p The Republic of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1964, and Republic of Zaire since 1971) was proclaimed on 30 June 1960 in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). Two weeks later, on 12 July, its government was forced to ask 114 the United Nations to protect its national territory against Belgian aggression.  [114•3  The Soviet Union, which was one of the hrsl to recognise the Republic of the Congo, liled a determined protest against the acts of the former metropolitan country and came out in defence of the national interests of the Congolese people. In its Statement issued in connection with the imperialist intervention against the independent Republic of the Congo, the Soviet Government thoroughly assessed the situation and disclosed the reasons behind it. "No subterfuges of the colonialists,” it said, "can conceal the fact of their armed aggression in the Congo, which is a gross violation of the basic principles of the United Nations and the principles of Bandung.”  [114•4  The Soviet Government emphasised that events in the Congo threatened international peace and security and demanded the introduction of prompt measures to cut short the aggression, and the reinstatement of all the rights of the young republic.

p The discussion of the Congolese question in the UN once again showed that there were two contrasting lines in world politics: that of the imperialist powers, which supported the Belgian colonialists, and that of the socialist countries, which came in defence of peoples’ national independence and freedom. At the very lirst meeting of the Security Council which met to consider the situation in the Congo on 13 July 1960, the US representative supported the Belgian colonialists and tried to prove that no aggression had been committed against the Congo.  [114•5 

p The Soviet delegation exposed the manoeuvres of the imperialists and in the course of further discussion submitted amendments to the draft resolution introduced by Tunisia.  [114•6  These amendments would have enabled the UN to 115 provide effective assistance to the Congolese people, by (1) condemning the Belgian aggression; (2) calling for the immediate withdrawal of Belgian troops; and (3) authorising the Secretary-General to furnish the Congolese Government with military assistance provided by the African UN member-countries. If the Tunisian resolution had been adopted with the amendments proposed by the Soviet delegation, it would have seriously influenced the further course of events. But the amendments were turned down by the imperialist powers and their allies. The Belgian Government did not even fulfil the demand to withdraw its troops from the Congo which was included iii the initial text of the resolution. In this connection the Soviet Union in July 1960 demanded another meeting of the Security Council at which the USSR representative introduced a draft resolution which envisaged the immediate termination of the armed intervention against the Republic of the Congo and the withdrawal of all the invading troops from its territory within three days.

p The resolution also urged to ensure the territorial integrity of the Congo and made it mandatory for all UN members to make no moves which could violate this integrity.

p In a conversation with a TASS correspondent on 27 July 1960 the Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo Patrice Lumumba said that the Soviet Union’s motion in the Security Council urging the immediate withdrawal of Belgian troops from the Congo was the only proposal that was fully in line with the interests of the Congolese people.

p Once again the Western powers prevented the adoption of the Soviet draft. But they could not afford to refrain from voting for the Tunisian-Ceylonese resolution which confirmed the previous resolution of the Security Council.

p Thus, the initial discussions of the Congolese question showed that the imperialist forces wanted to turn the UN into a virtual accomplice in the armed aggression against the peoples of the Congo. At the same time the USA, Britain, France and some other NATO members began to help the Belgian colonialists more openly. In view of this the Soviet Government issued a new statement condemning the imperialist intervention against the Congolese people. "Should the aggression against the Congo continue, and taking into account the danger it presents to universal peace," .it said, "the Soviet Government will not stop short 116 of decisive measures to repulse the aggressors, who, as it has become absolutely clear now, are acting virtually with the encouragement of ail the colonial NATO powers."  [116•7  The statement also made the point that while the aggressors wanted to throttle the Republic economically, by bringing on famine and disrupting its economic activity, the Soviet Union in response to a request from the Congolese Government said that it was prepared to offer the Republic economic assistance.

p In spite of the fact that at the request of the Lumumba Government UN troops were sent to the assistance of the Republic’s legitimate government, their European commanders in effect sabotaged the Security Council resolution and by their actions helped the aggressors. The blue flag of the United Nations became a cover for aggressive actions against the Republic of the Congo, its government and people and against its state sovereignty and territorial integrity.

