Holden Roberto, one of the fathers of Angolan independence, has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 84, the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) announced on August 3.
“Our historic leader, Alvaro Holden Roberto, died on Thursday [August 2] … at his [Luanda] residence. We call on all militants to remain calm to enable us to pay homage to our leader,” FNLA vice-president Gola Kabkbangu told Agence France-Presse.
Roberto formed the FNLA in the 1960’s as one of several nationalist movements pressing for an end to Portuguese colonial rule.
In April 1975, it was one of three political parties to sign peace accords with Portugal that led to Angola’s independence the same year.
But fighting broke out between the parties, notably between the FLNA — supported by Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) and the West — and the MPLA, which was supported by the Soviet bloc.
After Cuba sent forces to support the MPLA, the FNLA was defeated and in 1976 abandoned its armed struggle.
Roberto went into exile in France and Zaire, but when he returned to Angola 15 years later he remained involved in politics despite his failing health.
He participated in the 1992 general elections which the MPLA won and was an ardent critic of the two-party system in Angola, represented by the MPLA and Unita, a group once allied to his FNLA.
In 2000, his former close ally, Lucas Ngonda, who led a dissident faction of the FNLA, demanded his retirement from politics. – AFP