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Portugal and Africa: the Politics of Re-Engagement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2008

Norman Macqueen
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Extract

In the years since the April Revolution of 1974 and the subsequent process of decolonisation, Portugal's relations with its former African colonies have undergone considerable strains, and on occasion have been marked by deep suspicion and acrimony. Yet, over the period, the general tendency has been one of accelerating rapprochement. The pace and depth of this re-engagement has, for numerous reasons, varied between the states involved. More or less cordial relations were established with Guiné-Bissau, for example, even before formal independence, whereas those with Mozambique were fraught with difficulties until the 1980s, and can still occasionally give way to mistrust and hostility. But, given the legacy of the wars of liberation and a world recession which developed simultaneously with the new relationships, the achievements have been considerable.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , March 1985 , pp. 31 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

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References

page 32 note 1 A Capital (Lisbon), 26 04 1974.Google Scholar

page 32 note 2 de Spinola, António, Portugal e o Futuro (Lisbon, 1974).Google Scholar

page 32 note 3 Speech broadcast on Radio Lisbon, 27 July 1974. The position was reaffirmed during a visit by Kurt Waldheim the following month; see U N Press Release (New York), 74/3, 8 08 1974.Google Scholar

page 34 note 1 Jonathan, Story, ‘Portugal's Revolution of Carnations’ in International Affairs (London), 52, 3, 07 1976, pp. 427–9.Google Scholar

page 34 note 2 P.A.I.G.C.: Partido Africano da Independéncia da Guiné e Cabo Verde; Frelimo: Frente de Libertaç¯o de Moçambique; M.P.L.A.: Movimento Popular de Libertaç¯o de Angola.

page 35 note 1 Gallagher, Tom, Portugal: a twentieth century interpretation (Manchester, 1983), p. 242.Google Scholar

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page 37 note 2 The Democratic Alliance (A.D.), which took 47 per cent of the votes in December 1979, was composed of the two main centre-right organisations, the Social Democratic Party (P.S.D.) and the Social Democratic Centre (C.D.S.), along with the small Monarchist Party (P.P.M.).

page 37 note 3 Quoted by Washington, Shirley, ‘Toward a New Relationship’, in Africa Report (Washington, D.C.), 03–04 1980, p. 21. For the specifics of the confrontation over the constitution, see Pimlott, loc. cit. pp. 286–96.Google Scholar

page 39 note 1 The success of the P.A.I.G.C.'s campaign over the years was such that prior to April 1974 it had been recognised as the Government of Guiné-Bissau by more than 80 states.

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page 40 note 1 During his state visit of 1976, Eanes explicitly referred to the relationship as an example for those with Angola and Mozambique; West Africa (London), 5 03 1979.Google Scholar

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page 44 note 1 ARB: psc series, May 1982, pp. 6429–30. At the bilateral level the visit led to an agreement between Angola and the Portuguese national oil company, Petrogal, by which the latter would invest $30 million and provide 600 technicians for the building of the Cambembe dam. Payment would be in petrol which would provide a considerable boost for Portugal's oil-bereft economy. ARB: eft series, January 1983, p. 6709.

page 44 note 2 Africa Contemporary Record, 1982–83 (London, 1984), p. B605.Google Scholar

page 44 note 3 According to Africa Report, March–April 1984, Rosa Coutinho has demonstrated continued sympathy for the M.P.L.A. by recruiting Portuguese ex-regulars for the Angolan army.

page 45 note 1 This movement, Fico– ‘I stay’ (an acronym more felicitous than its full title: Front for the Continuation of Western Civilisation), like its Algerian predecessor, completely misjudged the mood of the metropolitan military on whose support it had counted.

page 46 note 1 ARB: psc series, April 1976, p. 3964.

page 46 note 2 This is not to suggest that any such differences amounted to a significant internal conflict. Frelimo, in contrast to Angola's M.P.L.A., appears to have been free of major ideological schisms.

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page 48 note 2 This development certainly alarmed the Soviet Union. See MacQueen, Norman, ‘Mozambique's Widening Foreign Policy’, in The World Today (London), 40, 1, 01 1984, pp. 23–5.Google Scholar

page 48 note 3 ARB: psc series, January 1984, p. 7067.

page 49 note 1 Portugal has continuously maintained business-like contacts with South Africa, dictated largely by the presence of the considerable Portuguese migrant community there. A further dimension to the Lisbon–Pretoria relationship lies in the Cabora Bassa hydro-electric system which is located in Mozambique, albeit utilised by South Africa and still partly owned by Portugal.

page 49 note 2 See, for example, the article by Gomes, Alves, international editor of the semi-official Maputo weekly Tempo, in The Guardian (London), 16 11 1984.Google Scholar

page 50 note 1 The Guardian, 18 January 1985.

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