Angola

_angola VIV SO MEANDERA MPLA Angola represents an important prize for either the African revolution or neo-colonial reaction. The economy is tied to its neighbouring countries, Angola while its ethnic groups spill over the various borders. Its strategic position and economic potential make it vital to the interests of imperialism. The events taking place in Angola today are causing tremors of alarm throughout the neo-colonial world of southern Africa. The neo-colonial world fears the effect of the development of the Angolan revolution on the stability of their own regimes; each has played its part in attempting to contain the erruption within the framework of the neo-colonial solution, or to direct intervention to impose such a solution. The Republic of South Africa also understands the dangers inherent in the Angolan situation which threatens the viability of its policy of 'detente' and which is causing rumblings among the black working masses within the Republic. The multi-national corporations have a direct interest in ensuring that they will be able to continue to extract the wealth of Angola. The 'loss' of Angola would upset the total balance of forces in southern Africa, which today allows imperialism to continue its exploitation of the region. To this end, imperialist strategy has consistently been to try to limit the impact of decolonisation of the Portuguese colonies and thwart the dynamic of the popular mobilisations that have errupted out of the process; the aim has been to ensure a smooth transition of economic and political power to those forces integrated and based around South Africa. Spinola's decolonisation' project had set out to do pre: cisely that: it was hoped to achieve the transition by giving exclusive recognition to the rightist nationalist forces led by the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to form a coalition government with representatives of the colonial bourgeoisie and of the Lisbon government. The secret talk at Cape Verde last year were part of this project to shunt aside the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). But by remaining intransigent on the principle of independence (and thus maintaining its base among the urban masses), and aided by the events in Portugal - the ousting of Spinola - the MPLA was able to frustrate the plan. Above all else, the erruption of the Angolan masses onto the political arena with workers' working strikes and broad mobilisations in the urban centres, forced the Portuguese bourgeoisie to recognise the right of the Angolan people to independence. The imperialist strategy thus partially frustrated, we saw a spectacular reconciliation of the three move. ments at Mombasa (Kenya) and an 'acceleration' of the decolonisation process; the Alvor accords were agreed, establishing the grounds for a quadripartite "transitional' government involving MPLA, FNLA, UNITA, and the Lisbon government. Essentially this marked an attempt to defuse the revolutionary dynamic of the independence struggles by incorporating the the MPLA into the neo-colonial process of the Transitional Government. The central task of the transitional government was to prepare the neo-colonial juridicopolitical framework to guarantee that the transition to power would take place without any anti-capitalist mobilisation of any scope; the first measures taken by this government - banning of Popular assemblies, militarisation of ports etc. — clearly showed this to be so. amendments However the widespread outbreaks of armed clashes, in which the popular militias (supporters of MPLA) mobilised to defend themselves against attacks from FNLA and from the white racist colons threatened to upset this 'peaceful' transition plan and necessitated the 'amending' of the Accords, ie. to provide powers to implement them. African diplomacy was again mobilised to act as intermidiary, and a conference held at Nakuru (Kenya) befween the three movements agreed to create an Angolan national army, disarm the civilians, and hold a census with a view to holding elections for a constițuent assembly in October 1975. The plan to disarm the masses corresponded to FNLA and UNITA's desire to deal a death-blow to all the self-organised structures of the workers. That MPLA signed such a document clearly demonstrated the opportunist nature of its leadership - being prepared to cling to power at any cost. But in spite of any 'wish' to disarm the masses, the plan proved to be ineffectual - the masses refused to give up their arms even in the face of pleas from the MPLA leadership. On the contrary, the launching of atracks on MPLA militants and selective workers' mob- ¡lisations (aimed at demoralising the masses) by the FNLA and UNITA met with widespread response from the workers who effectively drove both these forces out of Luanda, and brought the fragile structures of the transitional government crashing down, leaving the MPLA as the only remaining member of the government, un-response to a huge demonstration calling for a "peoples' government' following this victory, ine IMPLA nationalised the banks in Luanda, only to meet with an announcement fromLisbon re-asserting direct colonial authority! 