Colonial Wars, Colonial Alliances: The Alcora Exercise in the Context of Southern Africa

Abstract

Images of violence have marked the political landscape of southern Africa since the independence of Portuguese and British colonies. The recent discovery of secret documents attest to the alliance linking white supremacist governments in South Africa and Rhodesia with Portugal’s corporatist–fascist regime. This article focuses on the roots of so much of this violence: the formation of a little-known but crucial white alliance in the subcontinent, code-named ‘Exercise Alcora’, which aimed to perpetuate the minority regimes in the region. South Africa, Rhodesia and Portugal, with its two colonies of Mozambique and Angola, thus constituted a political project that sought to frustrate African liberation movements. A critical approach to the (re)construction of national memories is then crucial to understanding the roots of present-day social and political crises in southern Africa, as well as to recognising how important Exercise Alcora, as revealed in confidential documentation, was for the maintenance of white hegemony in this region until the very end of the 20th century. While South African–Rhodesian relations have been extensively dealt with in the literature, the relations between those countries and Portugal were more tenuous and shadowy.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the Foundation for Science and Technology, Portugal, for the grants that made possible this research: fcomp-01-0124-feder-009271; fcomp-01-0124-feder-019531; and fcomp-01-0124-feder-008664. We would like to express our gratitude to the insightful comments and suggestions of Aniceto Afonso, Amélia Souto, Catarina Gomes, Iolanda Vasile and Natércia Coimbra. We are also grateful to the personnel of the archives consulted.

Notes

¹ ‘Alcora’ is an acronym for the Aliança Contra as Rebeliões em Africa, frequently referred to in documents as Operation Alcora or the Alcora Alliance. In this article, it is also referred to as Exercise Alcora, or simply Alcora. For recent discussions of Alcora, see F.R. Meneses and R. McNamara, ‘The Last Throw of the Dice: Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa, 1970–74’, Portuguese Studies, 28, 2 (2012), pp. 201–15; F.R. Meneses and R. McNamara, ‘The Origins of Exercise ALCORA, 1960–71’, International History Review, 35, 5 (2013), pp. 1113–34.

² Mozambican politician. Joining Frelimo in 1963, he became prime minister of the transitional government of Mozambique in 1974. After independence, he became minister of foreign affairs and, after the death of Samora Machel in 1986, President of Mozambique until 2005.

³ J. Chissano, ‘Há Gente Com Tendência Para Desprezar e Deturpar a História’, Rádio Moçambique, 10 October 2010, available at http://macua.blogs.com/moambique_para_todos/2010/10/joaquim-chissano-h%C3%A1-gente-com-tend%C3%AAncia-para-desprezar-e-deturpar-a-hist%C3%B3ria.html, retrieved 4 February 2014 (our translation from Portuguese).

⁴ See V. Shubin, The Hot Cold War: The USSR in Southern Africa (London, Pluto Press, 2008). Ritchie Ovendale, The English-Speaking Alliance: Britain, the United States, the Dominions, and the Cold War, 1945–1951 (London, Allen & Unwin, 1985).

⁵ For further insights into the Congo and relations between Katanga and the Central African Federation, see M. Hughes, ‘Fighting for White Rule in Africa: The Central African Federation, Katanga and the Congo Crisis, 1958–1965’, International History Review, 25, 3 (2003), pp. 592–615; IAN/TT, ‘Ligações aos serviços secretos da Federação das Rodésias, Niassalândia e África do Sul’ (n.d.), Arquivo da PIDE, Serviços Centrais, Pasta 1, Processo 6341/A-CI(2).

⁶ See Hughes, ‘Fighting for White Rule in Africa, pp. 597–8. L.J. Butler, ‘Britain, the United States and the Demise of the Central African Federation, 1959–63’, Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 28, 3 (2000), pp.131–51.

