vault backup: 2026-05-15 18:34:24

60 - PLACES/COUNTRIES/Congo.md

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+---
+created: 2026-05-15
+updated: 2026-05-15
+title: Congo
+aliases:
+  - Democratic Republic of Congo
+  - DRC
+  - Zaire
+  - Belgian Congo
+  - Republic of Zaire
+tags:
+  - Place
+  - Country
+  - Africa
+  - CIA
+  - ColdWar
+category: "Country"
+summary: "The Democratic Republic of Congo (known as Zaire 1971-1997) is a Central African country whose CIA-facilitated assassination of first Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, subsequent support for dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, use as a staging base for CIA Angola operations (IAFEATURE 1975-1976), and uranium deposits at Shinkolobwe mined for the Manhattan Project make it a significant subject in this vault."
+location: "Central Africa"
+---
+
+The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) - known as the Belgian Congo under colonialism, the Republic of Congo at independence (1960), Zaire from 1971 to 1997, and the Democratic Republic of Congo thereafter - is a vast Central African country whose Cold War history is deeply entangled with [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] operations.
+
+### Independence and the Congo Crisis
+
+The Belgian Congo achieved independence on June 30, 1960, with [[Patrice Lumumba]] as Prime Minister and Joseph Kasavubu as President. The transition was immediately destabilized by Congolese army mutinies, Belgian military intervention, and the secession of the mineral-rich Katanga province under Moise Tshombe with Belgian support.
+
+Lumumba's appeal to the Soviet Union for assistance against Belgian intervention led [[Allen Dulles|CIA Director Dulles]] to characterize him as Africa's Castro and authorize assassination planning. CIA Leopoldville station chief Larry Devlin facilitated army chief of staff Colonel [[Mobutu Sese Seko|Joseph Mobutu]]'s coup in September 1960, which neutralized Lumumba. Lumumba was captured in December 1960 and executed by Katangan forces on January 17, 1961 - in circumstances the [[Church Committee]] found involved CIA facilitation.[^1]
+
+### The Mobutu Era (1965-1997)
+
+After a period of nominal civilian government, Mobutu seized full power on November 24, 1965 with continuing CIA support. He received enormous American Cold War backing as the dominant anti-communist power in Central Africa. In 1971 he renamed the country Zaire as part of an "authenticity" campaign, along with renaming the Congo River the Zaire River and requiring citizens to use African names.
+
+During the Mobutu era, Zaire received billions in American economic and military assistance. American intelligence cooperation with Mobutu's government continued through CIA operations and the broader network including the [[Safari Club]] - the covert intelligence consortium organized by French intelligence chief [[Alexandre de Marenches]] in 1976 that used African client states for operations where CIA legal constraints limited direct action.[^1]
+
+### Operation IAFEATURE: Angola
+
+Zaire served as the primary CIA logistics base for Operation IAFEATURE (1975-1976), the CIA's covert program to support UNITA and the FNLA against the Soviet- and Cuban-backed MPLA in the Angolan civil war that followed Angolan independence from Portugal. CIA Director [[William Colby]] and then Director [[George H.W. Bush]] managed the operation. Zairian territory was used to funnel weapons, CIA personnel, and funds to the CIA-backed Angolan factions. The operation was disclosed by journalist John Stockwell (a CIA case officer who resigned and wrote *In Search of Enemies*, 1978) and was shut down by Congress through the [[Frank Church|Clark Amendment]] in 1976.[^1]
+
+### Uranium and Nuclear Connection
+
+The Shinkolobwe uranium mine in Katanga province was the source of the high-grade uranium used in the Manhattan Project's atomic bombs. Belgian-controlled Union Minière du Haut Katanga supplied the ore; Shinkolobwe uranium was used in both the Trinity test and the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The mine was subsequently closed and reopened multiple times; artisanal mining resumed in the 2000s despite official prohibition.[^2]
+
+### Post-Mobutu
+
+Laurent-Désiré Kabila's rebels overthrew Mobutu in May 1997; the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kabila was assassinated in January 2001; his son Joseph Kabila succeeded him. The DRC has experienced persistent civil conflict since Mobutu's fall, including two major regional wars (1996-1997 and 1998-2003) involving forces from multiple African countries, and ongoing internal armed conflict in eastern Congo.
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Church Committee (U.S. Senate Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities). *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders.* Senate Report No. 94-465, 1975. De Witte, Ludo. *The Assassination of Lumumba.* Verso, 2001.
+[^2]: Groves, Leslie R. *Now It Can Be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project.* Harper, 1962. Wrong, Michela. *In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu's Congo.* HarperCollins, 2001.