6 Since then, the 'masks' have begun to fall, each force defining its position more clearly: at Lobito, a united front of FNLA and UNITA attempted, unsuccessfully, to rout the forces of the MPLA (it is worth noting that this 'unification' occured at Lobito, the port through which 50 per cent of Zambia's copper is exported, and also provides southern Zaire with a route to the sea; the closure of this port throws a veritable spanner into the imperialist strategy for southern Africa - (see page 4). At the same time South African troops entered the Cunene basin region in the south - site of the hydro-electric project, and have now advanced to form a 'united front' with UNITA against the MPLA. In the north, the FNLA are again advancing on Luanda having received reinforcements from Mobutu of Zaire, and having recruițed large numbers of' the reactionary white colons still remaining in Angola. (UNITA, traditionally always popular amongst the white colons, has also benefited from the recruitment of these elements unwilling to leave their possessions and and priveleged life.) It is therefore clear that the class forces are nowbeginning to polarise in the civil war; on the one hand, the highly combative workers attempting to wage an anti-capitalist struggle under the sometimes inadequate leadership of the MPLA; and on the other, an ever growing monster consisting of reaction in various guises converging to ensure the survival of capitalism and oppression role of the troops One of the characteristics of the present unfolding Portuguese revolution has been the rifts caused in the armed forces and the break up of its command structures. The troops in Angola have not been unaffected by this, and the last few months have seen a spate of demonstrations both in Angola and in Portugal of varying natures, but all testifying to this division and breakup: in Angola, there have been demonstrations by soldiers demanding repatriation from an imperialist war that has, understandably, demoralised them and in which they have no wish to participate; at the same time, there have also been demonstrations in solidarity with the MPLA and coupled with this, similar demonstrations have occured recently in Portugal - troops refusing to be be sent out to Angola and solidarising with the MPLA. No-one would deny that the Portuguese troops remain in essence an imperialist army, and any role they play as an army, while not being capable often of effectively carrying out imperialism's intentions for Angola, remains necessarily counter-revolutionary. This can be demonstrated if one examines their role in 'supervising' the exodus of FNLA and UNITA from Luanda, their 'escorting' of the colons from the country, and the protection of UNITA and the white colons around Nova Lisboa. It is clear, therefore, that these troops must be removed immediately. But we would say to those advanced elements in the army: desert and join the MPLA! And to the 'left' demogogy emenating from populist mouths in Portugal: if you support the MPLA - prove it - withdraw your troops! Hand over your weapons and power to the MPLA! Sanction tire decision of your militants to join the MPLA! It is with such. demands concerning une troops that it is possible to advance revolution in Angola. workers mobilizations Following the coup in Portugal (25 April, 1974), the '"liberalisation' in Angola was a signal for a workers' offensive: the combativity of the Angolan proletariat - long contained by colonial repression - exploded in many local strikes that clearly attested to the workers' desire to expel the fascist employers and put an end But the first significant to capitalist super-exploitation. victory of the Angolan proletariat over the stalling of the Portuguese government came with the near spontaneous response of the masses to the racist crimes cont mitted by colonial reaction. The balance of forces between the labouring masses and the ruling class in the urban centres was suddenly transformed, enabling tens of thousands of workers to go through the experience of mobilisation and struggles. Through these mobilisations the workers gradually became familiar with forms of organisation and struggle wholly new to them, and these experiences of self-organisation manifested themselves through the formation of rank and file committees in the neighbourhoods and factories. The transitional government's attempts to militarise factories 'falling into chaos and anarchy' mei with a broad response from the workers in a demonstration of several thousands refusing 'to be treated as objects instruments of enrichment in a process of exploitation that remains unchanged' Through these experiences, and under the impetus • of MPLA (tactically supporting these mobilisations) a trade-union movement took shape that will be an important factor in the future developments of the relationship of forces. Thus on 22 May 1975, a demonstration organised by U.N.T.A. (National Union of Angolan Workers), attended by hundreds of thousands of workers took place in solidarity with the MPLA, denouncing the reaction role of the FNLA. The central question of the workers seizing power as a reslut of the present struggles has now been posed by the beginning of the emergence of a situation of dualpower - with the attempts to co-ordinate the rank and file committees for "people's power'. But the mere reference to people's pover with a relative imprecise class content is not sufficient to trace out the road to the seizure of power by the labouring masses. 