It sounds like a scene out of a movie: a corrupt dictator attempts to flee the country with the help of the American Consul, but is stopped by a CIA agent who arrests him. However, this is a very real event that took place in Vietnam in the fall of 1963. While his brother, Ngô ?ình Diá»?m, served as the President of South Vietnam, Ngô ?ình C?n ruled the central region of Vietnam with an iron fist, lauded by the U.S. and others for his effectiveness against the Viet Cong communist insurgency. When another brother was appointed the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hue, C?n aggressively promoted Catholicism and cracked down on Buddhists. That led to massive demonstrations, to which C?n’s regime responded with even greater brutality, sparking the toppling of the Diá»?m regime in a November 1963 coup. C?n had been offered asylum by the Department of State, but Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. had CIA agent Lucien Conein arrest him in Saigon. C?n was turned over to the military junta, which tried and executed him in 1964. John Helble was the Consul in Hue who discusses his opposition to granting C?n asylum and the instructions from the Department to do so anyway. He was interviewed by Thomas F. Conlon starting in April of 1996.
Read Full Article »
