African Activist Archive

In this article against U.S. intervention in Angola in Interpretive Services, George Houser summarizes and responds to a rationale for American intervention. Houser discusses the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), and National Front for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). He says little distinction is made in American parlance between "communism" and "socialism" and notes that no African government calls itself "communist." Houser discusses the ideology of African liberation movements and quotes Amilcar Cabral, the founder and leader of the African Party for Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGG), and Agostinho Neto, president of the MPLA. He notes that Mozambique recently turned down a request from the Soviet Union to allow their war ships to use Mozambican ports. Houser discusses Gulf Oil, the Ford Administration, and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). He says the claim that the U.S. aim is to protect Angolans' right of self-determination is suspect because, during the long years of the liberation struggle, instructions were given to U.S. ambassadors in Africa to have no contact with liberation movements in the Portuguese colonies, that the U.S. was militarily allied with Portugal, and that military equipment was sent through NATO to Portugal. Houser says that the U.S. is now in practical military alliance with South Africa to stop the MPLA and that South Africa fears an MPLA victory that would threaten its continued illegal hold on Namibia. Houser says Secretary of State Kissinger dismisses the analogy of the Angola conflict with Vietnam; Houser points to parallels: U.S. involvement in Vietnam began on a small scale and the stated purpose was to stop communism. Houser notes that American money, supplies, and mercenaries are already in Angola. • Foreign Intervention Not New • U.S.-South Africa Alliance

African Activist Archive

Vietnam Again? U.S. Intervention in Angola Could Resurrect Bitterness

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