⁷ See Hughes, ‘Fighting for White Rule in Africa’, p. 613. Further information confirmed these linkages, including the execution of several clandestine missions by Portuguese infiltrated agents, in Tanzania, up to the early 1970s. See Portuguese Historical-Diplomatic Archives – Arquivo Histórico-Diplomático (hereafter AHD), ‘Relatório das Noticias Recolhidas de uma fonte de informação, por um dos adjuntos do SCCI, em Salisbury, de 21 a 24 de Setembro de 1964 – Secret’, file 8774; ‘Letter from Mozambique Governor to the Oversea Minister in Lisbon – Secret’, 19 February 1963, file 8776; Arquivo da Defesa Nacional – National Defense Archives (hereafter SGDN), ‘Pedido de informações – secreto’ – cx. 4249.4, vol. 1(c), 1 May 1965. The archival data was substantiated by information provided by a former Alcora operative, interviewed by the authors, Lisbon, June 2014.

⁸ D. Lowry, ‘The Impact of Anti-Communism on White Rhodesian Political Culture, c.1920s–1980’, in S. Onslow (ed.), Cold War in Southern Africa: White Power, Black Liberation (London, Routledge, 2009).

⁹ See L.F.M. Barroso, ‘The Independence of Rhodesia in Salazar’s Strategy for Southern Africa’, African Historical Review, 46, 2 (2014), pp. 1–24.

¹⁰ See J. Daniel, ‘Racism, the Cold War and South Africa’s Regional Security Strategies, 1948–1990’, in Onslow (ed.), Cold War in Southern Africa, pp .35–54; A.N. de Souto, ‘Relações entre Portugal, África do Sul e Rodésia do Sul e o Exercício Alcora: Elementos Fundamentais na Estratégia de Condução da Guerra – 1960–1974’, in M.P. Meneses and B.S. Martins (eds), As Guerras de Libertação e os Sonhos Coloniais: Alianças Secretas, Mapas Imaginados (Coimbra, Almedina, 2013), pp. 143–69; and A.N. de Souto, Caetano e o Ocaso do ‘Império’: Administração e Guerra Colonial em Moçambique durante o Marcelismo (1968–1974) (Porto, Afrontamento, 2007). For contemporary insights regarding the collaboration between Portugal, South Africa and Rhodesia, see R. Ainslie, The Unholy Alliance: Salazar–Verwoerd–Welensky (London, Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1962).

¹¹ See AHD, ‘União da África do Sul. Departamento de Negócios Externos. Aide Mémoire. Cape Town’, 21 March 1955, pp. 1–2 (our translation from Portuguese).

¹² AHD, ‘Telegrama para Consulado de Portugal em Salisbury, de 1 de Julho de 1955, nº geral 1873, nº A-1, do Director-Geral dos Negócios Políticos do MNE’, FNE–PAA, 368, 1 July 1955.

¹³ Founded at the beginning of the 20th century, Gulf Oil was one of the biggest North American oil companies until the 1980s.

¹⁴ Jointly owned by the Belgian group Petrofina S.A. and the local Portuguese colonial government.

¹⁵ Cahora Bassa, as an energy and defence project, was conceived to benefit not only Mozambique but also extensively South Africa; the Cunene valley project would serve Angola, but also the South African-controlled South-West Africa (present-day Namibia).

¹⁶ Initially, with the União dos Povos de Angola (UPA – Union of Angolan Peoples) in northern Angola in 1961, and Frelimo in Mozambique in 1964.

¹⁷ S. Onslow, ‘The Cold War in Southern Africa: White Power, Black Nationalism and External Intervention’, in Onslow (ed.), Cold War in Southern Africa, pp.9–34; G. Evans, ‘The Cold War and South Africa, 1948–1994’, in A. Dobson (ed.), Deconstructing and Reconstructing the Cold War (London, Ashgate, 1999).

¹⁸ António de Oliveira Salazar served as the head of Portugal’s government 1932–1968, a period known as the ‘Estado Novo’, a dictatorship dominated by a right-wing corporatist policy.

¹⁹ For insights of a senior CIO officer, see K. Flower, Serving Secretly: An Intelligence Chief on Record Rhodesia into Zimbabwe, 1964 to 1981 (London, John Murray, 1987).

