 | Death in the Congo: Murdering Patrice Lumumba Subjects: Lumumba Patrice 1925–1961 -- Assassination; Congo (Demo cratic Republic) -- History -- Civil War 1960–1965; Belgium -- Foreign relations -- Congo (Democratic Republic); Congo (Democratic Republic) -- Foreign relations -- Belgium; United Nations -- Cong; In 1960, when Belgium grudgingly ceded power, Lumumba became prime minister of the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) and the first democratically-elected head of the former Belgian colony. But historians Gerard, of the University of Leuven, and Kuklick, of the University of Pennsylvania, reveal how the geopolitical neophyte was unequipped to deal with his compatriots or the ex-colonial overloads who actively sought ways to undermine him and regain control. As the country quickly descended into chaos, his regime was further undercut by rivals bent on secession and ethnic tensions among the various politicians jockeying for power. Lumumba and his allies turned to the United Nations for help restoring stability, unaware that the U.S. effectively controlled the organization. Although Lumumba was more a nationalist than a communist, the Americans feared he would steer the Congo-and the rest of the continent-into Soviet Union's orbit. The CIA moved to discredit and captured the Congolese leader before carrying out one of the most chilling and successful assassinations of the Cold War. Though marred by stilted prose, the authors provide wealth of detail in this worthy primer to the events that plunged the nation into decades of dictatorship under Joseph Mobuto (Mobutu Sese Seko). (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. Gerard Emmanuel : Emmanuel Gerard is Professor of History at KU Leuven-University of Leuven.Kuklick Bruce : Bruce Kuklick is Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania. |
