Office of the Historian

413. Telegram From the Embassy in the Congo to the Department of State1

Leopoldville, January 14, 1964, 2 p.m.

1368. GOC Views on Holden Roberto. In call on Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Lengema) January 13, I discussed with him Holden Roberto’s reported decision to seek arms from Red China.2 Lengema expressed GOC views along lines of his press interview in New York Times of January 8. Government did not believe it could “forbid” Roberto from obtaining arms from communist states as long as non-communist states were unwilling to provide them. However, GOC would oppose introduction of communist “volunteers” or training personnel into Congo. Lengema then argued that it was still in power of US to “save” Roberto by doing more to support him. He suggested public statement calling for negotiation between Portuguese and Roberto and thought we could find ways to make transport available to him. Lengema said we should not be surprised to see Roberto turning to communists for help when Western support was so “discreet” as to be virtually non-existent.

I told Lengema that there was no possibility of giving Roberto US equipment to wage war in Angola. We were anxious to encourage peaceful settlement of Angolan problem and Roberto, as well as GOC, should realize that actions Lengema advocated we take would result in rupture our relations with Portugal and would thereby destroy our ability to moderate Portuguese position in interests of negotiated settlement. I said that Roberto’s reiterated public statements about seeking help from Red China would produce strongly unfavorable effect on US public opinion and that sending of GRAE delegation to Peiping would further diminish our ability to encourage dialogue with Portuguese.

Lengema said that he understood our point of view but repeated that Roberto, while not himself communist-oriented, believed he had nowhere else to turn for material needed to conduct “liberation struggle.”

O’Sullivan
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, POL 30–2 ANG. Confidential. Also sent to Lisbon, Luanda, USUN, Brazzaville, Bukavu, Elisabethville, and Stanleyville.↩
  2. On January 4, The New York Times reported that Angolan nationalist leader Holden Roberto had decided to accept assistance from Communist China and other Communist countries.↩