20 December 2013

Mariah Carey was paid $1million to perform for Angola dictator.

Mariah Carey has come under fire after she was paid $1 million to perform for a dictator.
The 'All I Want for Christmas is You' singer gave a two-hour concert for authoritarian Angolan President Josè Eduardo Dos Santos last Sunday, in return for the huge amount.
The move has angered human rights groups who claim Dos Santos has murdered many and exploited the country's resources to his own gain.


It is the sad spectacle of an international artist purchased by a ruthless police state to entertain and whitewash the father-daughter kleptocracy that has amassed billions in ill-gotten wealth while the majority of Angola lives on less than $2 a day,' Human Rights Foundation president Thor Halvorssen said.

Mariah's show was sponsored by Unitel, a mobile-phone company owned by Dos Santos' daughter, Isabel.
His daughter is also head of the Angolan Red Cross, which reportedly received $65,000 in benefit funds from the concert.
 
The concert comes five years after Mariah apologized after performing for notorious dictator Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was toppled and killed during the Arab Spring uprising in 2011.
Thor added: 'Mariah Carey can't seem to get enough dictator cash. Just five years ago she performed for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi.
'Now, she goes from private performances to public displays of support and credibility for one of Africa's chief human rights violators and most corrupt tyrants.'
Mariah, 43, posed for pictures with Dos Santos and his family at the event.


  According to the Human Rights Foundation, she said: 'I am happy to be here in this room and I am honored to share this show with the President of Angola.'
Critics of Dos Santos claim he has murdered many politicians, journalists and other people who have defied his orders, as well as monopolizing and exploiting oil and diamond resources and seizing control of almost all aspects of government power.
 
The performance comes six months after Jennifer Lopez was forced to apologize for singing 'Happy Birthday' to the repressive dictator of Turkmenistan's brutal regime.
Lopez reportedly changed into a traditional Turkmen outfit during her June show and personally serenaded Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow - whose government is accused of arbitrarily arresting and torturing political dissidents.
Human Rights Watch ranks Turkmenistan as 'among the most repressive in the world.'

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