Angolan War of Liberation by Al J. Venter

Author:Al J. Venter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century
ISBN: 9781526728425
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Published: 2018-10-29T16:00:00+00:00

March past of guerrilla cadres in northern Angola.

MPLA recruit training in the Congo.

Gradually the MPLA proved to be the more forceful of the two liberation groups, largely because Neto was receiving arms, equipment and training from the Kremlin that outmatched anything the Americans had on offer. Also, his movement by then had quietly taken in scores of experienced fighters from other conflicts who had answered the call, including a number of Cuban militants.

Meanwhile, the CIA had recruited Holden Roberto who was found to be both inept and ineffectual in command and it is curious that he was never replaced, or possibly his brother-in-law Mobutu Sese Seko had something to do with that.

At Moscow’s behest, Castro had been consistently following developments and Cuba entered the fray in force shortly afterwards. Neto had already met Che Guevara and soon got an infusion of cash from Havana as well as from East Germany.

In May 1966, Daniel Chipenda—then still a member of the MPLA—established the Eastern Front, significantly expanding the group’s reach. But when that effort collapsed, Chipenda and Neto blamed each other for what has since been described as a tactical blunder that should never have happened. However, it did and one of the results was that Luanda strengthened both its command structure and its forces in the east though even this eventually produced little of substance.

During the late 1960s the FNLA and MPLA ended up spending a lot of effort and lives at each other’s throats. It got so bad that MPLA forces eventually assisted Lisbon’s PIDE security agents in hunting down FNLA hideouts.

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