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Frente para a Libertacao do Enclave de Cabinda (FLEC)

by stuart notholt - 1996-01-10

See also: Angola for other Angolan movements

To the north of Angola proper is the enclave of Cabinda, which is rich in oil and therefore has considerable significance both to the Angolan government and the western oil companies who exploit it.
In 1963 a movement called the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) was formed to press for independence for this territory.
FLEC was largely inert during the war against the Portuguese and languished afterwards, although UNITA staged some attacks against oil installations.
FLEC was reformed in 1984 and began operations against the MPLA regime.
It is currently (January 1996) in negotiation with the government. FLEC has had its own factional problems and there is (or was) also an organization calling itself 'UNALEC' (presumably, the National Union for the Liberation of the Enclave in Cabinda). Whether this was a split from FLEC, a UNITA front, or merely another name for FLEC, is not clear.
Another organization is the Cabinda Democratic Front.
A flag for FLEC has been reported by our old friend _Flags of Aspirant Peoples_. It is shown as being a light blue over yellow over red tricolour. In the centre is a brown circle, containing a green triangle on which there is a white star.
I have little information regarding the accuracy or symbolism of this flag, although I have seen the triangle/circle device, in black and white, on FLEC literature, so I believe this part at least to be accurate.
stuart notholt - 1996-01-10