Angolan Civil War

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Following the end of Portuguese colonial rule in April 1974, newly-independent Angola descended into a devasting civil war which became Africa's longest running conflict. Formally brought to an end in 2002, an estimated 500,000 people were killed and tens of thousands more were displaced during the 27-year civil war.

The conflict involved three main belligerent factions:

the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), with a base among the Kimbundu and the mixed-race intelligentsia of Luanda, and links to communist parties in Portugal and the Eastern bloc;
the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the United States and the Mobutu regime in Zaïre; and
the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Savimbi with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country, and supported by apartheid South Africa and the United States.

From the early 1960s, elements of these movements fought against Portuguese colonial rule. In their war for independence, which began in 1961, Angolans were divided. The tribal-based FNLA, the Maoist UNITA, and the Marxist-Leninist MPLA were all strong groups fighting the Portuguese.

A 1974 coup d'état in Portugal established a military government that promptly ceased the war and agreed to hand over power to a coalition of the three movements. The coalition quickly broke down and turned into a civil war. The United States, Zaïre and South Africa intervened militarily in favor of the FNLA and UNITA. In response, Cuba, backed by the Soviet Union, intervened in favor of the MPLA. In November 1975, the MPLA had all but crushed UNITA, and the South African forces withdrew. The U.S. Congress barred further U.S. military involvement in Angola.

On November 6, 1975, Brazilian government led by General Ernesto Geisel is the first to recognize the independence of Angola and the MPLA as its legitimate government. In control of Luanda and the coastal strip (and increasingly lucrative oil fields), the MPLA declared Angolan independence on November 11, 1975, the day the Portuguese abandoned the capital. Portugal recognized the declaration of independence. Agostinho Neto became the first president, followed by José Eduardo dos Santos in 1979. The opposition movements, FNLA and UNITA, created a joint government in the zones they controlled. The self-proclaimed "Democratic Republic of Angola" was founded on November 24, 1975, with Holden Roberto and Jonas Savimbi as co-presidents and Jose Ndele and Johny E. Pinnock as co-prime ministers. This government was dissolved after January 30, 1976, when FNLA forces were crushed by a joint Cuban-Angolan attack, known as "Operación Carlota".

Civil war between UNITA and the MPLA continued until January 10, 1989 when Cuba began withdrawing its forces. For much of this time, UNITA controlled vast swaths of the interior and was backed by U.S. resources and South African troops. Similarly, tens of thousands of Cuban troops remained in support of the MPLA, often fighting South Africans on the front lines. In 1988, following the major Cuban victory over the South Africans in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, South Africa and Cuba agreed to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Angola, linked to the negotiations of the independence of Namibia. The following year, a cease-fire agreement was brokered by eighteen African nations. This led to the Bicesse Accord in 1991, which spelled out an electoral process for a democratic Angola under the supervision of the United Nations. UNITA's Jonas Savimbi failed to win the first round of the presidential election in 1992 -- he won 40% to Dos Santos's 49%, which meant a runoff. Savimbi called the election fraudulent and returned to war. Another peace accord, the Lusaka Protocol, was brokered in Lusaka, Zambia and signed on November 20, 1994.

The peace accord between the government and UNITA provided for the integration of former UNITA insurgents into the government and armed forces. However, in 1995, localized fighting resumed. A national unity government was installed in April of 1997, but serious fighting resumed in late 1998 when Savimbi renewed the war for a second time, claiming that the MPLA was not fulfilling its obligations. The UN Security Council voted on August 28, 1997, to impose sanctions on UNITA. The Angolan military launched a massive offensive in 1999 that destroyed UNITA's conventional capacity and recaptured all major cities previously held by Savimbi's forces. Savimbi then declared that UNITA would return to guerrilla tactics, and much of the country remained in turmoil.

In 2002, Savimbi was killed in a military operation, and UNITA and the MPLA agreed to sign a cease-fire six weeks later, on April 4. In August 2002, UNITA declared itself a political party and officially demobilized its armed force, ending the civil war. Angola is currently at a fragile peace under the leadership of the MPLA and dos Santos.

Angolan Civil War

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