Cabinda Province - Secessionism - Secessionist History

Secessionist History

In the early 1960s, several movements advocating a separate status for Cabinda came into being. The Movement for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (MLEC) was formed in 1960 under the leadership of Luis Ranque Franque. Resulting from the merger of various émigré associations in Brazzaville, the MLEC rapidly became the most prominent of the separatist movements. A further group was the Alliama (Alliance of the Mayombe), representing the Mayombe, a small minority of the population. In an important development, these movements united in August 1963 to form a united front. They called themselves the FLEC, and the leadership role was taken by the MLEC’s Ranque Franque.

In marked contrast with the FNLA, the FLEC’s efforts to mobilize international support for its government in exile met with little success. In fact, the majority of Organization of African Unity (OAU) members, concerned that this could encourage separatism elsewhere on the continent and duly committed to the sanctity of state borders, firmly rejected recognition of the FLEC’s government in exile.

Later, in the course of Angola's turbulent decolonisation process, Ranque Franque proclaimed the independence of the "Republic of Cabinda" in Kampala on 1 August 1975 at an OAU summit which was discussing Angola at that precise moment. Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko called for a referendum on the future of the Cabinda. Lopes is reported to have said at the time that "Cabinda exists as a reality and is historically and geographically different from Angola".

FLEC formed a provisional government led by Henriques Tiago. The independence of Cabinda from Portugal was proclaimed on 1 August 1975. Luiz Branque Franque was elected president. After the declaration of Angolan independence in November 1975, Cabinda was invaded by forces of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) with support of troops from Cuba. The MPLA overthrew the provisional FLEC government and incorporated Cabinda into Angola.

Thus, when in January 1975 Angola’s three liberation movements (MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA) signed the Alvor Agreement with the colonial power, to establish the modalities of the transition to independence, FLEC was not invited. Subsequently, and for much of the 1970s and 1980s, FLEC operated a low intensity, guerrilla war, attacking Angolan government troops and economic targets or creating havoc by kidnapping foreign employees working in the province’s oil and construction businesses.

In April 1997, Cabinda joined the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, a democratic and international organization whose members are indigenous peoples, occupied nations, minorities and independent states or territories. In 2010, Cabinda became a charter member of the Organization of Emerging African States (OEAS).