Colonial Madness > France Admits murders and massacres in Colonial Africa

 

France admits waging ‘war’ in African state during decolonization – media

Macron has reportedly written to Cameroon’s leader admitting Paris’ role in the killing of pro-independence leaders between 1958 and 1960

FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron and Cameroonian President Paul Biya. ©  Aurelien Meunier / Getty Images

President Emmanuel Macron has acknowledged France’s responsibility for “repressive violence” during and after Cameroon’s independence struggle in an official letter to his Cameroonian counterpart, Paul Biya. The letter stops short of apologizing for atrocities committed by French troops in the Central African country.

The move followed a report released in January by a joint French-Cameroonian commission of historians that examined France’s suppression of independence movements from 1945 to 1971.

Macron, in the letter dated July 30 and made public on Tuesday, said the commission’s report “clearly highlighted that a war had taken place in Cameroon, during which the colonial authorities and the French army carried out multiple forms of repressive violence.” 

“[The] war…continued beyond 1960 with France’s support for actions carried out by the independent Cameroonian authorities,” he wrote.

The president also accepted Paris’ responsibility for the deaths of four pro-independence leaders, Isaac Nyobe Pandjock, Ruben Um Nyobe, Paul Momo, and Jeremie Ndelene, killed between 1958 and 1960 in military operations under French command.

“It is up to me today to assume the role and responsibility of France in these events,” he stated.

READ MORE: France could discuss reparations for colonial massacres – media

The African country’s armed struggle for independence erupted in the 1950s, led by the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon, which sought to end French rule and unite territories under British administration. Cameroon had been a German colony until World War I, when it was split between France and Britain, with the French-controlled area gaining independence in 1960 and the southern British Cameroons joining a year later.

READ MORE: Evil masterminds: Here’s how Europeans sealed Africa’s fate

In the letter, Macron pledged to open France’s archives, support further historical research, and establish a joint working group to implement the recommendations of the commission, which was launched in 2022 to address historic grievances and promote reconciliation.

In recent years, Paris has sought to confront its colonial-era abuses in Africa amid tense relations with former colonies. Macron has previously recognized France’s role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and the 1945 massacre of tens of thousands of Algerians in Setif.

Colonialism, Hypocrisy, Palestine > Biafra wants out of Nigeria again; Dutch defund some pro-Palestinian NGOs

 

After suffering 57 years of violent persecution of Christians, Biafra again declares independence from Nigeria

Feb 1, 2025 12:00 pm By Robert Spencer

All nations with a Christian heritage and indeed, all free nations should be supporting Biafra and taking measures against the Nigerian government for its support of the jihad genocide of Christians in that country.

Biafra Declares Independence: A Renewed Quest for Freedom

by Michael Rubin, AEI, December 1, 2024:

On November 29, 2024, the United States of Biafra once again declared their independence from Nigeria. The move comes more than 57 years after the long persecuted and overwhelmingly Christian region first asserted their independence from Nigeria.  After that declaration, Nigeria reacted with seeking genocide against Igbo of Biafra, killing more than 100,000 outright and then starving two million more in a land and sea blockade. Muhammadu Buhari, one of its perpetrators, used his legacy in Biafra to propel himself twice into the presidency; both times, he unleashed Islamist militias into the region to slaughter Christians.

Biafra deserves independence. It was an ancient kingdom. Travelers and cartographers spoke of Biafra beginning in the 15th century through the 19th century, though the British creation of Nigeria in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries incorporated and forcibly subjugated the Igbo people into the new British colonial project. While Nigerian leaders often embrace the rhetoric of decolonization, they remain oblivious to the fact that many of Nigeria’s peoples—and especially the Igbo who seek Biafra’s restoration—see Nigeria as a colonial project.

Not surprisingly, Nigerian authorities reacted with fury to the reassertion of Biafra’s independence. Nigerian diplomats lobbied to compel Finland to arrest Simon Ekpa. Inside Nigeria, a country whose media freedom falls below Qatar, Serbia, or Haiti, journalists pillory Ekpa’s legitimacy and compel the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to denounce him while ignoring the IPOB’s demands for a UN-organized referendum for Biafran secession inside Nigeria.

The Nigerian government should not campaign, however. After all, on May 10, 2024, it voted at the United Nations to unilaterally recognize Palestine, a country that never existed and whose territory remains under dispute. The UN vote undermined diplomacy and the rule-of-law as, under the Oslo Accords, Palestinian leaders previously based their autonomy in the Gaza Strip and West Bank on an agreement to negotiate their status and territory with Israel directly, rather than through resource to international bodies.

