Chapter 3564: Telephone Connection

Libya's Gaddafi and South African President Mbeki signed a labor export agreement, agreeing that South Africa will export 100,000 workers to Libya to help Libya carry out social infrastructure projects.

For this agreement, the African continent is full of applause. Libya is very rich and is the richest country in Africa. Although it has been subject to economic sanctions and comprehensive blockades by the United States in recent years, the living standards of Libyan citizens are still among the upper class in Africa. It is only second to South Africa. But in fact, the gap between the rich and the poor in South Africa is huge. If we really talk about the average national standard, it is far worse than Libya.

Under the initiative and leadership of Libyan President Gaddafi, all education and medical expenses in Libya are free, and basic living materials are fully subsidized by the state, while things like water, electricity, gas, gasoline, flour, etc. are so cheap that it makes people think that the Libyan people generally spend no more than 50 yuan a month on water, electricity, and gas. Of course, that's not all, the state also gives money to residents.

Yes, it's money. It is about 100 dinars per person per month for each family, and 350 dinars for a family. Under normal circumstances, 1 dinar is equivalent to about RMB 5.2, which can solve all basic living needs. Therefore, Libyans may be spoiled by this kind of life, or it may be the nature of Arabs. They are extremely lazy, the laziest group of Arabs. They can walk on the street with a cup of coffee for hours when they have nothing to do. Once they start chatting, they will talk nonsense endlessly, and they can blow up the trivial things. . .

Therefore, many foreign companies in Libya mostly recruit foreigners. On the contrary, local people account for a very small number. After all, for a nation where citizens can have enough food for their families without working, and where birth, aging, illness and death are managed by the state, it is obviously unrealistic to ask them to work with peace of mind and endure hardships. Except for those jobs with generous salaries and leisurely work, you rarely see Libyans going to work. Unless you offer extremely high salaries, the lazy Libyans cannot refuse.

Now this agreement between Libya and South Africa has not only shown African countries that the South African government has solved the employment problem of 100,000 poor workers, but also given African countries hope for cooperation with Libya. Before this, the blockade of Libya by the US government made African countries dare not cooperate with Libya at all. Even if the United States has announced the lifting of the ban, everyone with a discerning eye knows that the US government is currently forced to do so. In order to solve the Iraq issue, they need Libya to open its airspace so that its various fighter jets and transport planes can fly unimpeded.

But what about after the Iraq War ends and after the US withdraws its troops? Will they use force against Libya? If they are on good terms with Libya now, if the United States turns against them in the future, these African countries will not be able to bear it. They are not like European countries. Now they have established diplomatic relations with Libya, and in the future, at most they will announce the severance of diplomatic relations, and the US government will not dare to say anything. Instead, they will applaud. This is the confidence of European countries. African countries do not have this confidence. The United States does not need to attack them. As long as the U.S. government says something like this country supports anti-terrorism, it is enough to make an African country fall into poverty and despair with no one to help.

But now, the South African government, the leading country in Africa, has taken the lead in establishing diplomatic relations with Libya and reached a friendly cooperation agreement, which naturally makes those African countries feel relieved. The South African government dares to do this. This shows that Libya may have really reconciled with the United States this time. They naturally cannot miss this opportunity to establish diplomatic relations with Libya. At present, several countries close to Libya. Immediately threw an olive branch to Gaddafi, asking the two sides to establish diplomatic relations, trade, and establish good neighborly relations. Among these countries, Niger, which is close to Libya, is particularly bad.

Niger, located in central and western Africa, is an inland country on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert.

It is one of the least developed countries (underdeveloped countries) in the world. The per capita GDP is only US$300. It is a super poor country. Because of its proximity to Libya, the people of Niger are extremely envious of the Libyan people's leisurely life of strolling on the streets and sunbathing on the balcony. They work hard all year round and still can't get enough food, while the Libyan people are so leisurely that they do nothing every day. This gap is outrageous.

According to the Human Development Index published by the United Nations Development Program's "2005 Human Development Report", Niger ranks 186th, the last. The national telephone penetration rate is 1 per 1,000 households. There are 719 hospitals and clinics in the country, including 3 national hospitals, 5 provincial hospitals, and 213 private clinics. On average, there is one doctor for every 25,000 people, one nurse for every 9,000 people, and one bed for every 3,000 people. The national medical coverage rate is 70%, and the coverage rate of sanitary drinking water is only 46%. In 2004, the birth rate was 41.4‰, the mortality rate was 25.9‰, the infant mortality rate was 15.2%, and the average life expectancy was 44.6 years. The main diseases are: meningitis, polio, malaria, cholera, etc.

