He questioned contracts and concessions approved under previous Tutsi governments, which threatened the economics of the powerful Tutsi elite and army.

Belgian expatriates, Asian businessmen and many of the Tutsi elite have fled the city.

The establishment of coffee plantations, and the resulting concentration of wealth in the hands of the Tutsi elite, provoked tensions between the two tribal groups.

The Tutsi elite were defined by their exclusive ownership of land and cattle.

Local merchants, many from the Tutsi elite, made fortunes charging wartime prices for basic goods.

Classe was an admirer of the Tutsi elite, whom he considered natural rulers of the country.

However, this resistance was, paradoxically, in large part led or inspired by disaffected members of the Tutsi elite.

The Belgians left the Tutsi elite in control of Burundi, but gave way to the Hutu majority in Rwanda.

He was referring to the repression by the Hutu majority of the once-powerful Tutsi elite.

Hutu anger at the oppression was largely focused on the Tutsi elite rather than the distant colonial power.