The same holds true with Spain. In 2017, Spain used force to crush Catalonia’s democratic and peaceful aspirations for independence. Authorities in Barcelona, not without reason, see Madrid as a colonial power forcibly subjugating a region with its own language and culture and ignoring its democratic aspiration for freedom. Yet, Spain also pushed aside the Oslo Accords to recognize Palestine.

Perhaps no country has been as vociferous as Turkey in its recognition and material support for Palestinian statehood, yet Turkey has killed more Kurds than it alleges Israel has killed Palestinians. Advocating for Kurdistan, a region with a distinct language, culture, and long aspirations for autonomy if not independence, will land Turkish Kurds in prison for decades. While Israeli Arabs win elections and serve as mayors (amongst many other positions), the Turkish government repeatedly replaces elected Kurds in order to appoint municipal leaders willing to rubber stamp the Turkish leader’s pronouncement….

Dutch Decide to Cut Off Aid to Palestinian NGOs That Don’t Recognize Israel’s Right to Exist

Feb 1, 2025 2:00 pm By Hugh Fitzgerald

It has been a long time coming, but it’s been worth the wait. Now the Dutch will no longer be funding Palestinian NGOs, including all those linked to Hamas, that do not explicitly recognize Israel’s right to exist. More on this welcome news can be found here: 

Dutch Parliament Conditions Palestinian NGO Funding on Recognition of Israel

by Ailin Vilches Arguello, Algemeiner, January 30, 2025:

The Dutch Parliament passed a resolution on Tuesday to make funding for Palestinian NGOs depend on their recognition of Israel’s right to exist.

The Dutch House of Representatives passed a resolution by a margin of 70-67…

The resolution passed by the thinnest of margins, but it did pass, and for that we should be grateful.

The motion also addresses terror ties, citing the Netherlands’ decision to halt subsidies to the Ramallah-based Union of Agricultural Work Committee (UAWC) following a terror attack by employees with ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist organization.

If the Netherlands was willing to halt subsidies to the UAWC because some of its employees had ties to the PFLP, why doesn’t the Netherlands do the same for UNRWA, cutting off funding to that organization now that the Israelis have provided proof that nine UNRWA members took part in the October 7 atrocities, that dozens of UNRWA schools were used by Hamas to hide fighters and weapons, and that several hundred employees of UNRWA in Gaza were members of Hamas?

Last year, Dutch lawmakers discovered that the previous government had continued funding a terror-linked NGO, despite knowing they[the NGO] had subsidized the salaries of two Palestinians convicted in the 2019 murder of a 17-year-old Israeli girl….

Unsuspecting Dutch taxpayers were giving money to an NGO that had been linked to the Palestinian terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. That money was used to pay for increases in the salaries of two men who had been convicted of the murder of an Israeli girl, Rina Schnerb.

Olga Deutsch, vice president of NGO Monitor, an independent Jerusalem-based research organization, explained that the lack of vetting and oversight mechanisms has allowed billions of euros to be diverted to antisemitic, anti-Israel, and terror-affiliated organizations….

Think about the amounts of money that so many Western governments, not just the Netherlands, have been giving to Palestinian terror organizations, or to groups — such as UNRWA — that employ terrorists or members of terrorist groups. Olga Deutsch believes that the “billions of euros” have gone to those organizations, money which then is used to support terrorist attacks.

Deutsch pointed out that the Dutch government supported numerous organizations that misused aid funds, with a large portion being directed toward political warfare against Israel and the global Jewish community….

It’s not only anti-Israel terrorist groups that the Dutch government has been supporting. It also supports many organizations that are engaged in political warfare against both the Jewish state and Jews worldwide. Think of all the “Justice-For-Palestine” groups on campuses throughout the Western world that receive support to carry on their campaigns to delegitimize Israel and create pressure on the Jewish state to stop defending itself in Gaza and Lebanon — those “ceasefires” that may become permanent, and thus allow Hamas and Hezbollah to survive, and regroup, rearm, and recruit new members. Such pressure could also create an atmosphere that might lead Israel to agree to be squeezed back within the indefensible 1949 armistice lines, with a nine-mile-wide waist from Qalqilya to the sea.

