SUMMARY
FNLA (Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola; National Front for the Liberation of Angola) was an Angolan rebel group that fought for the independence of Angola starting in the 1960s. Founded and led by Holden Roberto, the movement was originally created as the UPA (União do Populacoes Angolanas; Union of Angolan Peoples) in 1958.
FNLA was rurally based and capitalist in orientation. Its support base was located in northern Angola, among Roberto’s own northern Bakongo people with a rural and peasant orientation. The movement also recruited exiles from other areas, including Jonas Savimbi who later left the movement to form UNITA.
FNLA was among the rebel groups that launched an extra-state conflict against the Portuguese colonial power until independence was achieved in 1975. It then turned against the MPLA-dominated Angolan government. During the civil war, FNLA received support from Zaire and the USA.
At the start of the civil war, the FNLA was operating from Zaire, and the Congolese military supplemented its forces. Despite its initial military advantage in Luanda, the FNLA forces were overcame by the MPLA in the city, leading to the movement’s ground loss across Angola. By July 1975, the FNLA forces were largely outnumbered. Despite the support from allies such as the USA, the FNLA was losing the struggle, and thus, its allies concentrated military aid on UNITA. After the loss of the movement’s main supporters, the FNLA suffered major defeats that led to its collapse and disintegration.
By 1980, fighting between the FNLA and the Government of Angola no longer reached the level of an armed conflict. In the same year, remnants of the FNLA rejected Holden Roberto’s leadership and formed a new group, Comira (Conselho Militar de Resistência Angolana; Military Council of Angolan Resistance). Over the next few years, Comira claimed to be operating in Zaire and in Uige provinces in northern Angola, but the activities never reached the intensity of an armed conflict.
FNLA has been involved in the intra-state category of UCDP organized violence.
