Angola: Recent Developments and U.S. Policy (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
April 24, 2002 |
| Report Number |
RL31395 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Nicolas Cook, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
A permanent cease-fire agreement between the Angolan government and its long-time military adversary, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) was signed on April 4, 2002. The accord provides for the demobilization of UNITA's forces, and for their integration into a unified national military. Under a separate law passed prior to ratification of the accord, UNITA's armed forces will receive a general amnesty for wartime offenses committed against the state and Angolan people. The agreement followed the death of Jonas Savimbi, the founder and long-time leader of UNITA, who was killed in a government ambush in February, 2002 in eastern Angola. Savimbi's death raised the prospect of possible realignments within the UNITA organization or of changes in its leadership. The current de facto political leader of the former Savimbi-led wing of UNITA is General Paulo "Gato" Lukamba, the UNITA secretary-general and head of UNITA's Administrative Affairs commission.
Eduardo dos Santos, Angola's current President and leader of the ruling Popular Liberation Movement of Angola (MPLA), indicated in 2001 that he would step down prior to elections that may be held in late 2002 or in 2003. Dos Santos has designated no clear successor, and some analysts believe that he may yet stand as a presidential candidate. The Angolan government has been labeled authoritarian by many observers because of its sometimes harsh repression of domestic political opponents and journalists, and for curtailing public expression and the opportunity of its citizens to change their government. Angola has been engaged militarily in several neighboring countries in recent years.
The country's first and only national election was held in 1992, following a peace accord between the government and UNITA; it ended in an aborted run-off election and a return to civil war. International pressure on UNITA to return to peace talks grew. In 1993, the United Nations (U.N.) imposed an oil and arms embargo on UNITA. Peace talks ensued, culminating in a renewed cease-fire agreement in accord with the Lusaka Protocol. A U.N. peacekeeping operation was deployed, but the Lusaka accord was never fully implemented. A period of instability ensued, and by late1998 Angola again faced full-scale civil war. The government attacked UNITA strongholds in central Angola. UNITA launched counterattacks; it had seized much territory by mid-1999, including many diamond-rich zones. The U.N. imposed further sanctions on UNITA. The MPLA claimed many military successes in 1999-2002, but UNITA carried out many attacks across Angola during the same period. UNITA was able to fund its operations by selling diamonds and obtaining arms, in violation of U.N. sanctions against it.
