The Frente para a Libertação do Enclave de Cabinda (FLEC), or "Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda", is a liberation movement in Cabinda, Angola.

The FLEC acted in the region occupied by the former kingdoms of Kakongo , Loango and N'Goyo .

On February 1, 1885, a treaty was signed at Simulambuco establishing Cabinda as a Portuguese protectorate. A monument was built there later.

The FLEC was founded in 1963 by the union of three nationalist movements:

• MLEC - Movemento de Liberaçao do Enclave of Cabinda,
• CAUNC - Comite d'acçao do Union Nacional Cabindesa, and
• ALLIAMA - Aliança Nacional do El Mayombe. (Mayombe is a mountain between Cabinda and the Republic of Congo.

The MLEC flag was yellow with a seal in the center showing the Mayombe.

The leader of the united group was Luiz Ranque Franque, who refused to join other Angolan independence movements. FLEC adopted a flag was with horizontal red, yellow and blue bands -- one color for each of the groups. The new emblem (a white star and a green triangle within a ring) was added in the center.

In 1975, FLEC constituted a provisional government led by Enriquez Tiago that proclaimed independence from Portugal on August 1, 1975. Luiz Ranque was the president.

Between November 1975 and January 4, 1976, the Cabinda enclave was invaded by soldiers of the Movimento Popular da Libertação de Angola (MPLA), which was the dominant independence movement in the rest of Angola, supported by Cuban troops. The MPLA quickly gained control of the region.

After its defeat, FLEC broke into three factions:

• FLEC-Ranque Franque,
• FLEC-N'Zita, led by Enriquez Tiago N'Zita, and
• FLEC-Lubota, led by Francisco Xavier Lubota.

In November 1977, another faction was created:

• the Military Command for the Liberation of Cabinda.

In June 1979, the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Cabinda created another movement:

• MPLC - the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Cabinda (Movimento Popular de Libertaçăo de Cabinda).

In the 1980s, FLEC received help from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which opposed the MPLA-controlled government of Angola, and from South Africa.

In 1990s, two more factions were created:

• UNLC - the National Union for the Liberation of Cabinda (Uniăo Nacional de Libertaçăo de Cabinda), led by Lumingu Luis Gimby, and
• CCC - the Communist Committee of Cabinda (Comité Communista de Cabinda), led by Kaya Mohamed Yay.

The original FLEC was re-formed in the 1990s, and two factions were created:

• FLEC-Renovada, whose flag was white with a central stripe divided into three colors: green, yellow and black, with a red ring in the center of the flag.

• FLEC-Armed Forces of Cabinda (Forças Armadas do Cabinda - FLEC-FAC), using the original red, yellow, and blue flag, with emblem.

Another group was created by Cabindese ex-patriates in the Netherlands in 1996:

• FLEC - Frente de Libertacao do Estado de Cabinda" (Liberation Front of the State of Cabinda). This group adopted a flag blue, yellow and black with the Silambuco monument in the center.

In April 1996, a ceasefire was signed between FLEC-Renovada and Angola government. Other groups joined the ceasefire later.

See also

• List of active autonomist and secessionist movements

links

• Frente de Libertação do Estado de Cabinda (Portuguese)