The announcement was made on the website of the Liberal Forum for the Emancipation of Cabinda, but the exact day and cause of death were not disclosed.
Joel Batila was an outstanding leader of FLEC and held several positions in the independence movement, from coordinator of the diplomatic group, secretary of Foreign Affairs and secretary general of FLEC-Unified, under the direction of the movement's president, N'Zita Tiago.
Later, he was appointed responsible for the diplomacy of the Provisional Government of Cabinda, created by FLEC under the direction of Afonso Massanda, a position he held until his death, the forum said in the note.
The Liberal Forum for the Emancipation of Cabinda considers that the death of Joel Batila is "an irreparable loss for his family and a vacuum that is difficult to fill for Cabindan resistance".
Joel Batila was born in Maloango-Zau, Cabinda, on October 22, 1946. Graduated in Medicine in India, he practiced as a doctor in France.
The Cabinda enclave, where more than half of Angola's oil production comes from, has been the scene since 1975 of an independent armed struggle led by FLEC, which claims that the territory is still a Portuguese protectorate under the terms of the Simulambuco Treaty, signed on 1 February 1885 and which served for Portugal to defend at the Berlin Conference, which was taking place at the time, its rights over Cabinda, a territory that was claimed by France, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