The Dutch government is being asked by NGO Monitor to do one thing: follow the money you donate to Palestinian groups, to make sure it does not end up being used to support terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Make sure, too, that none of the money supplied by the Netherlands is going to support those who, while they may not be terrorists, are working to support groups that delegitimize, and undermine, the Jewish state.

The government of the Netherlands needs to carefully rethink and restructure the aid it gives to the Palestinians, to make sure it is humanitarian in nature, and does not support those who work to end the Jewish state’s existence. It should not, for example, give aid to the Palestinian Authority as long as Mahmoud Abbas insists on continuing the “Pay-For-Slay” program that provides generous monthly amounts to both imprisoned terrorists and to the families of terrorists who died while committing their attacks.

During this legislative session, the Dutch Parliament also adopted a motion urging the government to support Gaza reconstruction plans and fundraising efforts.

This motion is a mistake. Do the Dutch taxpayers really want to pour money into the rebuilding of Gaza? Why? The Western world should not assume any responsibility for paying any part of the cost of that rebuilding. That rebuilding is estimated to cost $80 billion. This should be accomplished not with more money going from non-Muslims to Muslims, but with funds given by the fabulously rich Sunni states of the Gulf — Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait — to pay for their Muslim Arab brothers in Gaza.

However, lawmakers rejected several proposals related to Israel and the Palestinians, including one to tighten labeling and tariff enforcement on Israeli settlements. They also denied motions to link Dutch aid for Gaza’s reconstruction to Dutch companies and restrict it to civilian infrastructure, as well as to provide January funding to UNRWA, the controversial UN agency for Palestinian refugees that has come under fire for several links to Hamas.

The Dutch lawmakers don’t want to limit their aid to paying for “civilian infrastructure” in Gaza. That apparently means that they are willing for Hamas to again build up its now-demolished military infrastructure. Why would they want that? But even more important, those lawmakers in The Hague should stop thinking that the Dutch have some kind of duty to contribute anything to the rebuilding of Gaza. The Palestinians must instead go hat in hand to their fellow Muslim Arabs in the Gulf, with their near-trillion-dollar sovereign wealth funds. The Dutch are already paying out billions of euros annually in benefits to the Muslim economic migrants, chiefly Moroccans and Turks, who have been admitted in great numbers to the Netherlands, where they batten on every benefit the generous Dutch welfare state provides. The enormous transfer of wealth from Infidels to Muslims, now taking place all over Western Europe, has gone on far too long. To make Dutch taxpayers pay for any part of Gaza’s rebuilding would be too much to bear.

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The Proxy War in Ukraine > Putin's Presser

 

Vladimir Putin warns Ukraine war will continue until Kyiv capitulates

By Paul Godfrey

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his plans regarding the war in Ukraine would not change in an annual address to the nation Thursday. Pool Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/EPA-EFE

Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that his plan for the war in Ukraine was unchanged and that the conflict would end only after Moscow's aims were realized.

Speaking in an annual address to the Russian public, his first major news conference since Russia's forces full-scale invasion almost two years ago, Putin said there would be peace when his Ukraine objectives of "denazification, demilitarization and its neutral status," were achieved.

"These objectives do not change," he said.

"If they don't want to come to an agreement, then we are forced to take other measures, including military ones. Or we will agree on certain terms," he said at the carefully stage-managed event which was combined with a public phone-in.

Putin claimed the sides reached an agreement in talks in Istanbul in March 2022, which was then scrapped -- Kyiv disputes there was ever any deal -- and re-iterated that there were only two possible outcomes to the conflict: come to deal, or resolve it by force.

"This is what we will strive for," Putin said.

He said Russia's economy was performing strongly despite the demands being made on it by his so-called "special military operation," claiming Russian forces held front-line superiority all across the front line.

However, he did reveal that a total of 617,000 troops were mobilized in Ukraine and that 300,000 men were drafted last year in addition to 486,000 "contract" soldiers -- but did not talk about casualties, estimated by the United States at 315,000.

Warning that Russian sovereignty was inviolate, Putin said NATO was responsible for the war and the widening rift between his country and the Western world by threatening Russia's territorial integrity.

"The unbridled desire to creep towards our borders, taking Ukraine into NATO, all this led to this tragedy. Plus the bloody events in Donbas for eight years -- all this led to the tragedy that we are now experiencing. They forced us into these actions," he said.

Of course, we never heard about the bloody events in Donbas. They are denied by Kyiv and ignored by Ukraine media. Russian media is not trustworthy even if you could access it.

