General information
First Active Year: 1992
Current Name: FLEC-FAC
Current Name full English: Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Current Name full native language: Frente da libertação do enclave de Cabinda-Forças armadas de Cabinda
Original Name: FLEC-FAC
Original Name full English: Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Original Name full native language: Frente da libertação do enclave de Cabinda-Forças armadas de Cabinda
Actor Chronology
This section contains information about (if applicable) group splinters, name changes, and alliances according to the UCDP definitions of these concepts.
UCDP has not recorded any Chronology Activities involving this group.
Conflict issues
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Conflict Goal Issues: FLEC-FAC (Frente da Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda - Forças Armadas de Cabinda) was a rebel group in Angola’s exclave of Cabinda. The group stressed Cabinda’s identity, culture, and colonial history as distinct from that of Angola, which the group claimed illegally occupied the exclave after independence. Although the rebel group was first registered by the UCDP in 1975 when Angola became independent from Portugal, the first year in which FLEC-FAC’s conflict issues were coded was 1990. The first conflict goal issue pronounced by the group was a call for independence, stated by a group official: “We want the issue of the independence of Cabinda to be negotiated in Lisbon by the Portuguese government, the former colonial power and members of our movement.” The conflict goal issues have generally remained the same over time, centered around the group’s goal of independence. It has demanded a referendum for the Cabindan people in order to decide on the independence of the exclave, and has opposed elections as it considered these part of Angolan politics which Cabinda is not part of. While the group appeared to soften its stance on independence and briefly open up for autonomy, it later returned to its original goal of independence. FLEC-FAC’s main conflict goal issues were independence and referendum, demonstrated by their formulation as well as the long period of time during which they were called for, from 1990 to 2010. Demands for independence were coded in nine years and referendum in six years. In 2010 the group’s leader Henrique Tiago Nzita stated that “FLEC’s primary demand and reason for existing was the independence of Cabinda,” demonstrating the centrality of this goal. A 1991 statement reports that the group “demanded a referendum on self-determination for the enclave.”
Conflict Dynamics Issues: The first conflict dynamics issues were raised by the group in 1990, when it appealed to the former colonial power Portugal to involve itself in negotiations on the issue of Cabindan independence. Similar to FLEC-FAC’s continuous conflict goal of independence, the group’s conflict dynamics issues remained largely the same over time. In general, the group appealed for increased foreign involvement in the conflict through calling for foreign mediators, international monitoring as well as the use of foreign influence. The other conflict dynamics issues it has expressed have only been coded for one year each, during the early 2000s. These included an order for all foreigners to leave the exclave, an appeal to Portugal to send military forces into Cabinda to train Cabindan cadres, and a condemnation of the Angolan government for killing Cabindans. FLEC-FAC’s main conflict dynamics issues were IFI: Foreign mediator/facilitator, IFI: International monitoring and support, and IFI: Use of foreign influence. These three issues were consistently pronounced by the group, from 1990 to 2010. The call for a foreign mediator was often directed at the former colonial power, demonstrated by the statement “FLEC will only accept negotiations “mediated by Portugal”.” However, this request has also been directed towards the African Union and Nelson Mandela. The rebel group’s calls for international support have been with the purpose of overseeing a referendum on Cabindan independence in the early 1990s, and later to observe negotiations. Calling for use of foreign influence was coded when the group appealed to the international community to involve itself in the conflict in forms such as pressuring Angolan leaders: “Specifically, we would like Prime Minister Alkatiri to impress upon Mr Jose Eduardo dos Santos the need to talk to the representatives of the people of Cabinda.”
Conflict Resolution Issues: The first conflict resolution issues were also pronounced by the group in 1990, when it called for negotiations and demanded certain structures to those negotiations. These initial demands were for negotiations with Portugal on the topic of Cabindan independence, to be held in Lisbon. Similar to FLEC-FAC’s conflict goal and conflict dynamics issues, the group’s conflict resolution issues also generally remained the same over time. Calls for negotiations and demands for specific structures of those talks were pronounced from 1990 until 2010. The conflict resolution issue of calling for a ceasefire was coded for just one year, 2002. After a failed merge of FLEC-FAC and FLEC-R, the latter’s leader Antonio Bento Bembe became leader of the Cabinda Forum for Dialogue, a coalition including armed, civil society and religious groups. In 2006 Bembe signed a peace agreement with the government, which FLEC-FAC opposed as they did not consider Bembe to have the authority to sign a peace deal on behalf of Cabinda. FLEC-FAC’s main conflict resolution issues were call for negotiations and structure of negotiations. These issues were consistently called for from 1990 to 2010. The structure often concerns who is to be present at the talks and where they should be held. Nzita’s statement “We want real negotiations in the presence of the international community. Angola has to accept to negotiate with Cabindans, and FLEC is ready to negotiate with Angolans” demonstrates both of these issues, where he called for negotiations and for the international community to be present.
