Jump to content

National Liberation Front of Angola

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SporkBot (talk | contribs) at 00:50, 9 February 2015 (Replace template per TFD outcome; no change in content). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Training of F.N.L.A. soldiers in a camp in Zaire in 1973
National Liberation Front of Angola
PresidentNgola Kabangu
Founded1954 (as the União dos Povos do Norte de Angola guerrilla movement), 1959 (as the União dos Povos de Angola guerrilla movement), 1961 (as the FNLA guerilla movement), 1992 (as a party)
HeadquartersLuanda, Republic of Angola
IdeologyCivic nationalism[1][1]
Christian democracy[1]
Conservatism[2]
Political positionCentre-right
Seats in the National Assembly
2 / 220
Party flag
Website
http://www.fnla.net/

The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (Portuguese: Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola, FNLA) was a militant right-wing organization that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence under the leadership of Holden Roberto. The FNLA became a political party in 1992.

Ahead of the first multiparty elections in 1992, FNLA was reorganized as a political party. FNLA received 2.4% of the votes and had five Members of Parliament elected. In the 2008 parliamentary election, the FNLA received 1.11% of the vote, winning three out of 220 seats.[3]

Foreign support

Over the course of many years, the governments of Algeria, Tunisia, West Germany, Ghana, Israel, France, Romania, the People's Republic of China, South Africa, the United States, and Zaire actively supported and aided the FNLA.

The French government supplied men and loaned 1 million pounds sterling without interest.[4][5] The U.S. government began aiding the FNLA in 1961 during the Kennedy administration, and rerouted one-third of official aid to Zaire to go to the FNLA and UNITA.[4][6]

The Israeli government gave aid to the FNLA between 1963 and 1969. Holden Roberto visited Israel during the 1960s, and FNLA members were sent to Israel for training. During the 1970s the Israeli government shipped arms to the FNLA through Zaire.[7]

The People's Republic of China began supplying the FNLA with arms in 1964. It gave the FNLA military equipment and at least 112 military advisers.[8] The Romanian government delivered arms to the FNLA in August 1974.[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Projet de Societé, official FNLA website (French and Portuguese)
  2. ^ Consulado Geral de Angola
  3. ^ National Electoral Commission website Template:Pt icon.
  4. ^ a b AlʻAmin Mazrui, Ali (1977). The Warrior Tradition in Modern Africa. pp. 226–228.
  5. ^ Walker, John Frederick (2004). A Certain Curve of Horn: The Hundred-Year Quest for the Giant Sable Antelope of Angola. p. 143.
  6. ^ Wright, George (1997). The Destruction of a Nation: United States Policy Towards Angola Since 1945. p. 9.
  7. ^ Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (1988). The Israeli Connection: Whom Israel Arms and Why. p. 65.
  8. ^ B. MacDonald, Scott (1993). European Destiny, Atlantic Transformations: Portuguese Foreign Policy Under the Second Republic: 1974–1992. p. 56.
  9. ^ Wright, George (1997). The Destruction of a Nation: United States Policy Towards Angola Since 1945. p. 57.

Further reading

  • Chris Dempster, Fire Power (first hand account of foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of the FNLA) [1]
  • Peter McAleese, No Mean Soldier

External links