²⁰ AHD, ‘Telegramas da Embaixada de Portugal em Pretória’, nº geral 4278, nº 210, FNE-PAA 368, 19 August, 1960; nº geral 4292, nº 211, FNE-PAA 368, 20 August, 1960; nº geral 4298, nº 215, FNE-PAA 368’, 21 August 1960 (our translation).

²¹ See Diário de Notícias, Lisbon, 25 February 1961.

²² See Diário de Notícias, 1 January 1962.

²³ AHD, ‘Telegramas s/n do Governador-geral de Angola de 22 de Maio de 1963. Secreto’, PAA, 368, 22 May 1963.

²⁴ Hendrik Verwoerd was South Africa’s prime minister from 1958 until he was assassinated in 1966.

²⁵ See F. Nogueira, Um Político Confessa-se (Diário: 1960–1968) (Porto, Civilização, 2000), pp. 141–2.

²⁶ For an analysis of the relationship between Portugal and Zambia during this period, see L. Barroso, ‘“A Trick with Rebounds”: Portugal, Zambia and the Rhodesian crisis (1967–1968)’, Portuguese Journal of Social Science, 12, 2 (2013), pp. 195–209.

²⁷ For further discussion, see A. Afonso and C.M. Gomes, Os Anos da Guerra Colonial: 1961–1975 (Matosinhos, Quidnovi, 2010).

²⁸ Marcello Caetano became the last president of the Estado Novo, serving from 1968 until 1974, when the government was overthrown by the coup d’état of 25 April.

²⁹ With the colonies functioning as a market for Portuguese goods and a source of raw material for Portuguese industries.

³⁰ This idea was circulated before he replaced Salazar as head of the Portuguese government. After the Portuguese coup d’état, Marcello Caetano went into exile in Brazil, where he wrote about his political options and gave several interviews stating that his position was towards the progressive autonomy of the colonies. See M. Caetano, O 25 de Abril e o Ultramar: Três Entrevistas e Alguns Documentos (Lisboa and São Paulo, Editorial Verbo, n.d.), p. 25.

³¹ Political designation given by Portugal to its African colonies in order to make them fall outside the scope of UN resolutions and sanctions regarding colonies.

³² For further discussion, see Souto, Caetano e o Ocaso do Império.

³³ AHD, ‘Muito Secreto. Urgente. Assunto: Estudo de dispositivo para a defesa da África Austral’, FSJB, SGDN, nº 513/RB, proc. 5975, Cx. 5696.21, to Director-General of Political Affairs of the Portuguese Foreign Office, 1 March, 1969 (our translation).

³⁴ See M. Caetano, Somos Todos Portugueses Iguais à Face da Pátria e Iguais à Face da Lei (Lisboa, Secretaria de Estado da Informação e Turismo, 1969).

³⁵ For further discussion of this point, see I. Mandaza, ‘Southern Africa: US Policy and the Struggle for National Independence’, African Journal of Political Economy, 1 (1986), pp. 120–41; Anna-Mart van Wyk, ‘The USA and Apartheid South Africa’s Nuclear Aspirations, 1948–1990’, in Onslow (ed.), Cold War in Southern Africa, pp. 55–83; G. Horne, The US and the War Against Zimbabwe, 1968–80 (Harare, Sapes Books, 2001).

³⁶ G. Kennan, ‘Review of Current Trends: U.S. Foreign Policy (PPS/23)’, in United States Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1948. General. The United Nations. Volume I, Part 2 (Washington, US Government Printing Office, 1948), pp. 510–29, available at http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/FRUS/FRUS-idx?type=goto&id=FRUS.FRUS1948v01p2&isize=M&submit=Go+to+page&page=524, retrieved 27 August 2013.

³⁷ For a discussion of how several US administrations have dealt with Portugal and the colonial question, see W.W. Schneidman, Engaging Africa: Washington and the Fall of Portugal’s Colonial Empire (Lanham and Oxford, University Press of America, 2004); R.M. Irwin, ‘Imagining Nation, State and Order in the Mid-Twentieth Century’, Kronos, 37 (2011), pp. 12–22.

