the village.

They've made a tornado

by whirling their clothes around.

- Beautiful.

- They'll do it when we arrive.

You will see the Pygmies

in their natural... special power.

- So they'll be very happy? Excited?

- They're always excited.

Very excited indeed.

Since the early morning hours

Minister Gaston had been pouring -

- liters of red wine and African

moonshine into his Pygmies.

Now, the whole tribe,

including the children -

- were in an alcohol-induced

state of trance.

This is what

the NGO people don't understand.

You can really have fun in Africa.

Amidst this, Minister Gaston

made me a proposal I couldn't resist.

The opportunity to meet, face to

face, with the minister of defense -

- the son of the president,

Francis Bozize.

This is the way. If you can

meet the son of the president...

One day the son is on the way

to succeed his father.

He'll become president.

- You'd better prepare some money...

- For the minister?

Like an envelope of happiness?

No problem.

Then the chief of the tribe said they

had selected me a Pygmy assistant.

- He's in the bush.

- What's he doing in the bush?

- They are hunting.

- I see.

Please tell him

I look forward to working with him.

Thank you very much for the dance,

Pygmies. Could you say that?

Thank you for the dance,

wonderful Pygmies.

I'd like to end my speech -

- with a quote from the famous

American general, General Patton.

He said :
"If you tell people where

to go without explaining how to do it -

- you'll be amazed at the results."

Thank you very much.

They like the speech? Good.

When they clap and whistle,

they are very happy.

Good speech. It was very strong,

and it touched the heart.

It's important

to touch people's hearts.

Hello, Willem. This is Mads calling.

- Hi, Mads. How are you doing?

- We need to do the following.

I'm really in a messy situation here

because tomorrow -

- I'm meeting with the son of the

president, the minister of defense.

He thinks I'm a Liberian diplomat.

I'm spending millions of francs

on envelopes of happiness for him -

- because he's important for

the facilitation of the match factory.

And you know...

- What did you say, Willem?

- Mads? Hello?

- Hello. Can you hear me?

- I don't hear anything...

Oh. Willem, can you hear me? Willem?

Willem Tijssen could not hear me,

and that was a shame -

- because he hadn't delivered

all the goods I'd paid him for.

Some months ago

he came back to Copenhagen -

- to collect

the first installment, $50,000.

So, greetings from Dr. Eastman.

When you take out that much money,

the bank provides you with this bag.

This is only dollars.

Where are we now in the proceedings?

Well, all preparations are in place.

The whole team over there is

prepared for me to come -

- and then go through the system.

The system requires a lot of attention.

"Going through the system"

was a euphemism -

- for using the money

I'd given him -

- to bribe public officials

in Liberia to prepare for my arrival.

Nothing will be controlled.

You'll be treated as a diplomat.

You don't even have

to go through customs.

In Liberia I did not go through

customs at the airport in Monrovia -

- and was treated as a diplomat.

Maria, please film

the Ministry of Defense.

It's such a beautiful building. I

really like that kind of architecture.

- What's left of it.

- It's very powerful and minimalistic.

What is the standing

of Liberian diplomats in Africa?

There must be a hierarchy.

They'll treat you like you are

a European ambassador in Africa.

They consider you to be,

you know... His Excellence.

That sounds nice.

Willem Tijssen had personally made

25 clients into Liberian diplomats -

- but he was part

of a much larger system.

According to an investigation

made by the Liberian government -

- over 2,500 diplomatic passports

were issued and sold in the 1990s.

Many of the buyers

had criminal records.

The Liberian government claims to

have cleaned up their affairs now.

But mine and Willem Tijssen's

presence in Monrovia -

- seemed to suggest otherwise.

This confirms that the bearer of this

instrument, Mr. Cortzen, has met -

- with the requirements of the Bureau

of Immigration and Naturalization.

And I've received a driver's license.

It says I live on Clay Street

in Monrovia.

After some days at the hotel I was

brought to meet Varney Sherman -

- who is, as they say in Liberia,

The Man.

He's Liberia's leading

corporate lawyer -

- whom Danish shipping giant

Maersk has hired to help them -

- take over

the free port in Monrovia -

- and the chairman of President

Ellen Johnson's Unity Party.

He's not to be messed with,

and I only managed to get away -

- with a few sound recordings

of him done on my cell phone.

Well, we have

this Danish businessman -

- who has an interest in Liberia

and has had it for many years.

We thought it appropriate to apply

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