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FLEC 1 (Cabinda, Angola)

Frente de Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda

FLEC 1963 flag

FLEC 1963 flag

by Jarig Bakker, 4 April 2001

The original FLEC (Frente de Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda, Liberation front of the enclave of Cabinda) was created in 1963 as a coalition of 3 movements - MLEC (Liberation movement of the enclave of C.), CAUNC (Action Commitee of National Cabindese Union) and ALLIAMA (National Alliance of the Mayombe - Mayombe is a mountain between the Cabinda and the republic of the Congo). That movement adopted a horizontal tricolour blue-yellow-red.
Joan-Frances Blanc, 4 May 1998

I found in the Political Handbook of the World 1997 the following:
Since the early 1960s a number of groups have been active in the oil-rich Cabindan enclave under the banner of Front for the Liberation of the Cabinda Enclave (Frente deLibertação do Enclave de Cabinda - FLEC). The original FLEC was founded in August 1963 by Luis Ranque Franque who, encouraged by Portuguese authorities to continue separatist activities, refused to join other Angolan independence movements. In 1974 the Front's attempts to gain military control of the enclave were
rebuffed by the MPLA and, in 1975, the movement broke into three factions:

FLEC-Ranque Franque
FLEC-N'Zita, led by Henrique Tiaho N'Zita
FLEC-Lubota, led by Francisco Xavier Lubota

In November 1977 a splinter group styling itself the Military Command for the Liberation of Cabinda was organized, while in June 1979 the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Cabinda esablished another splinter, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Cabinda (Movimento Popular de Libertação de Cabinda - MPLC). In the 1980s FLEC-UNITA, or UNIFLEC, was reported to be operating in Cabinda with South African assistance, however the group's activities ceased following withdrawal of Pretoria's aid. In the early 1990s two other groups, the National Union for the Liberation of Cabinda (União Nacional de Libertação de Cabinda - UNLC), led by Lumingu Luis Gimby, and the Communist Committee of Cabinda
(Comité Communista de Cabinda - CCC), led by Kaya Mohamed Yay, were linked to separatist activities.

Anxious to create ties to the economically important region, both the government and UNITA have named Cabindans to leadership positions in their parties. Nevertheless, in July 1991 a joint MPLA-PT/UNITA offensive was launched in Cabinda to eradicate the terrorists. Meanwhile, although past attempts to unify the numerous FLEC factions had proven short-lived, it was reported that four of the identifiable groups (FLEC-Lubota, the UNLC, CCC, and FLEC-Renovada) were attempting to form a united front, FLEC-N'Zita reportedly refusing to participate.

In mid-1992 increased incidents of FLEC initiated violence were reported in the province, with the situation further deteriorating during the runup tot the September elections. In August FLEC officials called for a boycott of the balloting. Subsequently, only 19 % of the eligible voters registered, with one observer describing the low turnout as a "referndum on independence". In December FLEC activists, cit