UCDP

General information

Part of Conflict: Angola: Cabinda

Date of first stated goals of incompatibility: 1975-11-11
Comment on date of first stated goal of incompatibility: On 25 July 1975, a faction of FLEC, which would later be named FLEC-FAC, announced the creation of a provisional revolutionary government of Cabinda, at a press conference in Paris. The stated aim of the new government was to liberate the enclave from foreign domination, organize free and democratic elections and installing a central government before independence, on 11 November.

Since Angola became an independent state on 11 November 1975, this date is used for the first stated goal of incompatibility.

Date of first use of armed force: 1975-11-11
Comment on date of first use of armed force: There were fighting between FLEC and MPLA troops throughout November. It is not clear, however, at what exact date, following independence on 11 November, the fighting started.
First Battle Related Death: 1989-08-04
Comment on First Battle Related Death: No reliable date for the first death in the FLEC-FAC dyad in the Cabindan Conflict can be found. The Portuguese news agency Lusa said the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave Cabinda (FLEC) issued a communique in the Zairean capital Kinshasa saying it launched the attack at Necuto, 90 km (55 miles) north of Cabinda town near the Zaire border. FLEC said its forces killed 118 government soldiers, took several prisoners and captured weapons and ammunition. Based on location, the faction responsible is probably FLEC-FAC, since they have their main base in neighbouring Buco Zau and are chiefly active in northern Cabinda, as opposed to FLEC-R whose main arena of operations is in southern Cabinda.

Date when dyad reached 25 battle releated deaths: 1992-12-31
Comment on date when dyad reached 25 battle related deaths: No reliable date for the first death in the FLEC-FAC dyad in the Cabindan Conflict can be found. Based on corroborating claimed deaths with refuge flows and other indicators of violence 1994 has been set as the first active year for FLEC-FAC in the Cabindan conflict. FLEC-FAC was active during the year in the Belize area. The group fought together with UNITA.

Conflict issues

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.