The overthrow of Sukarno

The overthrow of Sukarno

Sukarno's nationalization programme and close relations with communist states alarmed the USA, especially when he challenged the two giant US oil companies Stanvac and Caltex.In October 1965 six army generals and their aides were kidnapped and murdered in an attempted coup. An unknown army officer, Gen Suharto, defeated the coup's leaders, undermining both Sukarno and the PKI, who were linked to the plot. There followed several months of mass political murder as up to 700,000 people were
killed by the army, and many more imprisoned without trial. Anyone remotely suspected of having communist sympathies was killed, including large numbers of Indonesian Chinese believed to have links with communist China. The PKI was obliterated. It was later revealed that the CIA had supplied the army with lists of communists and their sympathizers.