"What the United States conceived and organized, Europe stands and silently watches, or plays and sings along with them there. Well how can we build relations with them?" Putin opined.

He said the conditions for restoring "fully fledged" ties would only come with internal U.S. change resulting in it "respecting other people and other countries."

While Europe is succumbing to the Islamic invasion that began in 2015, they are also succumbing to an historic reversal of colonialism under the thumb of America's military industrial establishment operating through NATO. It seems they can't give away their autonomy fast enough.

Bits and Bites from Around the World > MLK's Daughter Rips Pr William; Smollett gets 5 months in jail; 22-yr Trip Around the World

..

Prince William Slammed by Martin Luther King's Daughter

for 'Horrific' Ukraine Comment

BY JACK ROYSTON, Newsweek

ON 3/10/22 AT 4:15 AM EST

Prince William was accused of "horrific comments" by Martin Luther King's daughter in the aftermath of a Ukrainian community event where he was partially misquoted.

Bernice King linked the Duke of Cambridge's remarks to colonialism after William and Kate Middleton visited the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in London to support the relief effort on March 9.

Footage from the event showed Prince William said: "Everyone is horrified by what they are seeing. The news every day, it's almost unfathomable to actually witness it, to see it. For our generation, it's very alien to see this in Europe. We're all right behind you."

The Press Association originally reported William also suggested Britons were more used to seeing conflict in Africa and Asia—though footage released by ITV of the royal's full comments suggested he, in fact, made no explicit reference to the two continents.

However, some maintained their criticism of the Duke based on the reference to war in Europe feeling "very alien."

King, the chief executive of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, condemned the prince having seen the original, misleading account.

She wrote on Twitter: "Horrific comment. European people ran roughshod over the continent of Africa, pillaging communities, raping women, enslaving human beings, colonizing for profit and power, stealing resources, causing generational devastation. And European nations continue to harm Africa."

After the new footage emerged, King wrote: "I believe that we have a great deal of work to do globally to eradicate what my father called the Triple Evils of Militarism, Racism and Poverty.

"I believe that language matters in that work. And that it is harmful for a global figure to express war as 'alien to Europe.'"

European people ran roughshod over not just the continent of Africa, but on every continent but Antarctica. The list of grievances is unfortunately both accurate and incomplete. America is guilty of the same horrors in Central and South America and the Caribbean. The effects of which are now resulting in the massive migration from Latin America to the USA. In Europe, the migration comes from Africa and Asia, and it comes for the same reason - Colonialists stole all their natural resources and now the people are following the trail of those thefts.

Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, a prominent commentator on race in Britain, told Newsweek the remarks about war in Europe feeling alien were offensive on their own.

She said: "William says it's alien in Europe. This is on the back of two weeks of western media also saying it's alien in Europe, also saying Western countries are civilized. I'm sorry, if it's alien in Europe, where is he referring to it as being normal?"

The outcry heaps new pressure on the royals just days after the one-year anniversary of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's Oprah Winfrey interview, during which they accused an unnamed royal of racism.

And it comes little more than a week before William and Kate are due to tour the Caribbean from March 19 to March 26.

Prince William and Kate Middleton visit the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, in London, on March 9, 2022.

During the meeting, the Duke of Cambridge suggested it felt alien to see conflict in Europe.

IAN VOGLER-WPA POOL/GETTY IMAGES

After the original misquote, human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid wrote on Twitter: "Prince William says conflict is 'very alien' to Europe, unlike Asia & Africa.

"How do you have a 1,000 year history of colonialism, a literal 100 year war, launch 2 World Wars, allow multiple genocides, & bomb a dozen nations since 9/11 alone—yet make this type of a statement."

1000 year history of colonialism? I think it's half that.

Also before the footage emerged, royal biographer Omid Scobie, author of Finding Freedom, wrote on Twitter: "Unsurprised to see backlash against Prince William's ignorant remark (reported by@PA).

"Europe has seen some of the bloodiest conflict in the past two centuries—Balkans, Yugoslavia, Germany and Kosovo to name a few. But sure, let's normalise war and death in Africa and Asia."

It is not the first time Prince William has been accused of colonial comments, after he linked the pressure on wildlife in Africa to the human population in a November speech.

The duke said: "The increasing pressure on Africa's wildlife and wild spaces as a result of human population presents a huge challenge for conservationists, as it does the world over."

I'm hard-pressed to see anything wrong with this statement. If you do, please let me know what I am missing.

