UNITA’s political-diplomatic action in Portugal during the first phase of the Angolan Civil War (1976 - 1988)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-864X.2024.1.45493

Keywords:

Angola, UNITA, Foreign Relations, Angolan Civil War, Portugal

Abstract

The article explores the political and diplomatic actions of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) in Portugal during the first phase of the Angolan civil war, from 1976 to 1988. The qualitative research gathered data from reports from the US embassy in Lisbon, the Portuguese press of the time, as well as oral sources, through semi-structured interviews with members of the UNITA delegation in Portugal and Portuguese political figures with links to the Angolan organisation. The aim of the article is to describe UNITA’s political and diplomatic activities in Portugal, as well as the connections and channels used to materialise its intentions. The aim is to explore the relevance of Portugal in UNITA’s international diplomatic activities. The data suggests that, in the context of UNITA’s activities in various countries in Africa, Europe and the United States of America (USA), Portugal was an important strategic space for the implementation of its international action in opposition to the Angolan government.

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Author Biographies

Riccardo Marchi, Center for International Studies (CEI-IUL) of the Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL) and LusoGlobe of the Lusófona University

Researcher at the Center for International Studies at the University Institute of Lisbon (CEI-IUL). He is a guest assistant professor at Universidade Lusófona (Lisbon). His research areas are right-wing radicalism (political thought, parties and movements) in contemporary Europe, with particular attention to the Portuguese case between late authoritarianism and democracy. He received a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (2015) for the publication of a book on the Portuguese radical right in the transition to democracy. He began his academic career at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ICS-UL) on the themes of radical right at the end of the Estado Novo and Portuguese democracy in comparative perspective (2008-2014). In this context, he was a visiting researcher at the Pablo de Olavide University of Seville (Spain, 2007) and at the University of California, Berkeley (United States, 2008). Since 2010, he has taught courses in Research Methodology, Theory of Social Movements, Theory of Nationalism, Populism and Sovereignism in master's courses at public and private universities. He participated in the international project Internationalization des droites radicales Europe/Amériques (IDREA), coordinated by Professor Olivier Dard, University of Metz (France, 2012-2015) and since 2014 he has been part of the international research network “Rights, History and Memory”. He is the author of several monographs, including Império Nação Revolucion. The radical right at the end of the Estado Novo 1959-1974 (Leya, 2009), The Portuguese Far Right between late authoritarianism and democracy 1945-2015 (Routledge, 2019), To the Right of the Revolution. Resistance and Counterrevolution in the PREC 1974-1975 (Penguin, 2020), The New Antisystem Right: The case of Chega (Almedina, 2020), The Bubble. An anti-populist right (Almedina, 2022).

Domingos Marcos Cúnua Alberto, Center for International Studies (CEI-IUL) of the Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE-IUL) and LusoGlobe of the Lusófona University

PhD candidate in History: change and continuity in a global world (PIUDHist) at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, with the thesis project entitled “The Portuguese Support Network for UNITA (1975-1991): Structure and Action in the Context of Civil War in Angola” with funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT, grant UI/BD/153725/2022). Has advanced training in History, Defense and International Relations - ISCTE-IUL; specialized training in African Studies, specializing in Maritime Security, from the Portuguese Military Institute, in The Middle East in World Politics, from ISCTE-IUL and in International Relations of Sub-Saharan Africa, from Universidade Beira Interior. He is the author of two articles “Portugal Before the Recognition of the Angolan Government (1976): the Political-Partisan Visions of the PCP, PS and PPD”, Magazine of the Portuguese Institute of International Relations - R:I n.o 78, June | 2023; “The Role of Gosto Gomes in the Birth of Diplomatic Relations between Portugal and Angola, 1976”, Magazine of the MNE Diplomatic Institute, October 2021 | number 21. He has published articles in Jornal de Angola on International Politics and participates in several national and international scientific events as a speaker.

References

ARQUIVO Histórico Parlamentar, Secção XXXIIIb), cx. 229ª, n. 8.

Diário de Lisboa, janeiro e fevereiro de 1976.

Diário de Notícias, fevereiro de 1976.

Entrevistas semiestruturadas aos elementos afetos à UNITA e Portugal e aos partidos do arco da governação portuguesa: PS, PPD/PSD e CDS.

Jornal Avante, novembro e dezembro de 1975.

Jornal O Dia, setembro de 1988.

O Dia, 21 julho 1988.

PORTUGAL. Arquivo da Ministério da Administração Interna. Administração Governo Civil de Lisboa (instituições), processo n. 2765, Lº 92, Pº G/8-304.

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WIKILEAKS. Recognition, closure of offices, liberation fronts. Disponível em: https://wikileaks.org/plusd/ cables/1976LISBON01239_b.html. Acesso em: 25 ago. 2023.

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Published

2024-12-17

How to Cite

Marchi, R., & Cúnua Alberto, D. M. (2024). UNITA’s political-diplomatic action in Portugal during the first phase of the Angolan Civil War (1976 - 1988). Estudos Ibero-Americanos, 50(1), e45493. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-864X.2024.1.45493

Issue

Section

Dossier - Political oppositions in the PALOP countries: formation, evolution and perspectives