IRIN Web Special on Cabinda

In September 2002, the political bureau of FLEC challenged the Portuguese government - as it had done on previous occasions - to "assume with courage a clear political position on the question of Cabinda".

In recent months there has been greater focus on finding a way out of the political and military impasse. In January 2003 government representatives met with FLEC-FAC in France to conduct exploratory talks. Although hopes were high that this meeting would signal a thaw in relations between separatists and the government, FLEC-FAC rejected the government's proposals, insisting that a "draft peace plan" should define how the offer of autonomy for the province would work in practice.

At the time, the FLEC-FAC representative in the Netherlands, Xavier Builo, told IRIN that although independence was a "desirable solution to the ongoing conflict", FLEC-FAC remained open to negotiations over the "future status" of Cabinda.

FLEC has consistently argued that a referendum, in which only Cabindans would vote, could finally end the conflict. The government has vetoed this approach, arguing that, given the national significance of such a referendum, all Angolans should vote.

Father Paulo Taty, Vicar-General of the Diocese of Cabinda and an ardent supporter of independence, has dismissed the idea of a referendum entirely. "A referendum will not solve anything, because referenda, like elections, can be manipulated."

In recent months Taty and other prominent activists have organised a series of meetings among Cabindans in an attempt to form a common front that poses a challenge to the exiled leadership of the FLEC factions. Leading this loose coalition is the Roman Catholic Church, a significant factor in this avowedly Catholic region.

"The church has had to assume the role left vacant by the various factions of FLEC. As the situation gets worse, there is no option but for the church to speak out about the atrocities. I think Cabindans are tired of other people sorting out their problems. They are standing up for themselves now, which is perhaps a lot more problematic for the [Luanda] government," Congo told IRIN.

Among ordinary Cabindans, the often unheard victims of the protracted war, the need to finally resolve the issue of secession is long overdue. The fruits of peace would be seen in a flow of humanitarian assistance into the province that produces some 60 percent of Angola's oil revenues, and is viewed locally as having been deliberately marginalised by the Angolan government.

Residents have been critical of the role of major oil companies in the province. In 1999 an oil spill near the Malonga oil base dealt a severe blow to the struggling local fishing industry. At the time, oil giant ChevronTexaco paid the 10 percent of fishermen affected by the spill US $2,000 as compensation. Cabindan fishermen have attributed reduced fish stocks to continued pollution. They told IRIN that they expected ChevronTexaco and other oil companies to contribute more to the development of the province.

Attempts by IRIN to obtain comment from ChevronTexaco were unsuccessful.

According to local businessman Jose Pitra Chocolate: "We need to sort this situation out so that we can rebuild the economy. There is nothing here. Poverty is all around us. We shouldn't have to live like this."

Cabinda has no port facilities and consumer goods are flown from the capital, Luanda, or trucked in from neighbouring countries. However, much of the rest of Angola is equally underdeveloped after three decades of civil war againt UNITA. Chocolate urged authorities and separatists to negotiate, "if ... only to improve the living conditions of Cabindans".

Observers have suggested that some kind of negotiated autonomy is the only solution to the conflict in Cabinda.

However, they add that any agreement cannot be limited to FLEC leaders and must include civil society and the church as part of an enlarged peace process. This, Porto argues, will support the gradual development of a broad-based movement that would "undoubtedly serve as a gauge for the aims and objectives of all Cabindans [including the various FLEC factions]".

Civil rights activists have also called on the government to conduct serious discussions around the concept of provincial or regional autonomy.

Rafael Marques, representative in Angola of the pro-democracy NGO, Open Society, told IRIN: "It is important for the government to clarify to all parties what it means by autonomy - if this is in fact up for serious discussion. There is uncertainty around how this concept will actually work, which has led to mistrust among all concerned."

Pundits have remained sceptical despite the government's overtures towards greater autonomy for Cabinda, arguing there is little chance of the Luanda government relinquishing its hold over the oil-rich enclave.

The province receives 10 percent of taxes paid by oil companies with operations off Cabinda's shores, such as ChevronTexaco.

But even key figures in the former rebel group, UNITA, have openly argued that secession is not a possibility, and that a peaceful solution to the impasse could only be achieved through dialogue.

Abel Chivukuvuku, a prominent UNITA official told IRIN: " ... if this means listening to the voice of Cabindans, to heed their wishes, then let it be so. If we need to move towards rethinking the kind of state that Angola will be, opening up the possibility of autonomy for Cabinda, then so be it."

[Ends]

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