Word: sukarno
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Indonesia's usually cocky President Sukarno seemed tired, nervous and uncertain. While his government's reckless campaign to seize The Netherlands' vast commercial holdings continued apace, Sukarno made his rounds screened by a phalanx of bodyguards, armored cars and secret servicemen. In Surabaya, Sukarno exhorted a rally of 100,000 Indonesians to prepare for hard times. "We must dare!" he cried. "We must start from the bottom. In the next few years we may be short of food, short of clothing." But Sukarno's flamboyance was gone, his melodramatics unconvincing. His audience listened, unmoved...
Stern Warning. The first seizures had often been carried out by workers from SOB SI and other Communist-led unions encouraged by Sukarno's inflammatory denunciation of the Dutch for their refusal to hand over West Irian (the western portion of New Guinea). But in the crisis' second week, the Indonesian government made clear that when there was seizing to be done, the government would do it. Premier Djuanda sharply toned down Sukarno's "hate-the-Dutch" campaign, said that Dutch citizens and Dutch properties would receive full government protection. SOBSI agitators were told by army...
Nerves & Rumors. In Amsterdam, London and New York, investment bankers waited nervously for each new report from Djakarta. Then at midweek Premier Djuanda announced that Sukarno was tired and exhausted from overwork, would leave shortly for rest and recuperation in a friendly country, presumably India or Egypt. In Sukarno's absence, Parliament Speaker Sartono would serve as Acting President, working in cooperation with Premier Djuanda and Major General Abdul Haris Nasution, chief of staff of the Indonesian army. There was talk that former Vice President Mohammed Hatta, who resigned last year in protest against Sukarno's attempt...
Instantly. Dutch newspapers blossomed with stories that Sukarno had been arrested by the army. Amsterdam stock-exchange prices shot up sirarply. They continued to rise even after Sukarno summoned newsmen to the white-columned presidential palace to prove that he was still free and in office. "Here I am," said Sukarno, "happy and gay." But he looked unhappy, and he refused to answer questions; the prices in Amsterdam edged still farther upward...
Indonesian leaders insisted that the trip would be a vacation, pure and simple. Sukarno's nerves had been "shattered" by the assassination attempt, they said. To back up their claim, they pointed to the fact that three physicians had certified that the President "should go abroad for distraction." They did not point out that none of the physicians had actually made a detailed examination of Sukarno, or that one other highly respected doctor, asked to make a similar certification, had refused to do so without properly examining the President. Sukarno refused to submit to the examination...