President of the Frente Nacional de Libertacao de Angola (FNLA) and the Government of the Republic of Angola in Exile (GRAE) established April 5,1962.Liberation leader for over 20 years, nurtured in nationalism by his uncle Barros Necaca, the Bakongo pioneer, and by a succession of Prime Ministers in Zaire from Patrice Lumumba on¬wards. First to establish a government in exile, he is more of an administrator at Kinshasa than a military commander.
Background
Was born on January 12, 1923, at Sao Salvador in northern Angola, son of a Baptist Mission worker. Taken by his aunt in 1925 to Kinshasa. Having left Angola at the age of 2, he has not been able to spend much time in the country since then.
Education
He was educated in Kinshasa at the Baptist Mission School until 1940. He was sent back to Sao Salvador for one year at the Mission School to improve his Portuguese.
Career
Often dubbed pro-Western, he has certainly looked more to the USA for support than Russia or China.
His backing from President Mobutu Sese-Seko resulted in the historic agreement with Agostinho Neto, the MPLA leader, for setting up united liberation headquarters at Kinshasa on December 13, 1972, with the blessing of the OAU ministerial conciliation commission. While political organisations FNLA and MPLA retained their separate existence he became president of the Supreme Council for Liberation and Neto became head of the United Military Command.
After eight years as a clerk in Belgian provincial administration he got a job alongside his uncle at the Nogueira trading company in 1949 at Kinshasa and met Cyrille Adoula, subsequently Zaire Premier, playing in the same football team, the Daring Club. He left the trading company in 1957 and joined an insurance firm.
His first political assignment was as delegate of the newly formed Uniao das Populacoes de Angola (UPA) under the Pseudonym “Jose Gilmore” to the All African Peoples Conference in Ghana on ccember 5, 1958. In summer 1959 he went to Conakry, got a Guinea passport and became attached to Guinea’s UN delegation at New York in order to Present Angola’s plight to the UN.
He returned by way of Tunis, where attended the second All African peoples Conference and won support from President Bourguiba. He received Permission for weekly broadcasts in Kinshasa. After a power struggle he emerged as president of UPA ln December 1960.
On March 27, 1962, he negotiated the merger of the Partido Democrático Angola (PDA) with his UPA into the tente Nacional de Libertacao de
Angola (FNLA) under his presidency and then established the government in exile (GRAB) on April 5, 1962. He suffered a serious blow in July 1964 when Jonas Savimbi resigned as vice-president, accusing him of “flagrant tribalism”. A series of internal quarrels with attempts to overthrow him in 1965 and 1966 weakened his authority for a time. He turned more to his business interests with property in Kinshasa.
His influence was given a fresh boost when President Mobutu Sese-Seko prodded him and Neto into agreement on December 13, 1972. Besides being president of the Entire Council for the Liberation of Angola he also became president of the Angola Political Council responsible for “propaganda, mobilisation, diplomatic activities, the welfare of the civilian population and the administration of the liberated areas”. He met Neto in February 1973 to begin implementing the agreement.
Politics
conservatism, tribalism, black supremacy
Views
Roberto staunchly opposed Neto's drive to unite the Angolan rebel groups in opposition to Portugal because Roberto believed the FNLA would be absorbed by the MPLA. The FNLA abducted MPLA members, deported them to Kinshasa, and killed them.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
After Roberto's death, President José Eduardo dos Santos eulogized, "Holden Roberto was one of the pioneers of national liberation struggle, whose name encouraged a generation of Angolans to opt for resistance and combat for the country's independence," and released a decree appointing a commission to arrange for a funeral ceremony.
Connections
Roberto, son of Garcia Diasiwa Roberto and Joana Lala Nekaka (and a descendant of the monarchy of the Kongo Kingdom), was born in São Salvador, Angola. His family moved to Léopoldville, Belgian Congo in 1925.