Publisher's Synopsis
For thirty years, Mokonzi na Bakonzi, the chief of chiefs, enjoyed Washington's good graces. As long as the Soviet Union had an interest in the Congolese nation, the brutal dictator could enjoy the Americans' continued support.
Now the USSR is no more, lost to history. With the Soviet Bear extinct, Washington's longtime affection turns to rejection-and even outright disapproval. For na Bakonzi, the threat of rebellion is at hand.
In desperation na Bakonzi turns to his brutal chief of security. Together, the two blame the minority Tutsi tribes and their kin the Banyamulenge, unleashing a genocidal rage at their scapegoats.
Complicating the issue is the chief of security's love for a woman involved with one of na Bakonzi's chief challengers. The chief of security wants his rival dead, but doing so places him in direct conflict with the dictator's plan to consolidate power. Love and jealously are about to clash with loyalty and self-interest, with potentially disastrous results.
A cutting story of the effects of the State Department's capricious support of African regimes, Variations on Unjust Times is a clever, twisting tale of political intrigue and one ruler's desperate, violent attempt to survive the end of the Cold War.
