UNITA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Angola |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Other countries · Politics Portal |
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, commonly known by the acronymn, UNITA, derived from its Portuguese name União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, is an Angolan political faction and a former rebel force.
Until 2002, UNITA was largely a military force in the Angolan Civil War fighting Angola's Marxist regime, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, known as the MPLA. The war was one of the most prominent Cold War conflicts, with UNITA being aided militarily by the United States, and the MPLA receiving similar support from the Soviet Union.
From its foundation until his death, UNITA was led by its founder, Jonas Savimbi.
Contents |
[edit] Pre-Independence UNITA
UNITA was formed following a politicized split within the Angolan independence movement against Portugal. The two original anti-Portuguese factions were the National Liberation Front of Angola (known as the FNLA, founded 1957) and the socialist MPLA (founded 1956).
Savimbi was originally affiliated with the FNLA. In March 1966, however, Savimbi broke with the FNLA to form UNITA, which was initially based in the Angolan region of Muangai but later moved to Jamba in Angola's southeastern province of Huila province.
UNITA's leadership was drawn heavily from Angola's majority Ovimbundu tribal group and its policies were originally somewhat Maoist, perhaps influenced by Savimbi's early training in China, aimed at rural rights and recognized ethnic divisions. In later years, however, UNITA would become more aligned with the United States espousing, at least rhetorically, support for democracy and free market political and economic change in Angola.
[edit] Effective guerrilla movement
Whatever its politics, UNITA, under Savimbi's leadership, proved especially effective militarily before and after independence, becoming one of the world's most effective armed resistance movements of the late 20th century. Savimbi's very survival in Angola was viewed as an incredible accomplishment, as he dodged various assassination attempts and survived, and advanced militarily against a government aided with extensive Soviet, Cuban, and East German military troops, advisors, and support.
As Savimbi gained ground despite the forces aligned against him, American conservatives pointed to his success, and that of Afghan mujahideen, both of which, with U.S. support, were successfully opposing Soviet-sponsored governments, as evidence that the U.S. was beginning to gain an upper hand in the Cold War conflict. Critics responded that the support given Savimbi and mujahideen, which came to be known as the Reagan Doctrine, was inflaming regional conflicts at great expense to these nations and even risking the potential of nuclear war between the superpowers.
[edit] UNITA in the Angolan civil war
After the Portuguese withdrawal from Angola in 1974-75 and the end of their colonial rule, the MPLA and UNITA splintered, and civil war began as the movements clashed militarily and ideologically. MPLA leader Agostinho Neto became the first president of post-colonial Angola. Backed by Soviet and Cuban money, weapons and troops, the MPLA defeated the FNLA militarily and forced them largely into exile. UNITA also was nearly destroyed in November 1975, but it managed to survive and set up a second government in the provincial capital of Huambo. UNITA was hard-pressed but recovered with South African aid and then was strengthened considerably by U.S. support during the 1980s. The MPLA's military presence was strongest in Angolan cities, the coastal region and the strategic oil fields. But UNITA controlled much of the highlands interior, notably the Bié plateau, and other strategic regions of the country.
[edit] Washington allies
Savimbi was influenced heavily by military and political guidance from influential American conservatives, including The Heritage Foundation's Michael Johns, conservative activist Grover Norquist and other U.S. conservative leaders, all of whom helped elevate Savimbi's stature in Washington and facilitated the transfer of American weapons to his war.
Johns and other American conservatives met regularly with Savimbi in remote Jamba, culminating in the "Democratic International" in 1985. Savimbi later drew the praise of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who hailed him as a freedom fighter and spoke of Savimbi winning a victory that "electrifies the world."
Fighting continued until 1989, when, with UNITA advancing militarily, Cuba withdrew its support, including 50,000 troops that it had dispatched to Angola to fight Savimbi's UNITA. As the war began to include both military and diplomatic components, Johns and leading U.S. conservatives urged Savimbi to make a ceasefire contingent on the MPLA's agreement to "free and fair elections". When the UNITA demand was originally rebuffed, Savimbi further intensified his military pressure on the MPLA, while alleging that the MPLA was resisting free and fair elections because they feared a UNITA electoral victory[1].
[edit] Ceasefire negotiations
A ceasefire ultimately was negotiated and MPLA leader José Eduardo dos Santos and the MPLA's Central Committee rejected its Marxist past and agreed to Savimbi's demand for free and fair elections, though UNITA and its supporters viewed the promises skeptically, especially because the MPLA's relations with the former Soviet Union remained strong.
Following the 1991 Bicesse Accords, signed in Lisbon, United Nations-brokered elections were held, with both Savimbi and dos Santos running for President in 1992. Failing to win an overall majority in the first round of balloting, and then questioning the election's legitimacy, Savimbi and UNITA returned to armed conflict. Fighting resumed in October 1992 in Huambo, quickly spreading to Angola's capital, Luanda. It was here that Jeremias Chitunda, UNITA's long-time vice-president and other UNITA officials were killed while fleeing the city. Following Chitunda's death, UNITA defensively moved their base from Jamba to Huambo. Savimbi's 1992 decision to return to combat ultimately proved a costly one, with many of Savimbi's U.S. conservative allies urging Savimbi to contest dos Santos electorally in the run-off election. Savimbi's decision to forego the run-off also greatly strained UNITA's relations with then U.S. President George H. W. Bush.
As Savimbi resumed fighting, the U.N. responded by implementing an embargo against UNITA. The U.S. government, which had never recognized the legitimacy of the MPLA, finally recognized the Angolan government, further alienating Savimbi. After failed talks in 1993 to end the conflict, another agreement, the Lusaka Protocol, was implemented in 1994 to form a government of national unity. In 1995, U.N. peacekeepers arrived. But UNITA broke away from the Lusaka agreement in 1998, citing violations of it by the MPLA. The following year, in 1999, a MPLA military offensive damaged UNITA considerably, essentially destroying UNITA as a conventional military force and forcing UNITA to return to more traditional guerilla tactics.
[edit] Savimbi's death in combat
The Angolan civil war ended only after the death of Savimbi, who was killed in an ambush on February 22, 2002. His death was shocking to many Angolans, many of whom had grown up during the Angolan civil war and witnessed Savimbi's ability to successfully evade efforts by Soviet, Cuban and Angolan troops to kill him.
Six weeks following Savimbi's death, in April 2002, UNITA agreed to a ceasefire with the government. Under an amnesty agreement, UNITA soldiers and their families, comprising roughly 350,000 people, were gathered in 33 demobilisation camps under the "Program For Social and Productive Reintegration of Demobilizeds and War Displaced People". In August, 2002, UNITA officially gave up its armed wing, and UNITA placed all of its efforts on the development of its political party. Despite the ceasefire, deep political conflict between UNITA and the MPLA remains.
It is believed that more than one million Angolans died during the civil war between UNITA and the MPLA.
[edit] Post-civil war UNITA
Savimbi was immediately succeeded by Antonio Dembo, who died shortly after Savimbi. Following Dembo, in elections contested by General Paulo Lukamba, Dinho Chingunji and Isaias Samakuva, Samakuva won the UNITA election and emerged as UNITA's current president.
