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Portugal Africa
During the 1960s and early 1970s, Portugal waged three
colonial wars simultaneously on the African continent
(see The Role of the Armed Forces in Africa
, ch. 5). These
campaigns hurt
the economy, drained morale, and gradually became
politically
unpopular. The end of the wars in Africa brought
independence to
the colonies almost immediately. The manner in which
independence
was granted, however, and the results that were produced
proved
to be highly controversial.
In his unsettling book, Portugal and the Future,
General António de Spínola had proposed stopping the wars,
finding a peaceful resolution, and granting independence
to the
colonies. But he wanted to maintain good relations with
the
colonies and to link them with Portugal and possibly
Brazil
through a Portuguese-speaking Lusitanian confederation of
nations
that would resemble the British Commonwealth. This
proposal was
rejected by the radical and more impatient members of the
Armed
Forces Movement (Movimento das Forças Armadas--MFA).
In Guinea-Bissau, after brief negotiations and a
cease-fire,
Portugal granted independence to its former colony and
turned
power over to the Marxist African Party for the
Independence of
Guinea and Cape Verde (Partido Africano pela Independência
de
Guiné e Cabo Verde--PAIGC). Cape Verde also became
independent
but did not become part of Guinea-Bissau. In the much
larger
territory of Mozambique, Portugal turned over the reins of
government to the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique
(Frente
de Libertação de Moçambique--FRELIMO), another
Marxist-Leninist
guerrilla group. And in Angola, Portugal's most valuable
African
colony, power was given to the similarly Marxist-Leninist
Popular
Movement for the Liberation of Angola (Movimento Popular
de
Libertação de Angola--MPLA) which, among the three
factions
fighting for independence, was the only one allied with
the
Soviet Union. The smaller colony of São Tomé and Príncipe
also
became independent.
The haste with which independence was granted and the
simple
turning of power over to the very Marxist-Leninist
elements
Portugal had been fighting, without any further
guarantees, had a
number of serious consequences. Hundreds of thousands of
Portuguese settlers were stranded, many of whom had lived
in the
colonies for generations. They lost their homes, land, and
positions. Most of them returned to Portugal, where many
lived in
squalid conditions and added to the country's unemployment
problems. Their departure left the African colonies
without the
teachers, educators, managers, and other trained personnel
needed
to make a successful transition to independence. Plagued
by
continuing civil wars and violence, political conditions
and
living standards in the newly independent states
deteriorated.
Portugal's relations with these former colonies long
remained
strained, for they felt they had been abandoned by the
mother
country. With time, however, relations improved, trade
resumed,
Portuguese educators and technicians were welcomed back,
and new
ties among the Portuguese-speaking nations began to be
forged.
Portugal served as a useful intermediary in arranging
agreements
to reduce conflicts in Angola and Mozambique. In 1984, for
example, Portugal sponsored the Nkomati Accords between
Mozambique and South Africa by which the two latter
countries
agreed to stop supporting guerrilla groups in each other's
territory. The three countries later agreed to manage the
giant
Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power plant for the benefit of
all.
Although Portugal would no longer play a large role in
Africa,
its special relationship with the continent's Lusophone
(Portuguese-speaking) countries made it likely that it
would play
a role of some importance.
Data as of January 1993
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