³⁸ See M.P. Meneses, ‘O Olho do Furacão? A África Austral no Contexto da Guerra Fria (Década de 70)’, in Meneses and Martins (eds), As Guerras de Libertação, pp. 41–58. For a confrontation of Cuban and North American politics in Africa, see P. Gleijeses, Conflicting Missions: Havana, Washington, and Africa, 1959–1976 (Chapel Hill and London, University of North Carolina Press, 2002).

³⁹ See Mandaza, ‘Southern Africa: US Policy’, p. 126.

⁴⁰ Then US National Security Advisor, under President Nixon.

⁴¹ See M.A. El-Khawas and B. Cohen, National Security Study Memorandum 39: The Kissinger Study of Southern Africa (Westport, Lawrence Hill, 1976), p. 105; Meneses, ‘O Olho do Furacão?’, p. 51.

⁴² See Afonso and Gomes, Os Anos da Guerra Colonial; N. Guardiola, ‘A Aliança Secreta do Apartheid, Rodésia e Portugal’, África 21, 30 (2009), pp. 17–25.

⁴³ See Historical Military Archive – Arquivo Histórico Militar (hereafter AHM), ‘Plan for the Defence of Southern Africa’, Fundo 7, B, Série 44, Cx. 370, Nr. 1, p. 3, March 1970.

⁴⁴ For an analysis of documents concerning US policies towards South Africa from the beginning of the 1960s, see K. Mokoena (ed.), South Africa and the United States: The Declassified History (New York, The New Press, 1993).

⁴⁵ M.P. Meneses and B.S. Martins, ‘Introdução: O Exercício Alcora no Jogo das Alianças Secretas’, in Meneses and Martins (eds), As Guerras de Libertação, pp. 16–17.

⁴⁶ See N.M. Shamuyarira, ‘The Lusaka Manifesto Strategy of OAU States and its Consequences for the Freedom Struggle in Southern Africa’, Utafiti, 2, 2 (1977), pp. 247–66, available at http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/Utafiti/vol2no2/aejp002002006.pdf, retrieved 20 August 2013.

⁴⁷ See Souto, Caetano e o Ocaso do ‘Império’.

⁴⁸ For a broader discussion of the Cold War in southern Africa, see R. Warwick, ‘White South Africa and Defence, 1960–1968: Militarisation, Threat Perception and Counter Strategies’, (DPhil thesis, University of Cape Town, 2009); V. Shubin, ‘Unsung Heroes: The Soviet Military and the Liberation of Southern Africa’, in Onslow (ed.), Cold War in Southern Africa, pp. 154–76; Shubin, The Hot Cold War.

⁴⁹ See AHM, ‘Plan for the Defence of Southern Africa’, Fundo 7, B, Série 44, Cx. 370, Nr. 1, March 1970.

⁵⁰ Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo–Arquivo Oliveira Salazar (hereafter ANTT–AOS), ‘Ensaio Sobre os Pontos Referidos no Discurso do Presidente do Conselho na Assembleia Nacional’, Fundo AOS, CO, NE-30B, April 1962 (our translation).

⁵¹ Also in Guinea-Bissau, but this front falls beyond the scope of this article.

⁵² For an analysis of the position of Portugal towards the Rhodesian oil embargo, see C.R.W. Dietrich, ‘“A Climate of Collaboration”: The Rhodesian Oil Embargo and Portuguese Diplomacy in Southern Africa, 1965–1967’, Itinerario, 35, 1 (2011), pp. 97–120;  C.R.W. Dietrich, ‘“The Sustenance of Salisbury” in the Era of Decolonization: The Portuguese Politics of Neutrality and the Rhodesian Oil Embargo, 1965–7’, International History Review, 35, 2 (2013), pp. 235–55.

