The Truth about Angola

I arrived in Luanda, the capital of Angola, after a tour of the former Belgian and French colonies. After Dakar, Abidjan, Brazzaville and Leopoldville, Luanda impresses the visitor with its orderliness and prosperity. The big cities of French-speaking Africa had seemed on the verge of disintegration, as if the will to keep them alive and growing were missing. But Luanda is active and bright—dynamic during the day and enchanting at night. With its glittering corniche circling the bay it reminds one of San Francisco.

In March 1961, terrorists organized by Holden Roberto in Congo-based camps struck unexpectedly across the border into northwestern Angola, burning down farms, mutilating whites and blacks alike, raping women, bashing in the skulls of children. The resistance of the predominantly native troops of the northwest garrisons saved the day; a month later reinforcements from Lisbon stopped Roberto’s offensive. For the past two years military operations have attempted to seal off infiltration from the Congo and mop up the remaining traces of guerrilla activity—not an insuperable task for the roughly 40,000 Portuguese troops now stationed in Angola. However, Roberto’s forces have weapons from the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Algeria, Italy and the United States, and diplomatic support from the UN.

I arrived in Luanda, the capital of Angola, after a tour of the former Belgian and French colonies. After Dakar, Abidjan, Brazzaville and Leopoldville, Luanda impresses the visitor with its orderliness and prosperity. The big cities of French-speaking Africa had seemed on the verge of disintegration, as if the will to keep them alive and growing were missing. But Luanda is active and bright—dynamic during the day and enchanting at night. With its glittering corniche circling the bay it reminds one of San Francisco.

In March 1961, terrorists organized by Holden Roberto in Congo-based camps struck unexpectedly across the border into northwestern Angola, burning down farms, mutilating whites and blacks alike, raping women, bashing in the skulls of children. The resistance of the predominantly native troops of the northwest garrisons saved the day; a month later reinforcements from Lisbon stopped Roberto’s offensive. For the past two years military operations have attempted to seal off infiltration from the Congo and mop up the remaining traces of guerrilla activity—not an insuperable task for the roughly 40,000 Portuguese troops now stationed in Angola. However, Roberto’s forces have weapons from the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Algeria, Italy and the United States, and diplomatic support from the UN.