CIA Aid to FNLA During Nixon Administration

SUMMARY

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) provided funding and support to Holden Roberto's National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) beginning in the early 1960s, with multiple administration sources acknowledging this aid as early as 1962 [1]. A 1964 CIA proposal to support Roberto and other nationalist leaders also exists [2]. While some sources suggest CIA activity in Angola paused or significantly decreased around 1963-1964, particularly before Nixon's election in 1968 [3], other accounts and declassified information indicate continued, albeit possibly covert, involvement.

Contradictory narratives emerge regarding the Nixon administration's specific posture toward the FNLA. While a definitive cut-off of aid in 1969 is alleged by some, other claims suggest ongoing support, particularly through indirect channels like Zaire. The period leading up to the major U.S. intervention in the Angolan Civil War in 1975 under the Ford administration saw a significant escalation of aid, raising questions about the continuous nature and extent of U.S. involvement in the preceding years [5, 7]. Claims also exist that FNLA received financing from the US in 1973, while also receiving weapons from Eastern European countries, complicating the narrative of a simple cutoff [15].

CLAIMS

1. VERIFIEDCONF 0.90

   The CIA had been funding the FNLA and Holden Roberto since 1962.

   — attributed to: Five different Administration sources (according to a CIA document)

   • https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp88-01314r000100660020-1
2. VERIFIEDCONF 0.90

   A CIA proposal to provide non-military support to Holden Roberto and other selected nationalist leaders was presented to the Special Group in March 1964.

   — attributed to: US Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States

   • https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d442
3. SINGLE-SOURCECONF 0.70

   CIA supported the FNLA with money and arms only until about 1963 or 1964.

   — attributed to: Source quoted in a New York Review of Books article

   • https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1979/05/17/the-cia-in-angola/
4. CORROBORATEDCONF 0.80

   President Mobutu of Zaire, Holden Roberto's brother-in-law, started receiving secret CIA funds and other aid soon after Zaire gained independence in June 1960.

   — attributed to: Two government sources (according to a CIA document)

   • https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp88-01314r000100660020-1
5. SINGLE-SOURCECONF 0.60

   The CIA made its first major weapons shipment to the FNLA in July 1975.

   — attributed to: William Blum (historian/author)

   • https://williamblum.org/chapters/killing-hope/angola
6. SINGLE-SOURCECONF 0.50

   FNLA soldiers were undergoing training in a camp in Zaire in 1973, and the FNLA was financed by the US, despite also receiving weapons from Eastern European countries.

   — attributed to: Reddit user citing historical context

   • https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryHistory/comments/10cvtgy/training_of_fnla_soldiers_in_a_camp_in_zaire_in/
7. SINGLE-SOURCECONF 0.40

   A CIA PMOO (Paramilitary Operations Officer) was a mercenary supporting FNLA during the Angolan civil war, dying during an operation against the MPLA.

   — attributed to: Reddit user citing historical context, potentially from a JSOC archive

   • https://www.reddit.com/r/JSOCarchive/comments/uub1lw/cia_pmoo_george_washington_bacon_during_the/

TIMELINE

• 1960-06Zaire (Congo) gains independence; President Mobutu begins receiving secret CIA funds. [src]
• 1962CIA begins funding FNLA and Holden Roberto. [src]
• 1963-1964Alleged period when CIA support to FNLA with money and arms ended. [src]
• 1964-03CIA proposes non-military support to Roberto and other nationalist leaders, presented to the Special Group. [src]
• 1969Alleged cut-off of CIA aid to FNLA by the Nixon administration (claim under investigation).
• 1973FNLA soldiers observed training in Zaire; FNLA allegedly financed by US while receiving Eastern European weapons. [src]
• 1975-07CIA makes first major weapons shipment to FNLA. [src]

ENTITIES

• ORG CIA — Provided aid and funding, conducted covert operations
• ORG FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) — Recipient of US/CIA aid, militant organization
• PERSON Holden Roberto — Leader of FNLA
• ORG Nixon Administration — Allegedly cut off aid to FNLA in 1969
• PERSON Mobutu Sese Seko — President of Zaire, brother-in-law of Holden Roberto, received CIA funds
• PLACE Zaire — Base for FNLA training, recipient of CIA aid
• PLACE Angola — Location of independence struggle and civil war
• ORG Ford Administration — Escalated covert operations in Angola in 1975
• ORG MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) — Communist-backed faction, opponent of FNLA
• PERSON George Washington Bacon — CIA PMOO, mercenary supporting FNLA

OPEN QUESTIONS — PENDING LEADS

• Are there declassified Nixon administration directives or memoranda specifically addressing a cut-off or continuation of aid to the FNLA after 1969?
• Can the claims of continuous US financing for the FNLA in 1973, alongside Eastern European weapon supplies, be corroborated by official intelligence documents?
• What declassified records exist regarding CIA financial support to Zaire under President Mobutu from 1969-1974, and was any of it explicitly or implicitly earmarked for the FNLA?
• Are there any declassified CIA internal assessments or reports from 1969-1974 detailing the agency's engagement or disengagement with Angolan nationalist groups?
• What is the full context of the claim by the New York Review of Books article that CIA support ended around 1963 or 1964, and what additional information was in the letter mentioned?