2 2 November ; Kinshasha - Mario Soares with Holden Roberto (FNLA), Savimbi (UNITA) and Chipenda (then in MPLA and now in FNLA) reaction The reaction of the FNLA to the radicalisation of the urban proletariat was to launch a military offensive against both the workers' self-organisations and the MPLA militants. Its role as the pawn of imperialism has been obvious in the aid it has recieved from Zaire (the bastion of capitalist investment in central Africa) and the relations it has established with the imperialist International Confederation of Free (sic) Trade Unions. Based upon the Bakongo ethnic group in the north, and fundamentally rightist and regionalist, this movement has recruited a genuine border army among the Angolan emigres in Zaire, and now coccupies northern Angola. It has asserted itself as the motor force of repression dealing successive blows against popular mobilisations to inflict significant defeats on the labouring masses. before independence. Far from reducing the workers" combativity, however, they permitted the strengthening of mobilisations and vigilance....a factor that lead to the eventual ousting of the FNLA and UNITA from Luanda. Both these movements are now concentrating their energies on trying to defeat the MPLA, a task for which they can be assured unfailing support from the international bourgeoisie. But for the international workers' movement, there is no alternative today but to support the Angolan revolution - which, in spite of its failings, means solidarity with the MPLA! ambiguous mpla In the face of the radicalisation of the labouring masses, the response of the MPLA has been ambiguous and insufficient to trace out the road to real independence. It has essentially failed to grasp the importance of the emergence of a proletarian social force in the heart of the imperialist industrial apparatus, resulting in its inability to put forward responses in class terms or to go beyond its original multi-classist positions. Thus, for Augustino Neto, president of MPLA, 'people's power' means the power of 'all social layers of society', while the central function of independence is to make 'all social layers of society share power'. These frontist illustons are at the very heart of the political limitations of the MPLA. A heterogeneous movement founded on the basis of the urban petty-bourgeoisie, the MPLA inherited the frontist and gradualist illusions characteristic of pettybourgeois nationalism, illusions that were further reinforced by the Stalinist conceptions of the Angolan Communist nucleus. Nevertheless, its desire to put an 'end to exploitation of man by man' and to establish a 'democratic and popular regime' had a very precise class content in the urban centres: an end to capitalist exploitation, and the power of workers and poor peasants! Its frontist illusions have continually left it torn between collaboration with FNLA and UNITA at the top, and participation in the rank and file committees at the base where the dynamic of the struggles, sharpens the contradictions in the MPLA - tending to increase the leadership's independence from the rank and file alternative The most radicalised elements of the urban proletariat are assembled primarily in the rank and file committees of the MPLA and in U.N.T.A. and because of the position they occupy in the process of capitalist exploitation, this vanguard is the spearhead of the entire revolutionary process today. But these committees are locked in gradualist Maoist formulations and in tail-ending the MPLA leadership. Their political response is insufficient to lead to real independence permitting their total emancipation with the end to capitalist rule - the central question being posed by thousands of workers in their on-going struggles today. There are already elements in the MPLA aware of the stakes, who define themselves around a class struggle position, fighting for the emergence of an overall anticapitalist alternative. Against the ambiguous response of the MPLA, they are developing propaganda for selforganisation and self-defence, popularising and giving militant support to the exemplary workers' strikes, denouncing the imperialist grip on the Angolan econony linking the struggle for independence to the struggle for social transformation and socialist revolution. The evolution of the political situation in Angola will condition the future relationship of forces in southern Africa. A favourable outcome is vital for the success of all the other struggles taking place in southern Africa today, and for a united socialist Africa! It is therefore vital to launch an international solidarity movement that can be an important factor for the evolution of the balance of forces in Angola. Nowmore than ever must come a resounding cry from the international workers' movement: SOLIDARITY WITH THE MPLA! NO THE IMPERIALIST AND PRO IMPERIALIST INTERVENTION! PORTUGUESE TROOPS OUT! POWER TO THE MPLA! SOUTH AFRICAN AND ZAIROIS TROOPS OUT! solidarity with the MPLA! Tne Angola Solidarity Committee was launched on Friday 8 August 1975 with the aim of spreading information and organising support for the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola); Angola's only legitimate liberation movement. The ASC is supported by the International Marxist Group, the International Socialists, the Young Communist League and Communist Party members. et af Affiliation to the committee (inc. subscription to the bulletins) costs £1 for b months. Copies of the pampniet; 10p, information and speakers are available from; Angola Solidarity Committee c/o Tony Gifford, 6, Bowden Street, London SE 11. Angola Solidarity Committee follow the internationa workers movement... subscribe to INPRECOR (International Press Correspondence) is a fortnightly information and analytical journal published by the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. It is an international SUBSCRIPTIONS: 1 year (25 issues): United States $ 17 (seamail); $ 24 (airmail). BRITISH SUBSCRIBERS should send £7 cheque or postal order payable to Inprecor, 97 Caledonian Road, London N1 9BT.Enclose details of name and address and specify ALL OTHER SUBSCRIBERS. To pay by Personal cheque or International Money Order, send name and address to Inprecor, 76 rue Antoine Dansaert, Brussels 1000, To pay by International Postal Order, send name and address to Inprecor address in Brussels. Send Postal Order to Gisela Scholtz, 127 rue Josse Impens, Brussels 3, 8 INPRECOR emetendence for the portuguese colonies NOW! in this issue... journal with editions in English, French, Spanish and German. 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