p Naturally, the Soviet Union condemned the imperialist intrigues. In a statement published under the title " AllRound Support for the Young Republic" the Soviet Government exposed the spurious activity of UN representatives in the Congo, who, it emphasised, "not only do not help, but in every way prevent the Congolese Government from restoring order and normalising life in the country”. The Soviet Government demanded an immediate meeting of the Security Council in order to take measures to stop ail forms of interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of the Congo.  [116•8  But the Security Council meetings on 9 and 14 September 1960 merely coniirmed the fact that the imperialist bloc was paralysing the activities of that body.

p In an effort to bring the Congolese question out of the impasse, the Soviet Government proposed that it should be considered at the regular 15th Session of the UN General Assembly which was due to open on 20 September 1960. But on 17 September the Security Council, in violation of the UN Charter and in compliance with a proposal of the US representative, decided to convene an Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly on the Congo. Opposing this decision the Soviet delegate said that the proposal 117 to convene an emergency special session made two days before the opening of a regular session of the General Assembly was designed to conceal the actual state of affairs in the Congo and to rubber-stamp a resolution which would be in the interests of the colonialists. The imperialists failed to prevent the Fifteenth UN General Assembly from discussing the Congolese question, but they managed to bar Patrice Lumumba from attending the Session.

p In their speeches at the plenary meetings of the General Assembly the heads and representatives of many states, African and socialist in the first place, exposed the intrigues of the colonialists in the Congo.

p Early in February 1961 news of a terrible crime shocked the world: Patrice Lumumba and his comrades-in-arms Chairman of the Congolese Senate Joseph Okito and Minister Maurice Mpolo were brutally murdered by mercenaries employed by the colonialists. Expressing the will of the Soviet people and its profound indignation over the savage killing of the national hero of the Congolese people Patrice Lumumba, the Soviet Government demanded that the UN should resolutely condemn Belgium’s activity which resulted in this international crime. It also submitted a draft resolution based] on’ its statement of 14 February 1961 for consideration by the UN’General Assembly. This draft, just as the’stand of the Soviet Uniop on the Congolese question, was supported by the Government’and the people of the Congo.

p The political tension in the Congo did not abate in the following years, and the situation there continued to deteriorate. The fresh upsurge of the national liberation struggle of the Congolese people in 1963-64 and the inability of the internal reaction to put down the popular movement without outside help caused the imperialist circles to resort to direct military interference. With the consent of the Belgian and US governments, they organised another military intervention in the Congo.

p A wave of protest against the murder of Congolese patriots swept across the Soviet Union. Meetings demanding "Hands Off the Congo!" took place at hundreds of factories, scientific institutions, universities and other higher educational establishments.

p The TASS’Statement published in Pravda on 22 November 1964 and the Statement of the Soviet Government to the 118 Government of Belgium of 26 November 1964 in connection with Belgium’s military intervention in the Congo  [118•9  set forth the attitude of the Soviet people to the events in the Congo who demanded an immediate end to the military intervention and withdrawal of all Belgian troops and foreign mercenaries from the Congo, so that the Congolese people would be able to manage their affairs by themselves and build their own national state.

The imperialist forces and also the People’s Republic of China planned to interfere once again in the affairs of the Congo (Zaire) in 1977. When an uprising flared up in MarchApril 1977 in the province of Shaba in Zaire, some Western countries and China hastily dispatched weapons and military equipment to the central government of the country. The racialist regime in South Africa also interfered in the events in Zaire. On 13 April 1977 Pravda carried a TASR Statement which said that the Soviet leadership regarded interference in the internal struggle in Zaire by any external forces as impermissible. Following similar events in the summer of 1978, the Soviet Government issued another Statement on 23 June, strongly condemning the interference of NATO countries and their supporters in Peking and Pretoria in the internal affairs of African countries.