Skip to main content

[AfricaWatch] The CIA's early 1960s Meddling in Congo, the Murder of Patrice Lumumba, and the Rise of Joseph Mobutu | Foreign Affairs

 



What Really Happened in Congo

The CIA, the Murder of Lumumba, and the Rise of Mobutu
Stephen R. Weissman
July/August 2014
Summary: 
Newly available evidence shows that the CIA engaged in pervasive political meddling and paramilitary action in Congo during the 1960s -- and that the local CIA station chief directly influenced the events that led to the death of Patrice Lumumba, the country's first democratically elected prime minister.
STEPHEN R. WEISSMAN is the author of American Foreign Policy in the Congo, 1960–1964 and a former Staff Director of the U.S. House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Africa.
It didn't take long for Congo's transition from Belgian colony to sovereign state to turn ugly. Both the Soviet Union and the United States were keeping a close eye on the mineral-rich country at the heart of Africa when, on June 30, 1960, it gained independence under a democratically elected government headed by Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. A charismatic nationalist, Lumumba led the only party in parliament with a nationwide, rather than ethnic or regional, base. Within days, however, Congo's troops mutinied against their all-white officer corps (a holdover from the colonial era) and started terrorizing the European population. Belgium responded by sending forces to reoccupy the country and helping Congo's richest province, Katanga, secede. The United States, declining the appeals for help from the new Congolese government, instead threw its support behind a UN peacekeeping mission, which it hoped would obviate any Congolese requests for Soviet military assistance. But Lumumba quickly came into conflict with the UN for its failure to expel the Belgian troops and end Katanga's secession. After issuing a series of shifting ultimatums to the UN, he turned to Moscow for help, which responded by sending transport planes to fly Lumumba's troops into Katanga.

__._,_.___
Posted by: Nzinink <nzinink@yahoo.com>
Reply via web post • Reply to sender • Reply to group • Start a New Topic • Messages in this topic (1)

----------------------------------------------------------
The Voice of the Poor, the Weak and Powerless.
More News:http://changingafrica.blogspot.co.uk/
-----------------------------------------------------------
Post message:  AfricaWatch@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: AfricaWatch-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: AfricaWatch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: AfricaWatch-owner@yahoogroups.com
__________________________________________________________________

Please consider the environment before printing this email or any attachments.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





.


__,_._,___

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

[RwandaLibre] Rwanda : 19 ans après les massacres de Kibeho restent toujours impunis

  http://www.fdu-rwanda.com/ Rwanda : 19 ans après les massacres de Kibeho restent toujours impunis avril 22, 2014     Ce 22 avril 2014 est un triste anniversaire. Souvenons-nous, en effet, c'est à cette date que plus de 8'000 réfugiés dans le camp de Kibeho furent tués à l'arme lourde et aux lance-roquettes des soldats du Front Patriotique Rwandais. Des dizaines de milliers de rescapés du camp qui ont tenté ensuite de s'échapper ont été froidement abattus sur leur chemin de retour, les uns, jetés dans des fosses communes, d'autres, jonchés tout le long des routes, d'autres enfin, tout simplement disparus, sans la moindre trace.   Le camp de réfugiés de Kibeho abritait près de 200000 personnes. Que l'on se rappelle, c'est peu avant le 17 avril 1995 que, sous le prétexte fallacieux de démantèlement de prétendus arsenaux d'armes, six bataillons de l'armée du FPR (2000 hommes) et de la...
Post a Comment
Read more

[AfricaRealities.com] Rwanda court hears case to block third presidential term

  Wednesday's supreme court case was quickly adjourned after the lawyer for the Democratic Green Party failed to appear. One party official told Reuters lawyers had been fearful about taking on the case.  The court panel of nine judges led by Chief Justice Sam Rugege adjourned and set the next hearing for July 29. http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0PI11X20150708?irpc=932 Email Facebook Twitter By Clement Uwiringiyimana KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's main opposition party opened a case in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking to prevent constitutional change that would allow President Paul Kagame to run for a third term seven-year in office. The debate about term limits and challenges to veteran leaders has flared in several places in Africa. The United States and other Western nations have been pressing African leaders to stick to constitutional rules on presidential terms. Wednesday's supreme court case was quickly adjourned...
Post a Comment
Read more

[AfricaWatch] Rwanda 2014: 24 years after the Ugandan invasion

  http://sfbayview.com/2014/rwanda-2014-24-years-after-the-ugandan-invasion/#.U1cA6yfqdSQ.facebook Rwanda 2014: 24 years after the Ugandan invasion April 17, 2014 4 by  Ann Garrison KPFA Evening News, broadcast April 13, 2014 Claude Gatebuke survived the mass killing in Rwanda and founded the African Great Lakes Action Network (AGLAN) to promote truth and reconciliation in Rwanda and the rest of the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Twenty-four years after the Ugandan invasion of Rwanda in October 1990, both the history of the four-year war that followed and realities of life on the ground in Rwanda today are fiercely disputed. Claude Gatebuke survived the violence and founded the African Great Lakes Action Network (AGLAN) to promote truth and reconciliation in Rwanda and the rest of the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Transcript KPFA Evening News Anchor Anthony Fest : The United Nations commemorated the mass killing that came to be known ...
Post a Comment
Read more

-“The enemies of Freedom do not argue ; they shout and they shoot.”

-“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”

-“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”

-“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”

IRIN - Great Lakes

Loading...

UN News Centre - Africa

Loading...