BY DICK ROBERTS  
The Congo has been the scene of unceasing turbulence since June 30th, 1960, the day the Congolese gained formal independence from Belgium. Real independence, however, consisting of self-determination in all spheres of life, could not be obtained simply through a change in the political relationships between the Congo and Belgium. This change only set the state for a new and deeper struggle, the struggle for economic independence.

Not only Belgium, but France, England, and particularly the United States had no intention of allowing their vast economic holdings in the Congo to be jeopardized by the new Republic. Increasingly, as the Congolese struggle became one for economic independence, these foreign powers and their agents within the Congo became formidable opponents of independence. The deepening struggle drove divisions into the Congolese peoples, widely separating those who fought for complete independence from those who desired to remain within the economic confines of world capitalist investment….

Upon achieving political independence, the Congolese held a general election to determine the membership of their democratic parliament. The majority of seats were won by the largest independence force, the Congolese National Movement, headed by the revered leader of the independence struggle, Patrice Lumumba. Lumumba was named Prime Minister….

The Belgians had forced the Congolese to allow them to maintain an army and air bases in the Congo, ostensibly for “mutual cooperation.” A week after independence, when Congolese soldiers demonstrated against their Belgian officers with a demand for pay and rank raises, Belgian troops fired on the demonstrators. Lumumba, in turn, removed the Belgian officers and appointed Josef Kasavubu commander-in-chief.

The Belgians quickly exploited the situation they had provoked. Claiming that Lumumba was inspiring “racial hatred” and couldn’t be trusted to govern the Congo, they rushed in new troops, and separated Katanga from the Congo Republic—using Moise Tshombe, a wealthy plantation owner and businessman as their Katanga front-man.

In this crisis, Lumumba correctly accused the Belgians of having “carefully prepared the secession of Katanga,” and asked for the immediate help of the United Nations…a fatal error, as Lumumba himself learned, all too soon. The United States completely dominated the UN.

Seizing the opportunity to extend foreign military control in the Congo, the U.S. pushed the UN to meet Lumumba’s request, and the UN sped troops to the Congo July 14. They had no intentions of driving Belgium out of the Congo….

It was almost immediately apparent to Lumumba that the UN was double dealing, and he requested outside support from the Soviet Union, to intervene “should the Western camp not stop its aggression.”

By July 30 the Belgians had built up a force of over 10,000 troops, and the UN army had refused to enter Katanga….

In Katanga, Belgian troops crushed uprisings of Congolese soldiers and miners, and protected Tshombe’s efforts to suppress opposition from minority leaders in the Katanga parliament. The UN closed broadcasting stations in Leopoldville and commanded Lumumba not to meddle in Katanga. Unfortunately, Lumumba continued to rely on appeals to the UN, undoubtedly supported in this futile effort by the Soviet Union.

On September 5, Lumumba was summarily removed from office, Soviet representatives were ordered out of the country, and a military dictatorship was established under Col. Mobutu….

Again Lumumba temporized, this time fatally. Remaining in Leopoldville until the end of November, his belated effort to escape was doomed to fail. On December 1st, Lumumba was seized, publicly mauled in a truck before U.S. TV cameras and imprisoned in Leopoldville; this while UN forces stood by.

On January 18, Kasavubu, in return for a “round-table conference” with Tshombe, handed prisoner Lumumba over to the Belgian stooge….

And, as it became clear upon UN investigation months later, Lumumba and his two aides were subsequently murdered. Their deaths were reported by Tshombe, February 12.  
 
 
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