October 1, 1965: Suharto Comes to Power in Indonesian Coup

Indonesian General Suharto takes control of Jakarta one day after a group of junior military officers killed six senior army generals (see September 30, 1965). Suharto claims the killings were part of a Communist plan to take over Indonesia. For the next five months, he oversees the slaughter of between 500,000 and 1 million people, many of them targeted because of their affiliation with the PKI, Indonesia’s Communist party. [Pacific Affairs, 1985; States News Service, 5/19/1990; Sydney Morning Herald, 7/9/1999; Sydney Morning Herald, 7/10/1999] During this period, Suharto is backed by the US, Britain, and Australia. The US embassy in Indonesia provides the Indonesian army with a list compiled by the CIA consisting of the names of thousands of Communist Party leaders who the Indonesian military hunts down and executes. [States News Service, 5/19/1990; Sydney Morning Herald, 7/10/1999; US Department of State, 2001 Sources: Unnamed former CIA officials and US diplomats]