And a photo of Prince William being carried on a throne went viral in the aftermath of the Oprah interview in 2021.

In the famous interview, Meghan told CBS how an unnamed royal family member had made disparaging comments about how dark their child's skin might be before Archie was born.

She said: "So we have in tandem the conversation of 'He won't be given security, he's not going to be given a title' and also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he's born."

The queen released a statement saying the royals took the comments seriously but acknowledging "some recollections may vary."

William was the first to comment in person, telling journalists days after broadcast: "We are very much not a racist family."

Britain's empire covered a quarter of the world at its height, including India and most of South Asia as well as much of Africa and the Caribbean.

The new backlash comes as William and Kate prepare for a tour of the Caribbean as part of celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee.

Among the countries on their schedule is Jamaica, where there have been recent debates about removing the monarch as head of state, with one party in the 2020 elections pledging to hold a referendum on the subject.

The latest episode of Newsweek's The Royal Report podcast discussed the possibility of a backlash against the Cambridges during their tour.

A recent editorial in Jamaican newspaper The Gleaner read: "First, this newspaper is deeply uncomfortable, which we believe is the disposition of the majority of Jamaicans, of having the monarch of Great Britain, which, at this time is Queen Elizabeth II, as our country's head of state.

"Who holds this position is no meaningless symbolism. It ought to be an important reference point of who we are, and the aspirations we hold as a sovereign nation and people.

"The patriarch of a dysfunctional family in the United Kingdom that defined Jamaica's long colonial experience is not, therefore, an appropriate symbol."

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Jussie Smollett starts 150-day jail term in protected status

This booking photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Office shows Jussie Smollett. A judge sentenced Jussie Smollett to 150 days in jail Thursday, March 10, 2022, branding the Black and gay actor a charlatan for staging a hate crime against himself while the nation struggled with wrenching issues of racial injustice. (Cook County Sheriff's Office via AP)

  

Don Babwin And Kathleen Foody, The Associated Press

Published Friday, March 11, 2022 7:45PM EST

CHICAGO (AP) - Jussie Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for staging a hate crime against himself in protective custody, separated from other detainees and watched by security cameras and an officer, jail authorities said Friday.

Sheriff's deputies immediately took Smollett to the Cook County Jail on Thursday night after Judge James Linn sentenced the Black and gay actor to 30 months of felony probation - starting with a five-month term in jail - for lying to police that he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack.

Smollett loudly maintained his innocence and suggested he could be killed in jail.

“Your honor, I respect you and I respect the jury, but I did not do this,” Smollett said Thursday. “And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself.”

Smollett's sentence may put an end - pending appeals - to more than three years of legal drama following the actor's report to police that two men wearing ski masks beat him, and hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him on a dark Chicago street and ran off.

Smollett's attorneys filed an emergency injunction Friday seeking Smollett's release pending his appeal. An appellate court judge ruled prosecutors have five days to respond to the emergency motion, WMAQ-TV reported.

His attorneys also filed a notice of appeal in Cook County Criminal Court. They had said Thursday night that they plan to appeal both the jury's guilty verdict and the judge's sentence.

One day earlier, a judge sentenced Smollett to 150 days in Cook County Jail following his conviction for lying to police about being the victim of a hoax hate crime in 2019. Smollett was also sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago and was fined $25,000.

He began his sentence immediately after learning his fate Thursday.

In a statement on Friday, the Cook County Sheriff's Office said Smollett is being held in protective custody - typical for people “who may potentially be at risk of harm due to the nature of their charges, their professions, or their noteworthy status.”

Oh, good. Like Jeffrey Epstein!

Smollett has his own cell, monitored by security cameras and an officer stationed at the door and wearing a body camera, the sheriff's office said. Smollett is able to have “substantial time” in common areas to use the phone, watch TV and interact with staff but other detainees won't be in common areas with him.

Smollett faced up to three years in prison for each of the five felony counts of disorderly conduct - the charge filed for lying to police - of which he was convicted. He was acquitted on a sixth count.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised the sentence, saying it sends a message that “false claims and allegations” would not be tolerated.

“The city feels vindicated in today's ruling that he is being held accountable and that we will appropriately receive restitution for his actions,” she said in a statement.

Smollett's sentence includes a payment of $120,106 in restitution to the city and a $25,000 fine.

Smollett was convicted in a December jury trial, where witnesses included two brothers who told jurors Smollett paid them to carry out the attack and gave specific directions on what to do and say.

