- The US government has declassified documents on the death of Cape Verde's and Guinea-Bissau's celebrated freedom fighter, Amílcar Cabral, who was assassinated in 1973, thus not living to see the independence of the two Portuguese colonies. The historical documents show that Washington suspected Portugal to be involved in the killing, although leaning towards an ethnic conflict between the freedom fighters.
Less than a month after the assassination of the leader of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Amílcar Cabral, in 1973, the United States concluded that then-colonial power Portugal was not directly involved in his death, according to official documents made public Monday in Washington. Even so, the US State Department's Information and Investigation Services also concluded that "Lisbon's complicity" in the assassination of the leader of the struggle for Cape Verde's and Guinea-Bissau's independence "cannot be ruled out."
According to journalist José Pestana of Portuguese news agency Lusa, the documents now made public include telegrams, minutes from high-level US government meetings and policy proposals for Washington in the face of the deterioration of the military situation in Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique, both of which at the time were immersed in wars between Portugal and their respective independence movements.
Mr Cabral, who led the fight for the independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, was assassinated on 20 January 1973 in Conakry (Republic of Guinea), and on 1 February, the US Department of State issued a report in which it stated that "most signs indicate [that Cabral’s assassination] was the result of a feud between mulattoes from the islands of Cape Verde and continental Africans [Bissau-Guineans]," adding, however, that there were "signs of Portuguese involvement."
The declassified documents also reveal that US diplomats were aware of the PAIGC leader's plans to declare the independence of Guinea-Bissau in the territory's liberated zones - which ended up taking place in September 1973 - and that, with the deterioration of the military situation, Portugal had been involved in contacts with representatives of the liberation movement during the same year.
A study from the US Department of State's Information and Investigation Services dated 5 October 1973, concludes that the PAIGC at the time controlled "approximately one-third of the territory" and advises that the PAIGC would request Guinea-Bissau's membership to the United Nations "this year or next."
In December 1973, then-US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger presided over a meeting in which the situation in Guinea-Bissau was discussed, and in which Mr Kissinger and other high-level US officials expressed their annoyance at Portugal's inflexibility on the colonial issue.
During the meeting, then-undersecretary of state for political affairs William Porter complained bitterly that "the problem is that they [the Portuguese] aren't giving us anything we can work with. They're not giving us anything we can defend. They're not giving us a single thing. They talk a lot." Mr Kissinger affirmed at one point that there was not other solution than to take the territories away from Portugal.
Five months later, on 25 April 1975, the military coup was carried out in Portugal, which was followed by a cease-fire in the various battle fronts and eventually by the independence of all of Portugal's former colonies in Africa. This freed Washington from the need to make a "political decision" regarding the African colonies, the declassified documents show.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español