For 10 days in June and July, 1966 an attempted coup took place in the Republic of the Congo. The coup was sparked following the demotion of

Marien Ngouabi Marien Ngouabi (or N'Gouabi) (December 31, 1938 – March 18, 1977) was the third President of the Republic of the Congo from January 1, 1969, to March 18, 1977. Biography Origins Marien Ngouabi was born in 1938 at the village of Ombellé, Cu ...

(the future President) who was accused of

insubordination Insubordination is the act of willfully disobeying a lawful order of one's superior. It is generally a punishable offense in hierarchical organizations such as the armed forces, which depend on people lower in the chain of command obeying ord ...

. Ngouabi's elite unit of

paratroopers A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

took over part of the capital, Brazzaville and were successful at cutting of the city's telecommunications and transportation. A group of over 200 Cuban army troops, then resident in Brazzaville, protected the government's radio station as well as the Congolese government against the rebelling paratroopers. When President

Alphonse Massamba-Débat Alphonse Massamba-Débat (February 11, 1921 – March 25, 1977) was a political figure of the Republic of the Congo who led the country from 1963 until 1968 in a one-party system. Biography Early life He was born in the small village of Nkolo, Bo ...

returned to the country on 3 July he was greeted at the airport by members of his government and not by the military, which was customary. Soviet, American, West Germany, Belgian, and French diplomats who were present all agreed that the Cuban army's presence in the capital had prevented the overthrow of the regime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1966 Republic of the Congo coup d'etat 1966 in the Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Military coups in the Republic of the Congo 1960s coups d'état and coup attempts June 1966 events in Africa July 1966 events in Africa