- Holden Roberto
Holden Álvaro Roberto (
January 12 ,1923 –August 2 ,2007 ) founded and led theNational Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) from 1962 to 1999. His memoirs are unfinished.cite book|last=James|first=W. Martin|year=2004|title=Historical Dictionary of Angola|pages=141-142]Early life
Roberto, son of Garci'a Diasiwa Roberto and Joana Lala Nekaka (and a descendant of the monarchy of the Kongo Kingdom. [cite book|last=Lamb|first=David|year=1987|title=The Africans|pages=178] ), was born in
São Salvador, Angola . His family moved toLéopoldville ,Zaire in 1925. In 1940 he graduated from aBaptist mission school. He worked for the Belgian Finance Ministry in Léopoldville,Bukavu , and Stanlyville for eight years. In 1951 he visited Angola and witnessed Portuguese officials abusing an old man, inspiring him to begin his political career.cite book|last=Hamann|first=Hilton|year=2001|title=Days of the Generals|pages=13]Political career
Roberto and
Barros Necaca founded theUnion of Peoples of Northern Angola , later renamed the Union of Peoples of Angola, onJuly 14 , 1956. Roberto, serving as UPNA President, represented Angola in theAll-African Peoples Congress of Ghana which he secretly attended inAccra ,Ghana in December 1958. There he metPatrice Lumumba , the futurePrime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ,Kenneth Kaunda , the futurePresident of Zambia , andKenya n nationalistTom Mboya . He acquired aGuinea n passport and visited theUnited Nations .cite book|last=Rensburg|first=Abraham Paul Janse Van|year=1075|title=Contemporary Leaders of Africa|pages=303]Jonas Savimbi , the future leader ofUNITA , joined the UPA in February 1961 at the urging of Mboya andKenyan Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta . Later that year Roberto appointed Savimbi Secretary-General of the UPA.cite book|last=|first=|year=1991|title=Current Biography|publisher=H.W. Wilson Company|pages=499] cite book|last=Walker|first=John Frederick|year=2004|title=A Certain Curve of Horn: The Hundred-Year Quest for the Giant Sable Antelope of Angola|pages=146-148]The
National Security Council of the U.S. government began giving Roberto aid in the 1950s, paying him $6,000 annually until 1962 when the NSC increased his salary to $10,000 for intelligence-gathering.National Liberation Front of Angola
After visiting the United Nations he returned to Kinshasa and organized
Bakongo militants. He launched an incursion into Angola onMarch 15 , 1961, leading 4,000 to 5,000 militants. His forces took farms, government outposts, and trading centers, killing everyone they encountered. At least 1,000 whites and an unknown number of natives were killed.cite book|last=Edgerton|first=Robert Breckenridge|year=2002|title=Africa's Armies: From Honor to Infamy|pages=72] Commenting on the incursion, Roberto said, This time the slaves did not cower. They massacred everything.cite book|last=Walker|first=John Frederick|year=2004|title=A Certain Curve of Horn: The Hundred-Year Quest for the Giant Sable Antelope of Angola|pages=143]Roberto met with
United States President John F. Kennedy onApril 25 , 1961. When he applied for aid later that year from the Ghanaian government, PresidentKwame Nkrumah turned him down on the grounds that the U.S. government was already paying him.cite book|last=Elbaum|first=Max|year=2002|title=Revolution in the Air: From Malcolm and Martin to Lenin, Mao and Che|pages=217] Roberto merged the UPA with theDemocratic Party of Angola to form the FNLA in March 1962 and a few weeks later established theRevolutionary Government of Angola in Exile (GRAE) onMarch 27 , appointing Savimbi to the position ofForeign Minister . Roberto established a political alliance with Zairian PresidentMobutu Sese Seko by divorcing his wife and marrying Seko's sister-in-law.cite book|last=Tvedten|first=Inge|year=1997|title=Angola: Struggle for Peace and Reconstruction|pages=31] cite book|last=Davis|first=John Aubrey|year=1966|title=Southern Africa in Transition, American Society of African Culture|pages=170] Roberto visited Israel in the 1960s and received aid from theIsraeli government from 1963 to 1969.cite book|last=Beit-Hallahmi|first=Benjamin|year=1988|title=The Israeli Connection: Whom Israel Arms and Why|pages=64] cite book|last=Figueiredo|first=António de|year=1961|title=Portugal and Its Empire: The Truth|pages=130]Savimbi left the FNLA in 1964 and founded UNITA in response to Roberto's unwillingness to spread the war outside the traditional
