Description:
The popular perception of the existence of a straightforward alliance between<br />Portugal and South Africa as a result of the growing efficacy of African nationalist<br />groups during the 1960s and early 1970s has never been seriously questioned.<br />However, new research into recently declassified documents from the Portuguese<br />military archives and an extensive overview of the Portuguese and South African<br />diplomatic records from that period provide a different perception of what was<br />certainly a complex interaction between the two countries. It should be noted that,<br />although the two countries viewed their close interaction as mutually beneficial, the<br />existing political differences effectively prevented the creation of an open strategic<br />alliance that would have had a greater deterrence value instead of the secretive<br />tactical approach that was used by both sides to resolve immediate security threats.<br />In addition, South African support for Portugal’s long, difficult and costly<br />counterinsurgency effort in three different operational theatres in Africa – Angola,<br />Mozambique and Guinea Bissau – was not really decisive since such support was<br />never provided on a significant scale.