the 'reinforcements' have resisted leaving Portugal.
The Lisbon Government claims that its troops are only there to 'keep the peace' between the three rival Angolan nationalist movements - the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FLA), and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) - which have been embroiled in a series of escalating military conflicts since March, leaving several thousands dead.
TROOPS
Stating that the Portuguese troops were pursuing a policy of active neutrality in the fighting, Foreign Minister Melo Antunes explained on 13 July that 'active neutrality means that they will not fold their arms and look on, but will actively intervene very vigorously to put the aggressors in their place.
The attitude which is being taken by Antunes and the Supreme Revolutionary Council is in clear contrast to the policy of a truly revolutionary government, which would recognise the right of the Angolan people to immediate, unconditional independence, and would withdraw every Portuguese soldier from the country. The real role of this continued military presence in Angola is to prevent any threat to imperialist interests and hold back the liberation struggle - a struggle which will have repercussions throughout Southern Africa. A successful socialist struggle in Angola would threaten imperialist domination of a region where Portuguese, American, British, The latest crisis in Angola has seen both the imperialist states and the neo-colonial African regimes talking of the need for military intervention by United Nations troops in this oil rich colony. Portugal's Supreme Revolutionary Council has attempted to step up its intervention by flying reinforcements to the 24,000 Portuguese soldiers already there - although some of German and French capitalists have massive interests in Angolan oil, diamonds, iron, coffee, cotton, sisal and other natural resources.
With oil output now hitting nine million tons a year, mainly from Gulf's oilfields in the the enclave of Cabinda sandwiched between Zaire and the Congo Peoples Republic, Angolan oil production is now the third largest in Black Africa. The Portuguese troops remaining in Angola are objectively maintaining the defence of these imperialist holdings and preventing the Angelan liberation struggle from leading to socialist revolution. It is for this reason, and in view of the unreliability of Portuguese troops, that the African neo-colonial regimes are now discussing at the OAU Conference their own 'peacekeeping' UN force.
UNITED NATIONS Instead of condemning this, Antunes warned too that he might call on the United Nations to send troops to defend imperialist interests in Angola — as they did in the Congo (now Zaire) in the early sixties. He said that he was "prepared to resort to anything, including the international organisations, to achieve peace, and not only peace but an adequate political platform' The political platform' Antunes has in mind is the construction of a stable neo-colonial government that the imperialist powers can count on to defend their interests. This had been the Portuguese Government's aim in signing the Alvor Agreement last January with the MPLA, the FLA and UNITA. This agreenent set up a coalition "Transitional Government' to 'guide' Angola to independence later this year on 11 November the ten-month
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The Presidential College: 1 to r, Lopo do Nascimento (MPLA), Johnny Eduardo (FLA), Jose N'Dele (UNITA) Jur common Struggle PORTUGUESE WORKERS NEWSLETTER 7