Talk:France-Albert René

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Hmmm, those nasty Americans were behind it all along. It couldn't have anything to do with exiled swingin' James_Mancham, whose voice was heard on the tapes that one of Hoare's men failed to completely destroy?--Jpbrenna 08:49, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I've never heard such a claim (and I am fairly familiar with Seychelles), but it certainly is a possibility.

By the way, the article implicates South Africa and Ian Smith, not the United States —Sesel 12:25, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

It doesn't? "...but some theorize that South Africa was just a client state for American interests in the region."

Mancham's whereabouts during the coup attempt are disputed. He claimed to have been in London, but according to the plan worked out with Hoare, he was supposed to be waiting in Nairobi. (A British journalist claimed to have spoken with him on the day of the coup on Majorca, which is neither London nor Nairobi. If he was really there, why? It's one of the many bizzare unanswered questions in this case).

Upon receiving word of the successful capture of Rene, his cabinet and the radio tower (which would broadcast a taped message bearing the news of his resumption of power in Seychellois Creole) Mancham and a small group of Kenyan gendarmarie reinforcements were to board a plane for the Seychelles. Rene had reinforced the Seycelles army with Tanzanian troops, and there was apparently some rivalry for influence between Kenya and Tanzania at this time. The Kenyans refused to become involved in the coup attempt itself, but signalled that they would be ready to help "stabilize" in (a successful) aftermath. (These details, reported in The New Mercenaries by Anthony Mockler, are, I believe, according to Hoare and some of the other mercenaries. I don't consider any of them any more or less believalbe than Rene, Mancham and the South Africans.

The mercenary who was left behind at the airport ("accidentally," it was claimed), was Jeremiah Puren. He was supposed to destroy all the documents related to the coup, including maps, contracts, broadcast tapes etc. and then try to make the flight. A half-burned tape was found by a female reporter in the airport ladies room after the Seychelles Army retook the facility and allowed journalists to view the destruction (most of it caused after the mercenaries left, by Seychelles troops who thought they were still there and wanted to "soften-up" the terminal before they entered it). The recoverable fragments of the tape were played at the mercenaries' trial, and a state radio employee testified that one of the voices was that of Mancham, for whom he had often mixed tapes for official broadcast, in the days before the "revolution."

--Jpbrenna 21:06, 30 Mar 2005 (UTC)

We're both right. This passage is about a 1979 abortive coup, but as far as the arrangement of forces against René, I believe it holds for the other coup attempts as well:

In 1979, a plot to invade the Seychelles and overthrow René was aborted when it was discovered by his government before the mercenaries were able to leave Durban. An official investigation into the matter by the Seychelles government concluded that the United States and France had been directly involved with the plotters, that the American ambassador in Kenya had been in contact with supporters of James Mancham, the man deposed by René, and that the US Charge d'Affaires in the Seychelles was the link man in the conspiracy. Several of the 120 Americans employed at the US base were expelled from the country. (p. 268 of Blum, William. Killing Hope. Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 2004. ISBN 1-56751-252-6)

As far as the exact circumstances of the Hoare coup attempt, it appears that I may have exaggerated US involvement in his coup:

Hoare testified further that he had met someone from the CIA in Pretoria and informed him of the coup plans. The United States was interested, the soldier of fortune said, but he described the CIA man's attitude as "extremely timid" and Hoare didn't suggest that the United States had played an active role. Under cross-examination, however, he acknowledged telling his troops that the CIA had approved the plan. (ibid., p. 268-69)

I'll work on rewording the article later tonight. —Sesel 23:26, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Clearing a few things

Would be good if someone could provide details about these two alleged coups: "The 1981 attempt was the second major threat to his government at that point in time, and there were two other unsuccessful coup attempts in 1986 and 1987."