The US and UK carved up colonies to build Diego Garcia despite decolonization treaties

Evidence

Prodded in particular by the NSC’s Robert Komer, the Kennedy administration persuaded the British—in contravention of international agreements forbidding the division of colonies during decolonization—to create a new colony by detaching the Chagos Archipelago from colonial Mauritius and additional islands from colonial Seychelles. They called it the British Indian Ocean Territory, and it was to be devoted solely to military use. In exchange for the detached islands, the British government agreed to build an international airport for the Seychelles, and in 1965 it paid £3 million to Mauritius. A British official described the compensation as “bribes” to ensure that both colonies would quietly acquiesce to the plan. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 174

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Connects to the sacral/bribery logic examined in contexts like the Royal Tombs of Ur building projects — coercive land acquisition rationalized through token compensation.