Henrique N'zita Tiago (14 July 1927[1] – 3 June 2016)[2][3] was President of the Armed Forces of Cabinda, a rebel group that fights for the independence of Cabinda from Angola.[4] He died in Paris on 3 June 2016.[2][5] It was reported that Tiago was 88 years old when he died, and that he was buried in France[6] – as Cabinda was not independent at the time of his death.[5]
Henrique N'zita Tiago | |
---|---|
Commander of the Armed Forces of Cabinda | |
In office 1969 – 3 June 2016 | |
Succeeded by | Emmanuel N'zita |
Personal details | |
Born | Cabinda, Portuguese Angola | 14 July 1927
Died | 3 June 2016 Paris, France | (aged 88)
Political party | FLEC |
Children | Emmanuel N'zita, Antoine N'zita, Jean-Claude N'zita |
He was born on July 14, 1927,[1] at the mission of San Jose de Luali in the region of Dinge,[7] or in Mboma Lubinda,[3] Cabinda, into a modest family.[7]
In 1963, he co-founded the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) to fight against Portuguese colonial rule.[2] Because he was part of the FLEC, he was arrested in 1970 by the colonial PIDE.[8] He served his sentence in the São Nicolau jail in Bentiaba.[9] He was released in 1974, opened a FLEC office in Tchiowa, the capital of Cabinda;[9] and a year later, he was appointed chairman of the FLEC.[10] Upon learning that the Portuguese government was planning to include Cabinda as part of Angola, N'zita started an armed conflict against Angola's pro-independence armed groups.[3] His firm position to achieve the independence of Cabinda only by military means caused the FLEC to fragment into different factions.[9]
He went into exile to France.[5] N'zita died in Paris on June 3, 2016.[2][3] His funeral was on June 10.[6] Upon his death, his son, Emmanuel N'zita, succeeded him as Commander of the Armed Forces of Cabinda a few days later.[11][2]
The leader of a rebel movement seeking independence for Angola's oil-rich region of Cabinda has died in exile in France, Reuters quotes a statement from the group as saying. Flec said Nzita Henriques Tiago, 88, would be buried in France on Friday as he only wanted his body taken back to Cabinda if it was an independent state, Reuters reported. It did not say exactly when Mr Tiago, who was president and co-founder of Flec, died. The group – in one form or another – has been fighting a low-level insurgency since the 1960s. It first took up arms against the colonial power Portugal. Then when Angola gained independence in 1975 and Cabinda was absorbed into Angola, Flec rebels continued to fight against the Luanda government.
Ai lettori italiani forse questo nome dirà poco. In realtà, la sua è una delle ultime figure del movimento di indipendenza dei Paesi africani al quale ha partecipato come leader della lotta per l'autodeterminazione di Cabinda, l'enclave angolana, ricca di petrolio, incastonata tra la Rd Congo e la Repubblica del Congo. Translation: Perhaps this name will mean little to Italian readers. In reality, he is one of the last figures of the independence movement of African countries in which he participated as leader of the struggle for self-determination in Cabinda, the Angolan enclave, rich in oil, nestled between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Congo.