By A botched coup attempt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has left one American dead and another pleading for his life after being captured by Congolese soldiers. Christian Malanga, a former refugee from Utah, was killed during the failed putsch, while his 21-year-old son, Marcel, was arrested alongside two other American co-conspirators.
Chilling footage captured the moment two of the plotters, including Marcel Malanga, were seized as they tried to flee the country across the Congo River. The video shows the men, bloodied and bruised, groveling for mercy to Congolese soldiers as they lay in the street.
The US government quickly distanced itself from any involvement in the coup attempt. Lucy Tamlyn, the US ambassador to the DRC, expressed shock at the events and pledged full cooperation with Congolese authorities in their investigation.
Among those arrested was Benjamin Zalman-Polun, a 36-year-old former cannabis dealer from Maryland, whose passport was proudly displayed by the victorious troops. The Congolese authorities also reported that another American and a British national were being questioned in custody.
General Sylvain Ekenge announced on national television that the defense and security forces had successfully thwarted the coup attempt. He stated that around 50 individuals, including three American citizens, had been arrested and were undergoing interrogation.
Local media were quick to suggest a CIA plot to seize control of the mineral-rich nation of 100 million people. However, the heavily armed group that announced the coup on Facebook appeared to number fewer than 100 men.
Christian Malanga, who moved to Salt Lake City as a refugee with his family in 1998, had a history of political activism and aspirations in the DRC. He stood for parliament in 2011 but was arrested two days before the poll. After returning to the US in 2012, he attempted to build his United Congolese Party in exile.
Marcel Malanga, born in 2003, appears to have spent most of his life in Utah. Social media posts show him celebrating his 20th birthday with his father in military fatigues two years ago, but he looked terrified as he was pulled into frame and displayed by the coup plotters as they set off.
Christian Malanga, who campaigned on religious freedom and was appointed ambassador of the International Religious Freedom Roundtable in 2013, had been accused by Congolese intelligence of plotting the assassination of then-president Joseph Kabila. However, Britain had groomed him as a potential leader in waiting, sending him and his supporters to a political conference in Georgia in 2016.
The coup plotters had planned to attack the homes of the new Prime Minister Judith Suminwa and Defense Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba but were unable to locate them. Videos on social media showed men in fatigues arriving at the Palais de la Nation, brandishing flags of Zaire, the former name of the DRC under the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
The Congolese forces proved victorious after a gunfight outside the home of Economy Minister Vital Kamerhe, in which two police officers were killed. The group, made up of “several nationalities,” was neutralized, with four attackers, including Christian Malanga, being killed.
The DRC has been plagued by violence from paramilitary groups attempting to control its mineral-rich resources. The US has shown growing interest in the country due to its vast reserves of cobalt and other minerals crucial to the global green energy transition. However, human rights organizations have described the country’s humanitarian situation as a “silent genocide,” with families forced into brutal conditions to extract the minerals by warring militias.
The failed coup attempt occurred just hours before the US announced its compliance with an order from the government of Niger to remove its troops from the West African country by mid-September. The US has a long history of clandestine military operations in Africa, including the CIA’s involvement in the assassination of Patrick Lumumba, the DRC’s first democratically elected leader, in 1961.
Despite the foiled coup, certain streets near the Palais de la Nation in the Congolese capital remained closed to traffic on Sunday, but the situation appeared calm. President Felix Tshisekedi, who was re-elected in December with over 70 percent of the vote, has yet to form a government five months after the elections.
