The 45th US President, Donald Trump, experienced an assassination attempt, Saturday (13/7/2024) local time. Trump was shot by a sniper while campaigning in Pennsylvania. Luckily, the bullet only grazed his right ear, causing a slight wound. This bloody incident is not the first time this has happened in the US.
This bloody incident is not the first time this has happened in the US. There are at least several US Presidents who experienced assassination attempts and ended up dead. One of the most sensational cases was related to the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Kennedy’s death created a stir that occurred not only in the US, but also in Indonesia, especially regarding the Green Hilton Memorial Agreement. The agreement was signed by President Soekarno and President John F. Kennedy on November 14 1963 in Geneva, Switzerland.
The agreement contained the astonishing fact that the US received 57 thousand tons of gold from Soekarno. And therefore the US is considered to have a debt to Indonesia. This statement was then believed by the public and has become a conspiracy in itself to this day.
So, what are the real facts?
The emergence of the story of the Green Hilton Memorial Agreement began in 2008. The bibliotecapleyades site was the first to publish the story on the internet.
Instantly, it was all immediately believed by the public. Moreover, Soekarno had a great name and mystical rites around him. This belief became even more intense when the book Harta Karun Soekarno by Safari ANS was published in 2014.
Through this work, it is explained that Sukarno owned 57 thousand tons of gold in a Swiss bank and gave it free to the US for development. On this basis, the US is considered to have a debt to Indonesia. However, all these facts raise doubts when compared with other historical facts.
During his life, Soekarno lived in simplicity and admitted to being poor. Apart from that, he also admitted that he did not have a house or land.
“Is there a Head of State who is as poor as me and often borrows from his aide?” said Soekarno to Cindy Adams in Bung Karno: Mouthpiece of the Indonesian People (1964).
Based on these conditions, it is impossible for Soekarno to have 57 thousand tons of gold in a Swiss bank. Apart from that, if you look at the seals and writing styles listed in the agreement, many of them are strange and do not match historical facts.
On the stamp, for example, the President of Indonesia has a stamp with rice, cotton and star motifs. However, the agreement depicts Garuda Pancasila. The date the agreement was signed on November 14 1963 is also in doubt. Travel records reveal that the two presidents were not in Switzerland on that date.
Kennedy is known to be in New Heaven, Connecticut. Meanwhile, Soekarno was in Jakarta. On this basis, Soekarno’s 57 thousand ton gold conspiracy is only delicious as a story but bitter as fact.
The closeness of Soekarno and Kennedy
Even so, one fact that cannot be denied from this agreement is the closeness of Kennedy and Sukarno. The two figures are known to be friends. Sukarno, who was known to be anti-Western imperialism, viewed Kennedy as different from previous US Presidents. He has a humane approach.
On this basis, he wanted to open up to the number one person in the US. To Cindy Adams, Soekarno also said that Kennedy was a friendly and warm figure. When they first met in 1961, Sukarno was not invited to chat in an official room, but in Kennedy’s private room in the White House.
Apart from that, Kennedy also did not see Sukarno as a figure to be feared. For Kennedy, what Soekarno expressed was just mere nationalism. And that’s natural, so the US doesn’t need to be afraid of Indonesia turning communist.
Greg Poulgrain in the Shadow of Intervention: John F. Kennedy and Allen Dulles’ War Strategy over Sukarno (2017) tells that Kennedy’s closeness to Soekarno was aimed at bringing Indonesia closer to the side of the United States. There is great hope that the US will find it easier to control the situation in Southeast Asia.
As a strategy to smooth out this idea, Kennedy also planned to visit Jakarta in 1964. Soekarno welcomed the plan and rushed to build a 6-story resting place at the State Palace for his friend.
Unfortunately, that visit didn’t happen. On November 22, 1963, Kennedy was shot dead. Then, Soekarno’s power collapsed two years later.
Resource : https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/
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