Type of conflict issues: Conflict Goal Issues: Autonomy, Independence, Law and order, Opposition to elections, Referendum, Revenues from natural resources
Conflict Dynamics Issues: Atrocities and abuses, Call for collective targeting: other group, DFI: Removal of foreign influence, DFI: Removal of foreigners, DFI: Withdrawal of military intervention/foreign forces, IFI: Foreign mediator, IFI: Humanitarian aid, IFI: International monitoring, IFI: Military intervention/foreign forces, IFI: Support from diasporas/foreign fighters, IFI: Use of foreign influence
Conflict Resolution Issues: Call for ceasefire, Call for negotiations, Structure of negotiations
Annual information
This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.
1992
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
1994
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
1995
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
1996
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
1997
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
1998
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
2002
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
2003
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
2004
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
2007
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
2009
Actor Active in Dyad(s):
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Group Archive
This section contains annual information no longer systematically collected by the UCDP.
1992 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente de Liberacâo do Enclave de Cabinda-Forcas Armadas de Cabinda: Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Troop Size: < 200
Comment on Troop Size: Total number of all FLEC troops are estimated to consist of 200-300 troops. FLEC is splintered into a number of different factions of which the sizes are unclear.
1994 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente de Liberacâo do Enclave de Cabinda-Forcas Armadas de Cabinda: Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Troop Size: 400
Comment on Troop Size: In 1994 the movement was severely weakened when a number of high military personnel and 300 fighters defected to the rival FLEC-R. After the defection, it was estimated that FLEC-FAC only had around 400 troops.
Secondary Support: President Lissouba permitted FLEC-FAC to have rear-bases in Congo-Brazzaville.
1996 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente de Liberacâo do Enclave de Cabinda-Forcas Armadas de Cabinda
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Troop Size: 400
Comment on Troop Size: In 1994 the movement was severely weakened when a number of high military personnel and 300 fighters defected to the rival FLEC-R. After the defection, it was estimated that FLEC-FAC only had around 400 troops, but that figure may well have increased since then.
Secondary Support: President Lissouba permitted FLEC-FAC to have rear-bases in Congo-Brazzaville.
1997 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente de Liberacâo do Enclave de Cabinda-Forcas Armadas de Cabinda
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Troop Size: < 600
Comment on Troop Size: Total number of FLEC troops are estimated to 600 eventhough the organisation claims to consist of 5000 troops.
Secondary Support: President Lissouba permitted FLEC-FAC to have rear-bases in Congo-Brazzaville.
1998 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente de Liberacâo do Enclave de Cabinda-Forcas Armadas de Cabinda
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Troop Size: < 600
Comment on Troop Size: Total number of FLEC troops are estimated to 600 eventhough the organisation claims to consist of 5000 troops.
2002 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente de Liberacâo do Enclave de Cabinda-Forcas Armadas de Cabinda
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Troop Size: 300
2003 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente de Liberacâo do Enclave de Cabinda-Forcas Armadas de Cabinda: Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Comment on Active: The party was most likely active in 2003, but there is missing information on battle-related deaths.
Troop Size: 300 - 2000
Comment on Troop Size: In an Occasional Paper from the South African based Institute for Security Studies, it is argued that the estimated combined number of troops of the various FLEC factions in August 2003 was no more than 2000 troops. Military Balance estimates the number of troops to over 300.
2004 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente de Liberacâo do Enclave de Cabinda-Forcas Armadas de Cabinda
Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda-Armed Forces of Cabinda
Comment on Active: In late August 2004, FLEC-FAC merged with FLEC-R, forming a new movement simply called FLEC.
Troop Size: 300
Comment on Troop Size: It is difficult to obtain reliable information on the size of the rebel group as estimates vary greatly. The 200 estimate is based on a figure from the Military Balance.
Secondary Support: FLEC-FAC most likely has rear bases in neighbouring DRC, but there is nothing that indicates that the use of Congolese territory is sanctioned by the government.
2007 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: The FLEC faction led by Nzita Tiago (FLEC-FAC), changed the meaning of FLEC to Frente de Libertação do Estado de Cabinda (Front for the Liberation of the State of Cabinda) in a meeting in Paris in July-August 2007. It also reorganised itself and set up a government presided by Nzita Tiago. The “Cabindan government” officially substituted Bento Bembe as representative for FLEC for a possible dialogue with the Angolan authorities.
Troop Size: 300
2009 Group Archive
Government of Angola - FLEC-FAC
Comment on Name: Frente da libertação do enclave de Cabinda–Forças armadas de Cabinda; Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda–Armed Forces of Cabinda
Troop Size: 300
Comment on Troop Size: The latest available estimate, from 2008, suggested that the group had some 300 members.