A long time ago, Nigeria planned to cooperate with Libya, but due to the relationship between Libya and the United States, Nigeria was willing but unable to do so. But now that South Africa has taken the lead, Nigeria can boldly cooperate with Libya. As for Gaddafi, the country already has large-scale civil engineering projects, which require more migrant workers. Although there are currently workers from China and South Africa, the total number has reached 200,000, which is a large amount of work, but for Gaddafi, he can afford to support more people. Relying on Libya's oil wealth is enough to support his huge civil engineering projects.

And it is also a good thing for Gaddafi to establish a good cooperative relationship with Africa, or even a relationship of interest. The more workers from various countries are in Libya, the more the United States will be concerned about attacking Libya in the future, which will give it a lot of buffer time. It will make the US government cautious and prevent the US government from being too wanton in direct bomb attacks.

Of course, Nigeria took the lead, and other countries followed. Anyway, even if there is no labor export, some other aspects of cooperation can be carried out. In Africa, the geographical locations of various countries are different, resulting in different crops and various industrial products in various countries, so there is a great possibility of cooperation between countries.

Libya lacks almost everything except oil and natural gas, that is, US dollars. Therefore, Gaddafi has become Africa's largest buyer. At present, it has become Africa's largest financier. African leaders, not to mention currying favor with Gaddafi, at least try to please Gaddafi in every way, and no longer treat Gaddafi like a madman as before.

And what is happening in Africa now is what Secretary of State Rice does not want to see the most. If Africa is really tied up, it will greatly damage the interests of the United States. Africa has the richest mineral resources in the world, as well as oil resources second only to the Middle East, and natural gas resources second only to Russia. In the past, due to the joint suppression of Western developed countries, the "scissors gap" became the dominant force in bilateral trade, allowing Western countries to enjoy the fruits of bilateral transactions.

But now, African countries are tied together. Although Western countries can still have the upper hand in trade, it is foreseeable that they will never be able to get whatever they want in the future. Moreover, once the African Union is really established and forms an organization similar to OPEC, it will be a real big trouble for Western countries.

And the only origin of the current trouble is naturally Lin Feng in Rice's view. If there is no cooperation between Lin Feng and Gaddafi, and if Lin Feng does not take the lead in connecting Libya and South Africa, then Libya cannot cooperate with South Africa. Without the cooperation between Libya and South Africa, other African countries will not be able to cooperate with Libya, the two countries with the highest per capita living standard and the most developed economy in Africa. Therefore, without Lin Feng, there will be no big trade in Africa now.

Rice hates Lin Feng very much. She hates him very much. She hates this Chinese who has brought huge troubles to her work and American interests. So, she called Lin Feng.

"Hello, Mr. Lin, I am Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State of the United States." Rice called Lin Feng coldly and introduced herself. She knew Lin Feng very well and knew that this guy liked to pretend to be ignorant. If she didn't introduce her title and full name, Lin Feng might hang up her phone directly. This is completely possible for Lin Feng. He can use the fact that he doesn't know who he is to keep hanging up his phone.

So, Rice will never give Lin Feng a chance to hang up the phone easily.

Secretary of State Rice! Lin Feng's eyes shrank slightly. Lin Feng had expected that the United States might cause trouble for him because of this. But he didn't expect that Rice, the Secretary of State of the United States, had called him so early, and called him personally. This was a bit beyond Lin Feng's expectations. And this woman has always been known for her bold and spicy remarks. It seems that this time she called him, there is definitely nothing good.

"Haha, Secretary of State Rice, hello, I am really honored. I didn't expect you to call me in person. Is there anything good to tell me?" Lin Feng said with a smile.

Rice snorted coldly.

"Mr. Lin, there is a good thing. But it is also possible that the good thing will turn into a bad thing." Secretary of State Rice said coldly.

"Oh, a good thing turns into a bad thing, then tell me about it!" Lin Feng asked with a smile.

"Mr. Lin, I hope you will stop interfering in African affairs, or to put it bluntly, I hope you will stop interfering in Libya's affairs! Otherwise, you will lose more than you gain! What you gain in Libya may be far less than what you lose!" Rice said coldly. (To be continued...)