⁵³ For a Rhodesian overview of the liberation war (also known as the ‘Second Chimurenga’, revolutionary war – 1966–1979), see P.J.H. Petter-Bowyer, Winds of Destruction: The Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot (Pinetown, 30° South, 2005); J.R.T. Wood, So Far and No Further!: Rhodesia´s Bid for Independence During the Retreat from Empire 1959–1965 (Bloomington, Trafford Publishing, 2012).

⁵⁴ See I. Smith, The Great Betrayal: The Memoirs of Ian Douglas Smith (London, Blake Publishing, 1997), p. 159.

⁵⁵ See J.P. Moiane, Memórias de um Guerrilheiro (Maputo, King Ngungunhane Institute, 2009).

⁵⁶ See Afonso and Gomes, Os Anos da Guerra Colonial, p. 626.

⁵⁷ AHM, ‘Relações com a Rodésia: Patrulhamento a sul do r. Zambeze, na área a sul do Zumbo’, Fundo 63, Série 31, Cx. 980, 23 February 1970 (our translation).

⁵⁸ For an overview of the South African context, see D. Geldenhuys, The Diplomacy of Isolation: South African Foreign Policy Making (Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1984).

⁵⁹ R. Davies, ‘The SADF’s Covert War Against Mozambique’, in J. Cock and L. Nathan (eds), War and Society: The Militarization of South Africa (Cape Town, David Philip, 1989), p. 107.

⁶⁰ Precisely where South Africa was supporting Portuguese war efforts.

⁶¹ AHD, ‘Plano de Defesa da África Austral (exposição portuguesa). Muito Secreto’, FSJB, SGDN, Cx. 5568.2, March 1979.

⁶² Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola – People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola

⁶³ South West Africa People’s Organisation.

⁶⁴ Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde – African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde.

⁶⁵ AHM, ‘Plan for the Defence of Southern Africa’, Fundo 7, B, Série 44, Cx. 370, Nr. 1, p. 2, March 1970. See also C. Gurney, ‘The 1970s: The Anti-Apartheid Movement’s Difficult Decade’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 35, 2 (2009), pp. 471–87.

⁶⁶ Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Mozambique.

⁶⁷ See J.P. Cann, Counterinsurgency in Africa: The Portuguese Way of War, 1961–1974 (London, Greenwood Press, 1997).

⁶⁸ In 1970, South Africa realised that nationalist movements were becoming stronger and better organised, jointly co-ordinating actions under the auspices of the OAU, with Russian inspiration, and alerted its allies in the region (Portugal and Rhodesia). See AHM, ‘Plano de Defesa para a África Austral’, Fundo 7, B, Série 44, Cx. 370, Nr. 1, March 1970.

⁶⁹ IAN/TT, ‘Comando das Operações Especiais’, Arquivo da PIDE, Serviços Centrais, Processo 7477-CI (2).

⁷⁰ D.C. Mateus, A PIDE/DGS na Guerra Colonial, 1961–1974 (Lisboa, Terramar, 2004), p. 358.

⁷¹ AHM, ‘Muito Secreto. Assunto: Plano de Defesa para a África Austral. Inventário dos recursos estratégicos empenháveis na África Austral (considerando várias situações)’, SGDN, 1ª Rep, Ref. Directiva SADN, FSJB, SGDN, Cx. 6179.1 (1º vol.), 4 June 1970; AHM, ‘Muito Secreto. Assunto: Plano de Defesa para a África Austral. Inventário dos recursos militares empenháveis na África Austral (considerando várias situações)’, SGDN, 1ª Rep, Ref. Directiva SADN, FSJB, SGDN, Cx. 6179.1 (1º vol.), 4 June 1970.

⁷² See Afonso and Gomes, Os Anos da Guerra Colonial; A. Afonso and C.M. Gomes, Alcora, O Acordo Secreto do Colonialismo: Portugal, África do Sul e Rodésia na Última Fase da Guerra Colonial (Lisboa, Divina Comédia Editores, 2013); A. Afonso, ‘Exercício Alcora: Um projeto para a África Austral’, in Meneses and Martins (eds), As Guerras de Libertação, pp. 109–22.

