ANGOLA: A Turn in the Tide

• Share

Massive Russian aid is turning the tide in Angola's murky three-way civil war, apparently in favor of the Luanda government of the Soviet-backed M.P.L.A. Last week barrages of Cuban-fired 107-mm. and 122-mm. Soviet rockets turned away the Zaïre-based F.N.L.A. forces ten miles north of Luanda, thereby putting the M.P.L.A. capital safely out of range of Chinese 130-mm. artillery manned by white Portuguese Angolans fighting with the F.N.L.A. The M.P.L.A. also recaptured the important road junction of Caxito, northeast of Luanda, and was closing in on the coastal city of Ambriz, which has been a vital supply center for the F.N.L.A. At the same time, the northward thrust of a combined F.N.L.A.-UNITA force, spearheaded by mechanized armor, was stopped along the coast, 150 miles south of Luanda. Slowed by heavy rains that have turned dirt roads to quagmires, those forces are now giving ground.

The civil war in the former Portuguese colony might have been over by now or even averted were it not for foreign intervention. Although none of the groups held a clear majority, there were hopes for a coalition government between the three. None of the Angolan soldiers are particularly well trained, but their will to fight has been stiffened by a bewildering array of mercenaries as Angola more and more becomes a big-power pawn and a battleground.

The M.P.L.A.'s chief support comes from 3,000 Cuban troops, reportedly headed by Brigadier General Julio Casas Regueiro, who is regarded as one of Havana's top military men. There are also 400 Russian advisers and a smattering of Algerians and North Vietnamese working with the M.P.L.A.

Heavy Casualties. The combined Soviet-Cuban contingent has inflicted heavy casualties on the F.N.L.A. and UNITA forces, despite military support from Zaïre regulars and South African advisers. As a result, Portuguese businessmen are recruiting replacements from the large Portuguese community (400,000 people) in South Africa. That is not the only place where mercenaries are being sought. An ad in the Fresno, Calif., Bee last week advertised for "mercenaries, activities in Africa ... military background a must." The ad was placed by David Bufkin, 38, a crop duster and former G.I. who said he had been hired by "Portuguese interests" to recruit 300 Americans for UNITA and the F.N.L.A. ($1,200 a month for a one-year stint).

There are also more important forms of U.S. involvement. Although U.N. Ambassador Daniel Moynihan last week castigated the Soviets for trying to "colonize" Africa, it is an open secret that the U.S. has been funneling aid to the F.N.L.A.-UNITA forces through Zaïre. In Luanda, the M.P.L.A. showed off a huge cache of captured weapons and ammunition, the latter mostly American-made. Some crates were marked MILITARY AIRLIFT COMMAND, CHARLESTON, S.C. and consigned to Ndjili Airport, Kinshasa. Others bore the legend FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR MUTUAL DEFENSE.