Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Africa, Volume XIV

217. Telegram From the Embassy in the Congo to the Department of State⁰

Léopoldville, September 16, 1960, 6 p.m.

736. Events of yesterday and today give me some hope that act one of the Congo drama has ended. The prologue ended with the arrival of UN troops and the withdrawal of Belgian troops to their bases.

Act two will be concerned with the slow and difficult process of establishing some sort of government that will begin to function, an effort to assess the economic damage already done and first steps to arrest further deterioration.

While the Russians will volley and thunder with redoubled vigor if their Embassys are, as we expect, evicted tomorrow, they will find it much more difficult to peddle their poison in the Congo and even harder to influence government and people here. The trained seals are running for cover and even local clerks who worked for Lumumbavitch are being methodically arrested.

I feel even more important a result will be the impact on world opinion of the fact that this new and troubled African country has given the boot to the blob,¹ realizing that it brought them only compounded woe.

Timberlake

0. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 770G.00/9–1660. Confidential; Priority. Also sent to USUN and repeated to Brussels, Paris, London, Moscow, and Prague.
1. The notation, “Lumumba?” appeared in an unknown hand under “blob”.