The Press TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1970. A Portuguese gamble?

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32462, 24 November 1970, Page 14

The Press TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1970. A Portuguese gamble?

The Portuguese Government’s denial that it played any part in the invasion of Guinea, reported elsewhere in this issue, must sound hollow, to say the least, in the United Nations and to the world at large. In West Africa it will be dismissed out of hand. The invaders are said to European and African “mercenaries” with air and sea support Guinea, which has an extreme Left-wing Government, would hardly top a popularity poll of independent African countries; but its only obvious enemy with the military capacity to mount an invasion is Portugal. Portuguese Guinea, which borders the State of Guinea, has for seven years been a battleground on which the Portuguese Government has struggled to maintain its colonial rule against a thriving guerrilla independence movement It is an open secret that the insurgents are based in independent Guinea and are heavily supported from there. The Portuguese have every reason to want a change of government in Conakry, however ready they may be to disown the invasion force if, as appears likely, its mission has failed. No doubt the invaders, and the Portuguese Government thought they would find willing supporters inside Guinea. Once part of French West Africa, Guinea has been a source of trouble for independent African countries since it chose full independence instead of association with France when offered the choice by President de Gaulle in 1958 the only French African territory to do so. Under President Sekou Toure, Guinea has turned increasingly to Communist countries, including China and Cuba, for help. Internal political opposition has been suppressed and Guinea has encouraged Left-wing rebellions among some of its neighbours as well as offering a refuge to the former President of Ghana, Dr Nkrumah, who continues to foment rebellion in Ghana with Guinean assistance.

Now the United Nations is to investigate Guinea’s complaints against Portugal. The outcome will almost certainly be welcome publicity for the rebels in Portuguese Guinea and renewed condemnation of Portugal for refusing to give up its colonial territories. The insurgents in Portuguese Guinea, who call themselves the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands, were almost unknown outside the area until earlier this year, when their leader, Amilcar Cabral, was granted an audience by Pope Paul VL Many Portuguese, concerned over the drain of war on their country, where 45 per cent of the budget is spent on defence, saw this as a sign that the Government should end

its attempts to put down the rebellion by force and negotiate with the rebels, even if it meant independence for the colony after four centuries. The invasion was almost certainly a desperate attempt by Portugal to stifle the rebellion by destroying the rebels’ base and turning out the Guinean Government which supports it and provides a channel for the supply of arms, most of which come from Communist sources. Portugal recently attempted to seal off the border between Portuguese Guinea and Guinea by building a string of forts. Like similar attempts to block guerrillas elsewhere, including Indo-China, the attempt failed. The rebellion is spreading and the Portuguese control only the roads and the main towns of Portuguese Guinea; two-thirds of the country is said to be administered by the rebels. Given Portugal’s determination to cling to its colonies, the invasion was comprehensible enough—provided it succeeded. Failure, however, must mean increasing hostility towards Portugal in Africa and in the United Nations, and increasing embarrassment for that country’s few remaining friends.