Kingdom of Kongo .Zhou Enlai ,Premier of the People's Republic of China , invited Roberto to visit the PRC in 1964. Roberto did not go becauseMoise Tshombe , the President ofKatanga , told him he would not be allowed to return to the Congo.cite book|last=Nzongola-Ntalaja|first=Georges|year=1986|coauthors=Immanuel Maurice Wallerstein|title=The Crisis in Zaire|pages=194]On the eve of Angola's independence from Portugal, Zaire, in a bid to install a pro-
Kinshasa government and thwart the MPLA's drive for power, deployed armored car units, paratroops, and three battalions to Angola. [cite book|last=Meredith|first=Martin|year=2005|title=The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair, a History of Fifty Years of Independence|pages=316] However, the FNLA and Zaire's victory was narrowly averted by a massive influx ofCuba n forces, who resoundingly defeated them. [cite book|last=Young|first=Crawford|cauthors=Thomas Turner|year=1985|title=The Rise and Decline of the Zairian State|pages=254] [cite web|author=|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+zr0175|title=Involvement in the Angolan Civil War, Zaire: A Country Study|publisher-United States Library of Congress]In 1976 the
MPLA defeated the FNLA in theBattle of Dead Road and the FNLA retreated to Zaire.While Roberto and
Agostinho Neto 's proposed policies for an independent Angola were similar, Roberto drew support from western Angola and Neto drew from eastern Angola. Neto, under the banner of nationalism andCommunism , received support from theSoviet Union while Roberto, under the banner of nationalism andanti-Communism , received support from theUnited States , among other countries. Roberto staunchly opposed Neto's drive to unite the Angolan rebel groups in opposition to Portugal because Roberto believed the FNLA would be absorbed by the MPLA. The FNLA abducted MPLA members, deported them to Kinshasa, and killed them.In 1991 the FNLA and MPLA agreed to the
Bicesse Accords , allowing Roberto to return to Angola. He ran unsuccessfully for President, receiving only 2.1% of the vote. The FNLA won five seats in Parliament but refused to participate in the government.Roberto died on
August 2 2007 at his home in Luanda. [cite web|author=|year=2007|url=http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=550004|title=FNLA's Historic Leader Dies|publisher=Angola Press|accessdate=2007-11-18|accessyear=2007] [cite web|author=|year=2007|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/04/world/africa/04roberto.html|title=Holden Roberto Dies at 84; Fought to Free Angola From Portuguese Rule|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2007-11-18|accessyear=2007] [cite web|author=|year=2007|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/08/03/angola.death.reut/index.html|title=Angolan independence leader Holden Roberto dies|publisher=CNN|accessdate=2007-11-18|accessyear=2007] After Roberto's death, PresidentJosé Eduardo dos Santos eulogized, "Holden Roberto was one of the pioneers of national liberation struggle, whose name encouraged a generation of Angolans to opt for resistance and combat for the country's independence," and released a decree appointing a commission to arrange for a funeral ceremony. [cite web|author=|year=2007|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200708040047.html|title=Angola: Head of State Condoles With Death of FNLA Historic Leader|publisher=allAfrica.com|accessdate=2007-11-18|accessyear=2007]References
Further reading
*Chris Dempster, "Fire Power" (first hand account of foreign mercenaries fighting on the side of the FNLA) [http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/227/227121_mercenary_past_of_shamed_councillor.html]
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