Republic of Cabinda

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Unofficial flag of Cabinda

Coat of Arms of the Republic of Cabinda

The Republic of Cabinda is the non-recognized entity that claims legal authority over Cabinda province of Angola. It is a member of the UNPO.

[edit] History

The Republic of Cabinda traces its claims to self-sovereignty to its initial status as a Portuguese protectorate, known as the Portuguese Congo. This protectorate had a separate history and legal status from that of the much larger Portuguese West Africa, dating to its inception on 19 September 1883 and confirmed by the Treaty of Simulambuco and the Berlin Conference in 1885. Its closest political predecessor was the iron age N'goyo kingdom, which sought voluntarily incorporation into the Portuguese Empire as a way of obtaining protection from hostile neighboring states.

From inception onwards, Cabinda experienced many changes of status within the Portuguese framework, oscillating between positions of relative autonomy and "integration" within the greater Colony (or "Province") of Angola; though as late as 1933, at the same time as the 1933 Constitution defining the Estado Novo, Cabinda and Angola were considered distinct and separate parts of the Portuguese Empire.

During the movement for Angolan independence in the 1960s, the situation became more complex; at one time - May 1963 - the OAU ranked Cabinda as the 39th state still to be decolonized, and Angola as the 35th, and one of the groups pushing for independence, the FLEC, established a Cabindan government in exile in Kinshasa, declaring full independence on August 1, 1975 - this was not recognized by Portugal or other factions.

MPLA troops entered Cabinda via Pointe Noire in 11 November 1975, and annexed Cabinda into Angola proper; the current Angolan government refers to it as Cabinda Province. The Treaty of Alvor, which set the terms of Angola's independence from Portugal, states that "Angola constitutes one indivisible unity. In this context, Cabinda is an integral and inalienable part of Angola." However, though signed by the three other main factions fighting for independence (MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA), the Treaty of Alvor was not signed by representatives from the Cabinda exclave, nor by the FLEC.