Final answer:
Juvénal Habyarimana's government blamed the Tutsi minority for Rwanda's issues by capitalizing on and exacerbating existing ethnic tensions that had been intensified by colonialism. This scapegoating led to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, where Hutu extremists attempted to exterminate the entire Tutsi population.
Step-by-step explanation:
Juvénal Habyarimana and his government employed a narrative that blamed the Tutsi minority for Rwanda's problems. This scapegoating was deeply rooted in the colonial manipulation of ethnic divisions by European powers. The Germans and later the Belgians exacerbated the ethnic tensions by placing the Tutsi in positions of power over the Hutu majority during the colonial period, despite the fact that the Hutu constituted the vast majority of the population. After independence, this dynamic flipped, and the Hutu majority took control, leading to periodic violence against the Tutsis.
The campaign of blaming the Tutsi for Rwanda's issues culminated in the horrific 1994 Rwandan Genocide, an orchestrated attempt by Hutu extremists to exterminate the Tutsi population. Habyarimana's government, predominantly Hutu, justified this by citing past instances where Tutsi leaders had used violence against the Hutu, further fueling fear and ethnic hatred. The resulting genocide saw the massacre of approximately a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus, which only ended when a Tutsi-led guerrilla insurgency took control of the government.