Winning Hearts and Minds in Angola

HUAMBO, ANGOLA (New York Times News Service)— “The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, aided by vast quantities of Soviet arms and by Cuban fighting men, has made sharp military advances on three fronts in recent days . . . Two weeks ago, the National Front and the National Union together controlled close to 80 per cent of Angola’s huge territory, with the Popular Movement’s forces holding only a corridor stretching east from Luanda . . . But with independence, Soviet arms began pouring into the harbor at Luanda. Some 3,000 Cuban soldiers had arrived some time before; in the last weeks the weapons and the Cubans have turned the tide.”

“It is not clear that the Popular Movement is Soviet-controlled, or that its triumph would mean Soviet domination of Angola. Communists may be prominent in the leadership of MPLA, but other groups are represented at lower levels. Many observers consider the MPLA essentially a nationalist movement, born out of the struggle against colonialism and the movement for land reform.” (Tom Ticker, New York Chimes.)

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Jeffrey Hart

Jeffrey Hart is a contributor to National Review.

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HUAMBO, ANGOLA (New York Times News Service)— “The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, aided by vast quantities of Soviet arms and by Cuban fighting men, has made sharp military advances on three fronts in recent days . . . Two weeks ago, the National Front and the National Union together controlled close to 80 per cent of Angola’s huge territory, with the Popular Movement’s forces holding only a corridor stretching east from Luanda . . . But with independence, Soviet arms began pouring into the harbor at Luanda. Some 3,000 Cuban soldiers had arrived some time before; in the last weeks the weapons and the Cubans have turned the tide.”

“It is not clear that the Popular Movement is Soviet-controlled, or that its triumph would mean Soviet domination of Angola. Communists may be prominent in the leadership of MPLA, but other groups are represented at lower levels. Many observers consider the MPLA essentially a nationalist movement, born out of the struggle against colonialism and the movement for land reform.” (Tom Ticker, New York Chimes.)