⁷³ H. Ellert, The Rhodesian Front War: Counter-Insurgency and Guerrilla War in Rhodesia, 1962–1980 (Harare, Mambo Press, 1989), p. 5.

⁷⁴ For an overview of the history of the South African political project, see M. Meredith, Diamonds, Gold and War: The Making of South Africa (New York, Pocket Books, 2008).

⁷⁵ Afonso and Gomes, Os Anos da Guerra Colonial, p. 742 (our translation).

⁷⁶ Ibid., p. 781.

⁷⁷ For further discussions of the South Africa’s diplomatic and strategic options after the Portuguese revolution, see F.R. Meneses and R. McNamara, ‘South Africa and the Aftermath of Portugal’s “‘Exemplary” Decolonization: The Security Dimension’, Portuguese Studies, 29, 2 (2013), pp. 227–50; J. Miller, ‘Things Fall Apart: South Africa and the Collapse of the Portuguese Empire, 1973–74’, Cold War History, 12, 2 (2012), pp. 183–204.

⁷⁸ See B.L. Machava, ‘The State Discourse on Internal Security and the Politics of Punishment in Post-Independence Mozambique (1975–1983)’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 37, 3 (2011), pp. 597–8.

⁷⁹ Ellert, The Rhodesian Front War, p. 13.

⁸⁰ Ibid., p. 11.

⁸¹ See D. O’Meara, Forty Lost Years: The Apartheid State and the Politics of the National Party (Johannesburg, Ravan Press, 1996), p. 222; Machava, ‘The State Discourse on Internal Security’, p. 598. For further readings, see D. Wheeler and R. Pélissier, História de Angola (Lisboa, Tinta da China, 2011); H. Helmoed-Romer, War in Angola: The Final South African Phase (Rivonia, Ashanti Publishing, 1990).

⁸² Mozambican National Resistance. See S.W. Cline, RENAMO, Anti-Communist Insurgents in Mozambique: The Fight Goes On (Washington, US Global Strategy Council, 1989); S. Malley, ‘La Mort de Samora Machel: Pourquoi Ce Crime de Pretoria?’, Afrique-Asie, 386 (1986), pp. 6–11.

⁸³ The front line states (FLS) established an alliance to achieve democratic majority rule in southern Africa. Its members included Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe (from 1980). This alliance came to an end with the establishment of a majority democratic regime in South Africa.

⁸⁴ In the case of Mozambique, since the 19th century. See Covane, As Relações Económicas entre Moçambique e a África do Sul 1850–1964 (Maputo, Arquivo Histórico de Moçambique, 1989).

⁸⁵ For the subject of southern Africa and the Cold War, see Onslow, Cold War in Southern Africa, and Shubin, The Hot Cold War.

⁸⁶ For further discussions, see S. Onslow and A-M. van Wyk, Southern Africa in the Cold War, Post-1974 (Washington, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 2013), available at https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/CWIHP_SouthAfrica_Final_Web.pdf, retrieved 4 December 2013.

⁸⁷ For Katanga mercenaries taking refuge in Angola, see Hughes, ‘Fighting for White Rule in Africa’, p. 612.

⁸⁸ J.P.B. Coelho, ‘Da Violência Colonial Ordenada à Ordem Pós-Colonial Violenta: Sobre um Legado das Guerras Coloniais nas Ex-Colónias Portuguesas’, Lusotopie (2003), pp. 175–93, available at http://lusotopie.sciencespobordeaux.fr/borges2003.pdf, retrieved 20 August 2013.

⁸⁹ J.P.B. Coelho, ‘African Troops in the Portuguese Colonial Army, 1961–1974: Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique’, Portuguese Studies Review, 10, 1 (2002), p. 147, available at http://www.ces.uc.pt/estilhacos_do_imperio/comprometidos/media/African%20Troops%20in%20the%20Portuguese%20Colonial%20Army.pdf, retrieved 24 January 2017.

⁹⁰ Ibid., p. 150.

⁹¹ National Union for the Total Independence of Angola.

⁹² See Coelho, ‘Da Violência Colonial’, p. 176.