Jonas Savimbi

Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was the leader of the UNITA rebels during the Angolan civil war. [[C

With support from the governments of the United States, South Africa, Israel, several African leaders (Félix Houphouët-Boigny of the Ivory Coast and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (now DR Congo)(Mobutu denied helping UNITA). Savimbi spent much of his life battling Angola's Marxist-inspired government, which was supported by weapons and military advisers from the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Nicaragua Sandinistas. The war ultimately became one of the most prominent Third World conflicts of the Cold War. Sean Cleary was a political advisor to Savimbi.

2002: Killed in combat

After surviving more than a dozen assassination attempts, Savimbi was killed on February 22, 2002, in a battle with Angolan government troops - and, reportedly, South African mercenaries and Israeli special forces - along riverbanks in the province of Moxico, his birthplace. In the firefight, Savimbi sustained 15 machine gun bullets to his head, throat, upper body and legs. While Savimbi returned gun fire, the blows proved immediately fatal.

Savimbi's somewhat mystical reputation for eluding the Angolan military and their Soviet and Cuban military advisors led many Angolans to question the validity of reports of his 2002 death. Not until pictures of his bloodied and bullet-ridden body appeared on Angolan state television, and the United States State Department subsequently confirmed it, did the reports of Savimbi's death in combat gain credence in the country.

Savimbi was interred in Luena, Moxico Province, in east central Angola. In January 2008, his gravesite was vandalized by MPLA party activists, two of whom were arrested.

UNITA after Savimbi

Savimbi was succeeded by António Dembo, who assumed UNITA's leadership on an interim basis in February 2002. But Dembo had sustained wounds in the same attack that killed Savimbi, and he ended up dying from them ten days later. Dembo was succeeded by Paulo Lukamba. In 2003, Lukamba was succeeded by Isaías Samakuva, who served as UNITA's ambassador to Europe under Savimbi and has headed UNITA ever since.

Six weeks following Savimbi's death, a ceasefire between UNITA and the MPLA was signed, but Angola remains deeply divided politically between MPLA and UNITA supporters. Parliamentary elections in September 2008 resulted in an overwhelming majority for the MPLA, but their legitimacy was questioned by international observers. Presidential elections are planned for 2009.

Quotes

File:Flag of Unita.jpg

Flag of UNITA.

• "I am not communist because it serves no purpose. Nor am I a capitalist. Socialism in this country is the only answer. Those who led the country to independence cannot become the exploiters of the people. We want a socialist system, but which? There is the orthodox one and the extremist one. We want the democratic one, social democracy." - Savimbi on his ideology
• "I am against nationalization; it is a disease which saps the strength of a national economy. The real question is the renegotiation of allowable profits. Foreign companies need their profits, they would not invest without them. But the people of Angola need their share. When Angola is independent the investors must know that the people will have a greater share."
• "We support completely the atmosphere of détente. There is a need to live together peacefully in this area, that is a must. That is why we back completely the initiatives of Presidents Kaunda, Nyerere and Seretse Khama. Prime Minister Vorster is an intelligent leader and he must know that the independence of Angola will have an effect on South Africa. I hope the future leader of this country will be realistic. We have a dam at Cunene. We have investments involving South Africa. Should we ostracize them? I hope that a leader here will be realistic enough to cooperate with any country despite differences in political systems."
• "Only elections — free elections — under OAU control can provide a final solution. But first there will have to be a short period of transitional government in which both sides would be represented. But in the end, the ballot must decide, not bullets."

Books

• The War Against Soviet Colonialism: The Strategy and Tactics of Anti-Communist Resistance, Winter 1986. Policy Review, Volume 35.

Further reading

• Bridgland, Fred. Jonas Savimbi: A Key to Africa. Hodder & Stoughton General Division. ISBN 0340422181
• Christine Messiant, "Les Eglises et la dernière guerre en Angola. Les voies difficiles de l'engagement pour une paix juste", LFM. Social sciences & missions, No.13, Oct. 2003, pp.75-117

External links

• Jonas Savimbi at the Notable Names Database.
• French interview of Jonas Savimbi, 1978.
• "White House Statement on the President's Meeting with Jonas Savimbi", June 30, 1988.
• "The Coming Winds of Democracy in Angola", Jonas Savimbi speech to the Heritage Foundation, October 5, 1989.
• Jonas Savimbi speaks in Angolan capital of Luanda, 1991.
• "Genocide of Christians in Angola, UN and the resistance of UNITA", Webarchive, 2000.
• "Angola Rebels Demand Death Probe", BBC News, February 28, 2002.