131.
We sailed into a small harbor that fronted a crumbling stone temple. As we
disembarked, the priest waved us on. “Welcome to my place of worship. There will be a
show today.”
We followed him into a maze of ancient buildings. In one of them a room was set up with chairs and a small stage. “Have a seat. Does anyone want refreshments?”
The lights dimmed and puppets dressed in multicolored batik and crowned with elaborate head dresses began to twirl and jerk. Musicians played and singing puppeteers continued the story. “A balance of power was not good enough for the British and Americans. An election was coming, and the PKI had three million members. Fear raged in the halls of the American congress and America let loose the dreaded CIA to kill Sukarno. The CIA stoked the fears of the American leaders with lies. They had tried to defeat Sukarno in a coup in 1958. They were not going to fail again. But there was a great man in the America, and he stood in their way. His name was Kennedy. He had met Sukarno and had admired him. He gave our nation aid, not weapons. He got the hated Dutch out of their last lair in New Guinea. There was hope for us from this American. But our hopes were extinguished on November 19th 1963. Our friend was shot dead, and a new force rose up in America, a friend of the corporations and the CIA, a man named Jumbo. Our aid was stopped. The British created a dark nation in the North called Malaysia. Our president was surrounded.”
With that, the play came to a crescendo. The priest leaned over to us. “I must tell you the rest of the story in private. It cannot be told in public. I have a house nearby.”
We followed him into a maze of ancient buildings. In one of them a room was set up with chairs and a small stage. “Have a seat. Does anyone want refreshments?”
The lights dimmed and puppets dressed in multicolored batik and crowned with elaborate head dresses began to twirl and jerk. Musicians played and singing puppeteers continued the story. “A balance of power was not good enough for the British and Americans. An election was coming, and the PKI had three million members. Fear raged in the halls of the American congress and America let loose the dreaded CIA to kill Sukarno. The CIA stoked the fears of the American leaders with lies. They had tried to defeat Sukarno in a coup in 1958. They were not going to fail again. But there was a great man in the America, and he stood in their way. His name was Kennedy. He had met Sukarno and had admired him. He gave our nation aid, not weapons. He got the hated Dutch out of their last lair in New Guinea. There was hope for us from this American. But our hopes were extinguished on November 19th 1963. Our friend was shot dead, and a new force rose up in America, a friend of the corporations and the CIA, a man named Jumbo. Our aid was stopped. The British created a dark nation in the North called Malaysia. Our president was surrounded.”
With that, the play came to a crescendo. The priest leaned over to us. “I must tell you the rest of the story in private. It cannot be told in public. I have a house nearby.”
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