C20 Developments in Africa and the Americas

Question 1

Political groups in Angola

Answer 1

1) Marxist Movimento Popular de Libertacao de Angola or MPLA
2) Maoist Uniao Nacional Para a Independencia Total de Angola or UNITA
3) pro- US: Frente Nacional de Libertacao de Angola or FNLA

Question 2

Who were the MPLA and what support did they receive

Answer 2

• A Marxist party
• Before the Civil war they received arms and aid from the USSR and Military advisors from China
• During the civil war received 36,000 troops and economics assistance from the USSR

Question 3

Who were the FNLA and what support did they receive

Answer 3

• A Nationalist party and later a pro-USA
• Before the Civil war recieved 300,000 from the CIA and military advisors from China
• During Civil war received Aid from China which soon stopped, 25 million in supplies and 16 million in arms from the USA, aid from Zaire and support from South Africa

Question 4

Initial Foreign Intervention in Angola Pre-Civil War

Answer 4

• June 1974 China sent 120 military advisers to aid the FNLA
• USA provided $300,000 in covert funding to FNLA in January 1975
• MPLA receiving boths arms and aid from Soviet Union
• Cuba sent military instructors to support MPLA

Question 5

What caused the Angolan Civil War

Answer 5

• Been at war with the Portuguese since the early 1960s and when right Wing government overthrown in April 1974 leftists promised Independence
• All three nationalist groups wanted independence but once Portuguese withdrew in the spring of 1975 civil war broke out

Question 6

Foreign Investment During Angolan Civil War

Answer 6

• July 1975 US sent $25 million in supplies and $16 million in arms
• Zaire (neighboring state) sent aid to prevent Marxist from taking over
• South Africa concerned if MPLA took over The African National Congress would have a base from which it could attack the apartheid system

Question 7

What happened during the Angolan Civil War

Answer 7

• October 1975 FNLA supported by South Africa marched towards capital of Luanda
• November Cuban forces had won against the South Africans
• By late January 12,000 Cuban troops supporting the MPLA
• MPLA reached victory in March 1976
• Creation of PRA People’s Republic of Angola

Question 8

What Happened Post Civil War

Answer 8

• Relations between Soviets and Cuba developed well in October Soviet Union ratified a twenty year Treaty of Friendship
• President was Agostinho Neto
• Cuba began removing its troops in early 1977
• promised military aid should PRA face external threats
• Cubans were used to support Neto’s suppression of an attempted coup by Nito Alves
• Cuba’s relations continued to increase with PRA in 1988 having 52,000 troops in the country

Question 9

USA’s position of the Angolan Civil War

Answer 9

• By summer 1975 US realised FNLA wans’t going to win
• They chose the option of letting events take their course because of the costly involvement and to not get full control by looking at what was happening in Vietnam
• November 1975 Angola perceived as a non threat
• Also stopped because South Africa was supporting so they would be aligning with SA which had an ongoing apartheid

Question 10

Sino-Soviet Position of the Angolan Civil War

Answer 10

• SIno-Soviet split 1961 Soviet priority was to ensure China didn’t gain at the expense of the USSR
• USSR interpreted US and China support to FNLA part of Sino-US Relations
• 1975 Kissinger acknowledged that China and USA had parallel views on Angola

Question 11

What Caused war in Ethiopia

Answer 11

• Post-WW2 Britain awarded the traditionally Somali territory of Ogaden to Ethiopia
• Somalia feeling strong to retake lands invaded Ogaden July 1977

Question 12

What happened during Somali-Ethiopia War

Answer 12

• 1974 Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie had been overthrown by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam who established Marxist-Leninist Regime
• Appealed to USSR and Cuba to stop supporting Somalia and they withdrew support for Somalia
• November 1977 Catro sent troops to Ethiopia
• By February 1978 approximately 15,000 troops in Ethiopia

Question 13

What was USA aims in Chile

Answer 13

• To protect American businesses as had significant interest in Chile’s copper and silver mines and a US company dominated Chile’s telecommunications system
• To stop Salvador Allende from becoming the president of Chile as he topped the polls September 1970

Question 14

How did the US try to prevent Allende from taking power in Chile

Answer 14

• To US Allende was another Castro
• CIA tasked with managing covert action that lead to a coup to prevent Allende from taking power
• The 40 Committee was excluded from the plan
• The coup failed and Allende was elected president of Chile

Question 15

What is The 40 Committee

Answer 15

• Group set up in 1970 by Richard Nixon’s administration
• Overall purpose was to initiate and plan covert operations that were deemed in USA’s national interest
• Continued to exist until 1976

Question 16

What Happened Once Allende Took Power in Chile

Answer 16

• A nationalization programme began which bought the banking system and copper industry under state control
• The USA had influenced World Bank not to lend Chile Money and withdrew any economic aid of its own
• US pressures had an impact Inflation spiraled, industry declined, farming stagnated and unemployment rose
• This paved a way for General Augusto Pinochet to plot a military coup which came to fruition in 1973

Question 17

What happened in Grenada and US Response

Answer 17

• October 1983 Reagan feared Grenada would become first communist base in the Caribbean
• A military coup led by pro-leftist faction and US assembled a force of 7000
• There was no evidence of communist intent to establish pro-Soviet or pro-Cuban regime
• It was just to protect US medical students studying in Grenada

Question 18

What was the International response to Grenada

Answer 18

• USSR viewed the invasion as US imperialism and ordered negotiators out of the Geneva arm Control talks
• Margret Thatcher resented the USA’s failure to consult the action against a former British colony

Question 19

The Coard Faction

Answer 19

The New Jewel movement led a successful leftist revolution in 1979 that banned all other political parties and accepted assistance from USSR and Cuba
- Dispute developed between high ranking members of NJM in October 1983 and Bernard Coard seized power
- Three days after this he was overthrown by general Hudson Austin

Question 20

What happened in Nicaragua

Answer 20

• June 1979 the Sandinista National Liberation Front FSLN led by Daniel Saaverda seized power from General Anastasio Somoza
• Reagan regarded the Sandinista’s as Communists and compared to Cuba

Question 21

US Response in Nicaragua

Answer 21

March 1981 USA found an anti-communist group to support when the Contras were founded by the old business classes and former Somoza National Guard and US began to provide funds, equipment and training to contras
- Neighboring Honduras provided a safe haven for them
- March 1982 in response to a major Contra attack the Sandinistas imposed press censorship on civil liberties and introduced universal military conscription

Question 22

What Questionable Activities did the Reagan administration Carry out in Nicaragua

Answer 22

• To evade the congressional restriction on aid to the contras, the CIA tried to persuade US allies (Israel and Taiwan) to provide funding
• High level American officals helped to broker arms sales to Iran despuite a US embargo on weapon sales to Iran and profits being used to fund the Contras
• CIA mined Nicaraguan harbors when ordered to pay reparations by International Court of Justice the USA refused