José Eduardo dos Santos
Encyclopedia : J : JO : JOS : José Eduardo dos Santos
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| Became President: | September 10, 1979 |
| Predecessor: | Agostinho Neto |
| Date of Birth: | August 28, 1942 |
| Place of Birth: | Luanda |
José Eduardo dos Santos (born August 28, 1942 in Luanda) is the current President, Head of Government, and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Angola.
Eduardo's father was a construction worker. While he was studying in school, he joined the MPLA in 1956 thereby starting his political career. Due to the repression of the colonial government, Dos Santos went into self-exile in France in 1961. He later moved to the Republic of the Congo. From there he collaborated with the MPLA, and soon became the vice-president. To continue with his education he moved, once again, to the former USSR where he received an engineering degree.
In 1970 he returned to Angola and joined the EPLA (Exército Popular de Libertação de Angola), the military branch of the MPLA, becoming a radio transmitter in the second political-military region of the MPLA. In 1974 he was promoted to subcommander of the telecoms service of the second region, and was also named as coordinator of the foreign policy of the MPLA.
After achieving Angolan independence, the rebel groups UNITA and FNLA started the Angolan civil war which would last 27 years. At the beginning of the war, dos Santos was named president of the MPLA and secretary of foreign policy. He was replaced as secretary in 1976.
After the death of Angola's first president, Agostinho Neto, dos Santos became president, chief of the armed forces, and president of the parliament in 1979 through internal party elections.
At first he tried to manage a peaceful solution to the civil war that was devastating Angola. An early success was the peace treaty signed in Lisbon with the leader of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi, in 1991. The treaty promised that there would be free elections and integration of members of the UNITA to the new armed forces of Angola, the FAA (Forças Armadas Angolanas). As a sign of goodwill with foreign powers, the MPLA had previously rejected Marxist ideology to became a social democratic party.
On September 29 and September 30 of 1992, elections occurred in Angola. Dos Santos won with 49.5% of the votes. Savimbi only had 40.7%. Since no one had achieved the required 50% of the votes for becoming president, a second round of voting was called, but Savimbi quit alleging voting fraud. Foreign observers and the UN declared the election as fair. In parliamentary elections the MPLA won 54.7% of the vote with 129 out of 220 seats in parliament. UNITA managed a 34.1%, giving them 70 seats.
Savimbi's withdrawal from the second round of elections gave dos Santos much needed foreign support. The United States recognized Angola in 1993. Dos Santos, now rejecting negotiated peace, began fierce military actions against UNITA, allegedly engaging in torture, arbitrary detention and the death of almost 300,000 Angolans.
In 1999, dos Santos gained greater power in the Angolan parliament by becoming Secretary of Defence.
In February 2002 the leader of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi, was killed by governmental forces. The already weakened UNITA surrendered and signed a peace treaty a few weeks later, ending the Angolan Civil War.
In this short period of peace, dos Santos has signed important contracts with corporations interested in extracting oil and diamonds, controlled high inflation and brought an estimated economic growth of 24%. Despite these economic advances dos Santos has failed to combat governmental corruption, reconstruct public infrastructure, draft a new constitution, or reduce control over the press. Although Angola's natural resources are among the world's richest, the UN considers Angola one of the poorest countries in the world.
Dos Santos announced in 2001 that he would step down at the next presidential election.["Dos Santos to bow out"], IRIN, August 24, 2001. However, in December 2003, he was reelected as head of the MPLA,["Dos Santos at the helm"], IRIN, December 17, 2003. and it is widely believed that he will be the party's candidate in the next presidential election, which may take place in 2006, although there is speculation that it may not be held until later.["Uncertainty increases over election date"], IRIN, February 16, 2006.
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