The Role of CIA in the Assassination of Congo Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba

Abstract

Congo gained its independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960, and a consensual government was formed in which the moderate Joseph Kasavubu became president, and the hard-line nationalist Patrice Lumumba prime minister. The Belgian government redeployed its forces again in the Congolese provinces, under the pretext of preserving the lives of its citizens, and coinciding with these rebellions, Moise Tshombe announced the secession of Katanga province from the Congo. As a result, the Congolese government asked the United Nations to intervene to restore order and remove the Belgian forces from the country. The United Nations established a multinational peacekeeping force, and with the arrival of the United Nations force in the Congo, the Belgian forces began to withdraw from all provinces except for Katanga After that, Patrice Lumumba threatened to expel the United Nations forces and invite the Soviet Union to intervene. This threat raised the concerns of the American administration, and the CIA classified him as Castro or worse, and even after he was ousted from the position of Prime Minister (by a coup led by the Chief of Staff of the Congolese army Joseph Mobutu) and placed under house arrest From the agency's point of view, Lumumba remained a strong political threat in any power struggle in the Congo and decided to get rid of him by various means, including assassination. The agency could not carry out this plan because Lumumba fled from his residence, to be arrested by the forces of Joseph Mobutu, and then transferred to Katanga province, where he was handed over to the father of his enemies, Moise Tshombe, to be killed there

Keywords

• cia
• patrice lumumba
• congo
• united nations
• katanga
• soviet union