A prominent spy: Mehdi Ben Barka, Czechoslovak intelligence, and Eastern Bloc espionage in the Third World during the Cold War

2020/11/06 by Jan Koura · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Communism, Protests, Social Movements #European history and politics #Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics

paper · doi:10.1080/02684527.2020.1844363

openalex publication_date 2020/11/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29

Abstract

The 1965 disappearance of Mehdi Ben Barka in Paris, the catalyst of one of the greatest political scandals in the history of post-war France, is still shrouded in mystery several decades later. Newly declassified documents from Czech archives have shed light on the final years of the Moroccan politician’s life, revealing that Ben Barka had cooperated with Czechoslovak intelligence from 1961 until his abduction. The aim of this study is to assess the nature of this partnership and demonstrate the activities, methods, and aims of Czechoslovak intelligence in the Third World during the 1960s.

Cited by

• Mehdi Ben Barka [wikipedia]

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