CUBAN INVOLVEMENT IN ANGOLA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: Library of Congress
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): LOC-HAK-102-5-3-9
• Release Decision: RIPLIM
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: January 11, 2017
• Document Release Date: February 26, 2013
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: October 22, 1975
• Content Type: REPORT

No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/02/26: LOC-HAK-1_02-5-3.9 .2KING.
~,. COP'i it jr f ,.:.a ~,..
WOUP PAPER #75
2 2 OCT 1975
REPORT: WORKING GROUP ON ANGOLA
SUBJECT: Cuban Involvement in Angola
1. Based on current available intelligence information,
it is estimated that there are between-1,200 and'1,900 Cuban
military personnel in Angola. The majority of these Cubans
have been introduced in late September and early October 1975--
greatly augmenting Cuban long-standing involvement. The
public rationale for this significantly increased intervention
was provided by the Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations in
a speech at the U.N. on 8 October 1975--quoted in part in
paragraph.6 below.
2. Cuban assistance tothe.MPLA has stretched over the
past ten years. Begun in part as support for an "anti-colo-
nial struggle," it has been intensified since the Portuguese
announced their-intention to leave Angola. Over this period,
several hundred MPLA cadre are estimated to have been trained
by the Cubans, mainly in the rear MPLA bases in the Congo,
but more recently in MPLA bases in Angola itself. Cuban
technical advisors, probably numbering several dozen, have
been assisting the MPLA both in the Congo and more recently
in Angola. Some Cubans are reportedly working with Soviet
advisors at the Massangano MPLA training base in Angola.
3. Two Cuban ships were reported to have called at
Porto Amboim (south of Luanda) during the first week in
October 1975: The "Isla Coral" and the' "Viet Nam Heroica.11
One is a combined passenger/freighter, equipped to carry
240 passengers, and the other is a freighter. It is reli-
ably reported that as many as 700 Cubans arrived on these
ships, claiming to be volunteers.for service with the MPLA.
We have confirmed that these ships were in African waters
at the time.
4. At about the same time, Cuban troops and equipment
were reported arriving in Pointe Noire, Congo. According to
these reports, three Cuban ships arrived there between
25 September and mid-October 1975 and offloaded equipment
which included tanks, armored vehicles, military trucks and
WARNING UOTICE
SEf StTIVE I T'ELLJGEfCE SOURCES
AP;D METHODS INVOLVED
: L SStFIO BY I I.. _
EX is':' FRO:,' C_T7.0:..\L D1sCL..45SiFICATM.4
SCRIEDULE OF F. CI4MM110i 4; wSJ 'fz ;
(;) or (5) (r rc:a nbr a zwre)
Aur 'r.l::dl,~.Y ~1ECUSSift"?i! U.Y
I TSi E date impossible to determine
f.A`Af N111. (aaleaa imp-JA ibis, 1111e;t dhata ar eraafl
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/02/26: LOC-HAK-102-5-3-9
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/02/26: LOC-HAK-102-5-3-9
several cases of unidentified. materiel. Most of the equip-
.meat delivered by these ships is already enroute to Angola,
"being transported in MPLA-owned ships.- In addition, the
Cuban ships were reported to have carried at least 900 Cuban
troops, about half of whom subsequently departed for Angola
proper while the remainder were sent to the Cabinda border
area.
S. The Cubans have provided professional leadership
to the MPLA in fighting against UNITA at Norton De Matos,
in South Central Angola, where at least one Cuban military
advisor was reportedly killed in early October 1975.
6. Ricardo Alarcon DeQuesada, Cuban Ambassador to the
U.N., recently provided the basis and explanation for a much
more active intervention, not only on the part of.Cuba, but
also of other Communist nations. He said on 8 October 1975
in his speech to the UNGA:
a. "In Angola the'conspiracy of imperialism, its
allies and lackeys, has found concrete expression in
the brazen interference. designed to frustrate true
decolonization while threatening its territorial integ
.rity; snatching away from the people's liberation move--
ment of Angola* the fruits of its dauntless struggle
.against colonialism, while condemning the future state
to control by.transnational corporations. Cuba renews
the expression of its full solidarity with the people's
liberation movement in Angola---yesterday heroic in its
struggle against the European colonizer; today firm in
its defence of true independence.
b. "In the face of the scandalous interference of
imperialists, colonialists and racists (in Angola), it
is an elementary duty (for Cuba) to offer its (the
Angolan) people the effective assistance that may be
required for that country to ensure its true independ-
ence and full sovereignty. In order to spur the de-
colonization process, a coherent strategy must be
implemented with the participation of all progressive
.forces. This strategy is essential in order to face
up to colonialist and.racist machinations against the
peoples of Namibia and Zimbabwe and must oppose colo-
nialism in all its forms and manifestations in every
corner of the earth."
~ECN[T~SfNSm~dc.
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/02/26: LOC-HAK-102-5-3-9
 No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/02/26: LOC-HAK-102-5-3-9
EY ES WILY ?
*This is taken from the Provisional Verbatim Record of the
was set. We believe the Cubans may have caught their error
for this title, which in all probability. should have been
"Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola," that is the
13th Session of the UNGA. A later time limit tor corrections
MPLA.
3
S iC E jt h lTI E
9VIrl" l'_.l
No Objection to Declassification in Part 2013/02/26: LOC-HAK-102-5-3-9