Ngo Dinh Diem: Difference between revisions

Concerning relations with the US, although Diệm admitted the importance of the US-RVN alliance, he perceived that the US's assistance to the RVN was primarily serving its own national interest, rather than the RVN's national interest.<ref>Henderson and Fishel, p. 9.</ref> Taylor adds that Diệm's distrust of the US grew because of its Laotian policy, which gave North Vietnam access to South Vietnam's border through southern Laos. Diệm also feared the escalation of American military personnel in South Vietnam, which threatened his nationalist credentials and the independence of his government.<ref name="Taylor, p.3">Taylor, p. 3.</ref> In early 1963, the Ngô brothers even revised their alliance with the US.<ref name=":8">Miller, pp. 253–260</ref> Moreover, they also disagreed with the US on how to best react to the threat from North Vietnam. While Diệm believed that before opening the political system for the participation of other political camps, military, and security matters should be taken into account; the US wanted otherwise and was critical of Diệm's clientelistic government, where political power based on his family members and trusted associates. The Buddhist crisis in South Vietnam decreased American confidence in Diệm, and eventually led to the coup d'état sanctioned by the US.<ref name="Taylor, p.3"/> Ultimately, nation-building politics "shaped the evolution and collapse of the US-Diem alliance". The different visions in the meanings of concepts – democracy, community, security, and social change – were substantial, and were a key cause of the strains throughout their alliance.<ref name=":8"/>

 

{{Main|Cable 243|1963 South Vietnamese coup|Arrest and assassination of Ngô Đình Diệm}}

{{Anchor|Coup and assassination}}As the Buddhist crisis deepened in July 1963, non-communist Vietnamese nationalists and the military began preparations for a coup. [[Bùi Diễm]], later South Vietnam's Ambassador to the United States, reported in his memoirs that General [[Lê Văn Kim]] requested his aid in learning what the United States might do about Diệm's government.<ref>B. Diễm and D. Chanoff, ''In the Jaws of History'', p. 100.</ref> Diễm had contacts in both the embassy and with the high-profile American journalists then in South Vietnam, [[David Halberstam]] (''New York Times''), [[Neil Sheehan]] (United Press International), and [[Malcolm Browne]] (Associated Press).<ref>B. Diễm and D. Chanoff, ''In the Jaws of History'', p. 101.</ref>

On 1 November 1963, Conein donned his military uniform and stuffed three million Vietnamese [[piastre]]s into a bag to be given to General Minh. Conein then called the CIA station and gave a signal indicating that the planned coup against Diệm was about to start.<ref>Annie Jacobsen, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins," (New York: Little Brown and Company, 2019), p. 148</ref> Minh and his co-conspirators swiftly overthrew the government.

 

With only the palace guard remaining to defend Diệm and his younger brother Nhu, the generals called the palace offering Diệm exile if he surrendered. That evening, however, Diệm and his entourage escaped via an underground passage to Cha Tam Catholic Church in [[Chợ Lớn, Ho Chi Minh City|Cholon]], where they were captured the following morning. On 2 November 1963, the brothers were assassinated together in the back of an [[M113 armored personnel carrier]] with a [[bayonet]] and [[revolver]] by Captain [[Nguyễn Văn Nhung]], under orders from Minh<ref>{{cite book | last=Bui | first=D. | last2=Chanoff | first2=D. | title=In the Jaws of History | publisher=Indiana University Press | series=Vietnam War Era Classics Series | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-253-21301-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNlnzQk2678C | page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XNlnzQk2678C&pg=PA105 105]}}</ref> {{cn span|text=given while en route to the Vietnamese Joint General Staff headquarters|date=December 2023}}. Diệm was buried in an [[unmarked grave]] in [[Mạc Đĩnh Chi Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/03/archives/2000-mourn-diem-at-saigon-grave-better-times-recalled-on-7th.html | title=2,000 Mourn Diem at Saigon Grave | work=[[The New York Times]] | date=3 November 1970| url-access=limited}}</ref> In 1983 the Vietnamese government closed the cemetery, and ordered all remains to be exhumed and removed. Diệm and his brother were reburied in {{ill|v=ib|Lái Thiêu Cemetery|vi|Nghĩa trang Lái Thiêu}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ucanews.com/news/despite-intimidation-south-vietnams-diem-remembered/80696|work=[[Union of Catholic Asian News]]|title=Despite intimidation, South Vietnam's Diem remembered|date=3 November 2017|access-date=2 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://vnn.vietnamnet.vn/psks/2005/08/480325/|title=Kể chuyện dời mộ ở Sài Gòn nhân Lễ Vu Lan|language=vi|trans-title=Telling the story of moving the grave in Saigon on the occasion of Vu Lan Festival|work=[[VietNamNet]]|date=18 August 2005|access-date=1 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414175458/http://vnn.vietnamnet.vn/psks/2005/08/480325/|archive-date=14 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>