EVIDENCE — CAPTURED SOURCES

1. [WEB] https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v24/d442 [archived]

   A CIA proposal [less than 1 line of source text not declassified] to provide non-military support to Roberto and other selected nationalist leaders, supported by AF, was presented to the Special Group in March 1964.

2. [WEB] https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1979/05/17/the-cia-in-angola/

   These statements, without the additional information contained in his letter (but not in the book) that "the CIA supported the FNLA with money and arms only until about 1963 or 1964," do suggest that the Agency was not active in Angola prior to Nixon's election in 1968.

3. [WEB] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Liberation_Front_of_Angola

   The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (Portuguese: Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola; abbreviated FNLA) is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence, under the leadership of Hol…

4. [WEB] https://williamblum.org/chapters/killing-hope/angola [archived]

   The CIA made its first major weapons shipment to the FNLA in July 1975. Thus, like the Russians and the Chinese, the United States was giving aid to one side of the Angolan civil war on a level far greater than it had ever provided during the struggle against Portuguese coloniali…

5. [WEB] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09592296.2024.2421720

   This article focuses upon the decision by President Ford in 1975 to begin a covert operation inside Angola so as to prevent a communist-backed government coming to power. By drawing on recently dec...

6. [WEB] https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v17/actionsstatement [archived]

   The Eisenhower administration began narrowing the CIA 's latitude in 1954. In accordance with a series of National Security Council directives, the responsibility of the Director of Central Intelligence for the conduct of covert operations was further clarified.

7. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1m6xfg/how_deeply_was_the_us_involved_in_pinochets_coupe/ [archived]

   The only thing I would add is that the Nixon administration selectively gave aid to the military, while using its influence and power to cut off economic supplies (no spare parts shuts down an economy) and assistance (preventing IMF and World Bank assistance) to the Pinochet regi…

8. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/54tixf/what_is_the_current_consensus_on_the_nixon/

   What is the current consensus on the Nixon administration's involvement in the Pinochet coup? The CIA back in August declassified (but did not fully unredact) '60s/'70s-era presidential briefings to Nixon, including 9/11/1973 and 9/12/1973 for Chile.

9. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/v6t0u7/why_is_it_that_the_cia_interfered_with_south/ [archived]

   These included investment in the public sector, the usage of military personnel and resources to aid areas struck by natural disasters, and the implementation of censorship and complete control over both education systems and the media, to ensure that any and all 'communist ideol…

10. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAnon/comments/uhj8z2/did_the_cia_oust_nixon/ [archived]

    Watergate was likely an intentionally botched cia breakin to frame Nixon. Effectively due to his ego Nixon tried to pull an American Bonapartist move with foreign policy to go down in history, and the existing power structure didn't care for it.

11. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/d2r0rv/til_in_1973_on_911_the_us_under_the_nixon/ [archived]

    TIL in 1973 on 9/11 the US, under the Nixon administration, sponsored a Chilean coup d'état by fascists who murdered Chilean president Allende and established a fascist military dictatorship under Pinochet

12. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/JSOCarchive/comments/uub1lw/cia_pmoo_george_washington_bacon_during_the/

    CIA PMOO George Washington Bacon during the secret war in Laos. Bacon was a medic in MACV-SOG and was a mercenary during the Angolan civil war supporting FNLA, ultimately dying during a demolition operation against the MPLA.

13. [WEB] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp88-01314r000100660020-1 [archived]

    The CIA had been funding the FNLA and Holden Roberto since 1962, according to five different Administration sources. To other govern- ment sources report that Roberto's brother-in-law, Presi- dent Mobutu of Zaire, started receiving secret CIA funds and other aid soon after Zaire …

14. [WEB] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_IA_Feature [archived]

    Mulcahy believed the Ford administration could use diplomacy to campaign against foreign aid to the Communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), refuse to take sides in factional fighting, or increase support for the FNLA and UNITA.

15. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/kdnomx/destiny_was_wrong_about_the_cia_in_chile/ [archived]

    A subsequent September 2000 report from the CIA, using declassified documents related to the military coup, found that the CIA "probably appeared to condone" the 1973 coup, but that there was "no evidence" that the US actually participated in it.

16. [REDDIT] https://www.reddit.com/r/MilitaryHistory/comments/10cvtgy/training_of_fnla_soldiers_in_a_camp_in_zaire_in/ [archived]

    Training of F.N.L.A. soldiers in a camp in Zaire in 1973. The armed branch of FNLA was mainly supported by Congo, Zaire, & Algeria. They were financed by the US and despite being themselves anti-communists received weapons from Eastern European countries.

CROSS-REFERENCE

• → SHARES-ACTOR CIA and State Department Aid to Holden Roberto and FNLA (1955-1976) — Both reference Mobutu Sese Seko, Mpla People S Movement For The Liberation Of Angola, Holden Roberto
• → SHARES-ACTOR CIA Covert Operations in the Angolan Civil War (1975-1990) — Both reference Fnla National Front For The Liberation Of Angola, Zaire, Holden Roberto
• → SHARES-ACTOR CIA Covert Operations in Angola, 1975: Operation IA Feature — Both reference Fnla National Front For The Liberation Of Angola, Zaire, Mpla
• ← SHARES-ACTOR US Direction of Israeli Support to FNLA in the Early 1960s — Both reference Fnla National Front For The Liberation Of Angola, Fnla