(Photo by jbdodane via Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0)
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In 2010, Cabinda drew world media attention following an attack on the Togo football team on its way to the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola. The attackers were members of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC), a small group that fights for Cabindan independence from Angola. Despite 60 years of fighting between the FLEC armed branch and the Angolan armed forces, the Cabinda enclave remains.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has documented grave human rights violations from both the FLEC and the Angolan armed forces, leading thousands of people to flee to neighboring countries. Yet, the exclave has not received significant international press coverage – even after the tragic 2010 attack. No one wants to jeopardize their relationship with Angola while continuing to benefit from the vast oil resources in Cabinda. The oil profit made from this little territory is huge and yet, the Cabindan population lives in poor conditions, compared to the rest of Angola.
A Historical Fight Over a Tiny Strip of Land
Cabinda is geographically separated from the country of Angola and has over 900,000 inhabitants. During the 15th century, Portuguese, Dutch, English, and Brazilian settlers arrived in this territory. In 1885, Cabinda became a Portuguese protectorate, which is a province with a quasi-autonomous status. Angola, on the other hand, received the status of colony, where Portuguese settlers exercised political power. In 1956, Cabinda lost its autonomy when Portugal merged both the Cabinda and Angolan administrations.
Several protest movements emerged over the years, then became the FLEC in 1963. Together, they created an exiled government based in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In 1974, a military coup in Portugal enabled the colonies to pursue independence. A year later, the Angolan main political parties, excluding the FLEC, signed the Alvor agreement to put an end to the 13-year-long independence conflict against the Portuguese settlers, and annexed Cabinda.
Over the years, Cabinda’s separatist voices have consistently asserted their autonomy with the FLEC at the forefront. The organization has experienced several internal splits and certain branches have even conducted guerilla actions.
In 2006, the Angolan government signed a peace agreement with a FLEC sub-branch. Yet, the lack of consultation with the rest of the movement led to legal action and the intensification of guerilla activities. In recent history, the FLEC and the Cabinda civil society have attempted to re-open peace talks with Luanda, Angola’s capital city, but such calls have been left unanswered.
The “African Kuwait”
Why does this little strip of land provoke so much envy? In 1954, offshore oil fields were discovered and started to be exploited. Since then, the oil industry has flourished in Cabinda, making Angola Africa’s second-largest oil producing country.
Virginie Muanda Kibinde, who grew up in Cabinda and whose family was closely linked to FLEC activism, published several books and stories to preserve the Cabindan identity. She kindly shared some insights to help clarify the scarce and often politicized data and information about Cabinda. Kibinde affirmed that “until recently, Cabinda’s oil represented a large majority of the Angola earnings.”
The main business sector of Cabinda seems to not have benefited the local population for a long time. One of the FLEC’s demands is for better “management and access to oil resources which are de facto indigenous to Cabinda.” The contrast between the huge profit of these oil fields heavily guarded by Angolan soldiers and the poor living conditions in Cabinda is striking.
According to Kibinde, “for the same position, the salary in Cabinda is two or three times lower than the salary in Angola.” With a high unemployment rate, there are serious needs for new infrastructure and investments to address malnutrition due to the lack of adequate agricultural, social, and educational policies, amidst progressive restrictions on civil rights.
Living in Anxiety
With a significant military presence in the enclave, the activist José Marcos Mavungo asserted that “now there are more soldiers in Cabinda than its population.” Both the Angolan military and the paramilitary groups have created a climate of uneasiness for the local population. There have reportedly been torture cases by both sides for information or retaliation.
Despite this, the independentist movement has evolved since the 1980s. Opposition to Angola takes the form of peaceful protests and the documentation of human rights violations, in which “senior managers in the Angolan administration, students, members of the middle classes and religious leaders” take part.
Organizing peaceful protest and advocating for independence can be challenging, however, when civil society is often banned or under heavy censorship. Using systematic arrests, harassment, and intimidation, the government silences human rights activists as “everybody is considered an affiliated member to the FLEC.” Zenaida Machado, an HRW researcher disheartenedly noted that “not a month goes by without arbitrary detention, the right to demonstrate is a mirage.”
HRW documented long-standing repression against activists, especially against the right to expression and association. Yet, systematic arrests will likely trigger more frustration and anger among the local population if they feel unheard, and some of them might find legitimacy in using violent forms of protests.
Silence as a Weapon
In April 2024, the FLEC armed branch gave a 30-day ultimatum to the Angolan government, asking for the complete withdrawal of the military from the enclave. Beyond this period, the organization declared that it “will intensify its large-scale military actions against the Angolan invaders.” In May, the FLEC announced that hostilities with the Angolan military started again, although the government did not confirm anything.
The Angolan government often argues that there is no credible leader within the independentist movement, because the FLEC has known several splits throughout its history. The decision-makers “have used these separations to justify that the situation does not change in Cabinda and even caused some of these splits” commented Kibinde, referring to the failed negotiations attempts with singled-out members of the FLEC.
Unsurprisingly, the Angolan government has consistently dismissed all attempts for peaceful talks. While government officials acknowledged that there might be “some people with guns,” they claimed several times that “FLEC does not exist.” Most of the time, the government does not communicate about the social and security situation in Cabinda. This narrative of denying any opposition in the enclave overlooks the deep-rooted issues. Strategically, one must ask: how can the large military presence in Cabinda be justified if there is no visible threat?
What Future for the Independentists?
The Cabinda struggle is largely absent from mainstream media, as the international community avoids criticizing Angola due to its lucrative oil fields. “Although Cabinda has brought in oil money for a long time, today it is one of the biggest hubs for misappropriation of funds,” said Kibinde.
The separatist movement is stuck in a complicated situation. Keeping the status quo would only fuel more violence. Yet, the current state of the Angolan democracy, with deeply rooted corruption and restricted civil liberties, makes it difficult to explore other options to redefine the status of Cabinda.
As long as the guerilla actions do not impact the oil business, the Angolan government will not take any further steps towards peace talks. Kibinde emphasized that “the government should understand that Cabinda will remain a burden and a source of instability as long as dialogue is not open. Angola has the means to deal with this problem, first by reducing its reliance on Cabinda oil.”
Some Cabinda expatriates take part in awareness-raising around this enclave. For instance, the footballer Eduardo Camavinga, who was born in Cabinda, published a biography, coming back to the history of his family in the enclave. The history of Cabinda must be shared so that its people are heard, especially when the oil industry leads states and corporations to turn a blind eye.
Edited by Melanie Miles and Lubaba Mahmud