Smollett, who knew the men from his work on the television show “Empire” that filmed in Chicago, testified that he did not recognize them and did not know they were the men attacking him.

Argentine family comes home after 22-year drive around the world

Issued on: 12/03/2022 - 19:32

France24

Members of the Zapp family of Argentina open up a canvas that acts as a tent atop their 1928 Graham-Paige car near Gualeguaychu, Argentina, on March 10 JUAN MABROMATA AFP

Gualeguaychu (Argentina) (AFP) – An Argentine family is about to finish the trip of a lifetime: they have covered five continents in a 1928 jalopy on an adventure that began in 2000, while bringing into the world and raising four kids who are now adolescents.

The Zapp family -- Herman and Candelaria and those children -- have driven a total of 362,000 kilometers (225,000 miles) and have now stopped off in this town on the border with Uruguay before their scheduled arrival Sunday back where they started on January 25, 2000 at the Obelisk, a monument in downtown Buenos Aires.

"I have very mixed feelings. We are ending a dream, or fulfilling a dream," Herman told AFP. "What will come now? Thousands of changes, thousands of options," said the 53-year-old, who is already thinking of sailing around the world.

Candelaria, who was 29 when the trip began and is now 51, said her biggest and best discovery was the people encountered along the way.

"People are wonderful. Humanity is incredible," said Candelaria.

She said the family visited no fewer than 102 countries, although sometimes they had to take detours because of wars or other kinds of conflict.

'Good in cities'

The couple had been married six years, had good jobs and had just built a house, with plans to have kids, too, when wanderlust hit. Their round-the-world journey began with a backpacking trip in Alaska.

And somebody offered them a car, a 1928 model of an American make called Graham-Paige. The engine was bad and the paint looked terrible. "It would not even start," said Candelaria Zapp.

"The seats are not great, nor is the muffler. It does not have air conditioning, either. It is a car that you have to keep your eye on. It does not look comfortable, but it was marvelous," said Herman.

"It was good in cities, in mud and on sand," he added.

They went through only eight sets of tires in 22 years and only twice needed to do major engine work.

Herman shows off the roadster by opening up a canvas on the top that forms a sort of tent for the kids to sleep under when it was time to camp out.

"It is nicer now than when it first came out," he said of the modified uber-vintage vehicle.

While out on the road, and with the first two kids born -- Pampa, now 19, came into this world in the US and Tehue, 16, during a visit back to Argentina -- they enlarged the car by actually cutting it in half and adding 40 cm (16 inches) of length and another seat.

That made room for the arrival of Paloma, now 14 and born in Canada, and Wallaby, 12, down under in Australia.

The last additions to the family were a dog named Timon and a cat called Hakuna during a stay in Brazil, where the Zapps were stranded for a while in 2020 because of Covid-19.

More on that car, which looks like something out of a gangster movie: the trunk acts like a kitchen storage area, and the heat of the engine is used to cook or heat water. Clothes and tools are stored under the seats. And for all these years, it was home sweet home.

"It is a small house but with a huge backyard, with beaches, mountains and lakes. If you do not like the view, you can change it," Herman quipped.

On the side of the car is a sign that reads "A family traveling around the world."

The Zapps usually stayed as guests at people's houses -- they estimate around 2,000 altogether.

"Humanity is incredible," Candelaria said of people's hospitality. "Many helped just to be part of a dream."

But it was not all easy going. Herman once caught malaria, the family drove across Asia during the bird flu outbreak, and had to deal with Ebola in Africa and dengue fever in Central America.

- 'A lot of friends'-

Here on the streets of Gualeguaychu, people honk their horns when they see the Zapps' old Graham-Paige. Vintage car buffs have their picture taken with it.

And some buy a copy of the book the Zapps have written about their adventure, entitled "Catching a Dream." They have sold about 100,000 copies and say this is their main source of revenue for all this traveling.

For the record, they did the Americas, Africa, Oceania, Asia and Europe.

They touched Mount Everest, ate duck eggs in Asia, danced with native people in Namibia, entered the tomb of King Tut in Egypt and sailed across many a sea.

For the kids, it was an unforgettable experience. They did their studies remotely and with home learning with Candelaria.

The Zapp family is now almost back home after traveling on five continents for 22 years JUAN MABROMATA AFP

Now, in-person classes await them in Argentina.

"What I most want to do is make a lot of friends," said Paloma, the 14-year-old.

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