60 - PLACES/MILITARY_INSTALLATIONS/JM-WAVE.md

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+---
+created: 2026-05-15
+updated: 2026-05-15
+title: JM/WAVE
+aliases:
+  - JM WAVE
+  - JMWAVE
+  - Zenith Technical Enterprises
+tags:
+  - Place
+  - CIA
+  - Cuba
+  - AntiCastro
+  - Miami
+  - ColdWar
+  - 1960s
+category: "Military Installation"
+summary: "JM/WAVE was the CIA's massive Miami station operating under the cover of 'Zenith Technical Enterprises, Inc.' at the University of Miami's South Campus, which at its Operation Mongoose peak employed over 400 CIA officers and several thousand Cuban exile agents, making it temporarily the second-largest CIA station in the world."
+start: 1961
+end: 1968
+location: "University of Miami South Campus, Coral Gables, Florida"
+---
+
+JM/WAVE was the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]'s clandestine station in Miami, Florida, established in 1961 in the aftermath of the [[Bay of Pigs|Bay of Pigs invasion]] to serve as the operational headquarters for anti-[[Fidel Castro|Castro]] covert actions. At its peak during [[Operation Mongoose]] in 1962, the station employed over 400 CIA officers and had several thousand [[Cuba|Cuban]] exile agents on its payroll, making it temporarily the second-largest CIA station worldwide after headquarters in Langley, Virginia.[^1]
+
+### Establishment and Cover
+
+JM/WAVE was physically located at the University of Miami's South Campus in Coral Gables, occupying a cluster of buildings under the commercial cover of "Zenith Technical Enterprises, Inc." The cover company appeared in the Miami business directory and conducted enough legitimate business activity to support the fiction. The station also maintained a network of front companies that operated boats, aircraft, and commercial vehicles used in operational support.
+
+The station was one component of a broader Miami-area anti-Castro infrastructure that included multiple Cuban exile organizations, paramilitary training facilities throughout South Florida and elsewhere, and maritime and air assets for clandestine operations against Cuba.[^1]
+
+### The Shackley Era
+
+[[Ted Shackley]], who later became one of the CIA's most consequential officers in Southeast Asia and Latin America, served as JM/WAVE chief from approximately 1962 to 1965. Shackley had previously worked under [[William Harvey]] in [[Berlin]] and was assigned to Miami when Harvey took command of [[Operation Mongoose]] operational planning. When Harvey was removed from operational control of Cuba operations in late 1962, Shackley continued as station chief through the period of Mongoose's wind-down and the subsequent reduced covert operations period.
+
+Under Shackley, JM/WAVE operated extensive maritime raiding teams (the "cowboys," as station personnel called them) that conducted boat raids against Cuban coastal targets, intelligence collection missions along the Cuban coast, and infiltration/exfiltration operations for agents inside Cuba. The station also coordinated with the large and fractious Cuban exile community in Miami, attempting to channel exile groups' energy into CIA-directed operations while managing the political conflicts among exile factions.[^1]
+
+### Operations
+
+JM/WAVE's operational activities fell into several categories:
+
+**Maritime operations**: Small fast boats conducted raids on Cuban coastal installations, refineries, and shipping. The raids were intended to damage Cuba's economy and demonstrate the vulnerability of the Castro government, but their practical impact was limited.
+
+**Intelligence collection**: Cuban refugees arriving in Miami were systematically debriefed; agent networks inside Cuba reported on military dispositions, economic conditions, and political developments; and aerial photography supplemented human intelligence.
+
+**Exile organizational management**: The station provided funding and direction to multiple Cuban exile groups including the Democratic Revolutionary Front (FRD) and its successor the Cuban Revolutionary Council, Brigade 2506's survivors, and various smaller organizations. Managing competing exile factions and their political agendas within CIA operational requirements was a persistent challenge.
+
+**Assassination planning**: The CIA-organized crime assassination plots against Castro, run through [[Johnny Roselli]] and [[Sam Giancana]] by Harvey, were coordinated at least in part through JM/WAVE's Miami presence.[^1]
+
+### Wind-Down
+
+Following the [[Cuban Missile Crisis|October 1962 Missile Crisis]], Operation Mongoose was suspended and the no-invasion pledge reduced the strategic rationale for large-scale covert operations against Cuba. JM/WAVE continued in a reduced capacity through the mid-1960s. Shackley left in 1965 for [[Laos]], where he commanded the CIA's covert war against the [[Pathet Lao]] and [[North Vietnam|North Vietnamese]]. The station was formally closed in 1968 as the Cuba threat receded from the top of U.S. intelligence priorities.
+
+Many of the Cuban exile personnel trained and organized through JM/WAVE remained in the CIA network for years afterward. Some appeared in later operations, including the [[Watergate]] burglary (the "plumbers" included several veterans of the anti-Castro operations) and, according to various accounts, in aspects of Central American operations in the 1970s and 1980s.[^2]
+
+### Footnotes
+
+[^1]: Corn, David. *Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA's Crusades.* Simon & Schuster, 1994. Thomas, Evan. *The Very Best Men: Four Who Dared: The Early Years of the CIA.* Simon & Schuster, 1995.
+[^2]: Shackley, Theodore, and Richard A. Finney. *Spymaster: My Life in the CIA.* Potomac Books, 2005. Trento, Joseph. *Prelude to Terror: The Rogue CIA and the Legacy of America's Private Intelligence Network.* Carroll & Graf, 2005.