Quotes from Piero Gleijeses

I stressed to Neto that the way we treat the population is key to gaining their support. . . . I stressed how the thuggish behavior of the FNLA (robberies, assaults, murders, rapes, unbelievable savagery) engenders widespread hatred even among people who are not politicized. Later, there will be [time for] propaganda, political education, . . . but simply treating people well . . . can garner the massive support of the population.50

The well-connected lobbying firm of Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly had been counseling him since the previous summer—for a $600,000-a-year contract. "He was meticulously coached on everything from how to answer his critics to how to compliment his patrons," the Washington Post reported.117

The founding conference of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was held in May 1963 while the world's press was saturated with reports of the savage police response to the civil rights marches in Birmingham, Alabama. The assembled African leaders sent President John Kennedy an eloquent message: "The Negroes who, even while the [OAU] Conference was in session, have been subjected to the most inhuman treatment, who have been blasted with fire hoses cranked up to such

The Chinese have told UNITA that Peking would continue its aid," the CIA reported, "but was concerned about how it would reach UNITA if Zaire was no longer able to act as a transit area." South Africa offered to help. Beijing held its nose, and with Pretoria's assent in 1979 it delivered "550 to 600 tons of weapons" to Savimbi through Namibia.18