Word: massamba
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...Communist," said one West European diplomat, "its government has got to have a strong grip on the people and the economy. The Brazzaville government has hardly any grip at all." Since 1968, when an army coup led by Captain Marien Ngouabi overthrew the leftist government of President Alphonse Massamba-Debat, the regime has been rocked by two major Cabinet shakeups and at least two attempted coups. It has also tried at least 18 former high officials on charges of treason...
...confusion was understandable. When Massamba-Debat came to power five years ago, he quickly set the former French colony on a course toward what he called "scientific socialism." His National Revolutionary Movement became the sole political party, and the members of its armed youth group, the Jeunesse, ruled the streets of Brazzaville. To guard the palace and to train militiamen, Massamba-Debat imported Cuban advisers. A good deal of economic aid and advice came from China and the Soviet Union, and the President paid a visit to Peking...
Left-wing Threat. Earlier this year, however, Massamba-Debat began to have second thoughts. The extreme left of his movement was threatening his own position. An economic squeeze forced him to look for foreign aid from the West. So, shifting to the right, the President sacked leading left-wing officials, partially disarmed the Jeunesse, and started sending home the Cubans. The government built sentry boxes in front of foreign embassies, ostensibly to keep the Congolese from contacting foreigners but in reality to isolate the large Chinese Embassy staff. Massamba-Debat also re-established relations with Great Britain, which were broken...
...should take over. The coup makers, hailing from tribes in the north and the west, quickly came to realize that the only man with any control over the powerful Bakongo tribe of the south (who make up 53% of the population of 900,000 and dominate commerce) was Massamba-Debat, a Bakongo himself...
Under Control. Once the President was called back, the military indicated that they wanted the move to the right continued. The provisional government that Massamba-Debat formed last week reflected that desire. Nearly all of the Republic's leading left-wingers were excluded from the Cabinet. The battalion-sized army not only retained the key portfolios of defense and interior but also put the free-swinging Jeunesse under its control...