TESTIMONY TO THE COMMITTEE OF 24 OF THE UNITED NATIONS

The testimony says thank you for this opportunity to bring testimony to your committee in support of the liberation movements in the Portuguese colonies, FRELIMO, MPLA and PAIGC; the Chicago Committee for the Liberation of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea is a strictly voluntary organization, with no connection to the United States government. The testimony says we have two main goals: 1) to work to end United States government and economic support of Portugal in Africa, 2) to raise material, financial, and political support in the United States for the three liberation movements. The testimony says today I am speaking also in behalf of two other voluntary organizations, the Committee for a Free Mozambique and the Southern Africa Committee, both based in New York City. The testimony says the details of the United States political, military, and economic complicity with Portugal's colonial wars in Africa are well-known to the members of the Committee; politically, the United States government has continued to support Portugal, even in face of world condemnation. The testimony says militarily, the U.S. supplies Portugal with weapons, herbicides, napalm, military training, airplanes, helicopters - all of which have been well-documented by the representatives of the liberation movements; on the economic level, the Nixon administration provided Portugal with $436.5 million in economic credits, loans, and material goods through the Azores Agreement of 1971; American corporations are busy exploiting the resources of Angola, Mozambique, and Guine-Bissau, robbing those territories of oil, diamonds, coffee, and precious minerals; Gulf Oil alone pours over $40 million annually into the war- drained Portuguese economy. The testimony says education of the American public is our major task at this time. There is a complete lack of information about the true nature of the struggle through the established media; the vast majority of the people do not know that the U.S. policies support colonialism in Africa. The testimony says many local committees are springing up all over the country in support of the liberation movements. The testimony says it is important to mention that a t the time of the tragic death of Amilcar Cabral, memorial services and other demonstrations were held in a large number of cities, by many different groups, including Black organizations, schools, working people, and churches. The testimony says the third area in which we are working is the economic, challenging the corporations which invest in colonialism. We see American economic interests in southern and colonized Africa as supporting the status quo; thus we favor the complete withdrawal of all U.S. investment - now over one billion dollars - from those countries in Africa still under minority rule. The testimony discusses the Organization of Angolan Women (OMA), the Gulf Boycott Coalition, the Black Workers Organizing Committee, General Motors (GM), Caterpillar, Liberation Support Movement, material support, transistor radios, the Madison Area Committee on Southern Africa (MASCA), the African Liberation Support Committee (ALSC), the Inter-Religious Foundation for Community Organization, the Pan African Liberation Committee, The Africa Fund, Clergy and Laity Concerned, racism, and EXXON.