UNITA

A UNITA sticker

The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, more commonly known as UNITA (acronymn for its Portuguese name União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola), is an Angolan political faction. Until 2002, the group was largely a military force that had fought a civil war against Angola's Marxist regime, which had been supported by Soviet and Cuban troops and advisors. From its foundation until his death, UNITA was led by its leader and founder, Jonas Savimbi.

Pre-Independence UNITA

The group was formed from the politicized split in the Angolan independence movement. The two original groups were the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA, founded 1957) and the socialist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA, founded 1956). In March 1966, however, Savimbi broke with the FNLA to form UNITA, which was initially based in the Angolan region of Muangai but later in Jamba in the southeastern Huila province portion of the country. UNITA's leadership was drawn from the majority Ovimbundu tribal group and its policies were originally somewhat Maoist, aimed at rural rights and recognized ethnic divisions, though the organization ultimately became highly aligned with the United States during the Cold War. UNITA was the most 'African' of the groups. Whatever its politics, UNITA guerillas, under Savimbi's leadership, proved themselves especially effective militarily before and after independence.

UNITA in the Angolan civil war

After the Portuguese withdrawal in 1974-75, the groups splintered, creating civil war. MPLA leader Agostinho Neto became the first president of Angola. Backed by Cuban and Soviet money, weapons and troops, the MPLA defeated the FNLA militarily and forced them largely into exile. UNITA too 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 from 1975 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.

In the late 1980s, Savimbi was influenced heavily by military and political guidance from American conservatives, including The Heritage Foundation's Michael Johns and infamous lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who 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 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 and 50,000 troops from the MPLA. A ceasefire was negotiated and the MPLA leader José Eduardo dos Santos and its Central Committee rejected its Marxist past and proposed democracy, though UNITA and its supporters viewed the denouncement skeptically.

Following the 1991 Bicesse Accord, signed in Lisbon, United Nations-brokered elections were held between Savimbi and dos Santos in 1992. Failing to win an overall majority and questioning the election's legitimacy, UNITA returned to armed conflict, this time establishing a base in Huambo. The U.N. implemented an embargo against UNITA, and the U.S, government finally recognized the MPLA government. 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. UNITA again broke away from this agreement in 1998, but an MPLA offensive in 1999 damaged UNITA considerably as a conventional military force. UNITA then returned to its more traditional guerilla tactics.

The conflict ended only after the death of Savimbi in an ambush in February 2002, after which UNITA agreed a ceasefire with the government in April 2002. Under an amnesty agreement, UNITA soldiers and their families, about 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, effectively ending the civil war.

Post-civil war UNITA

Savimbi was immediately succeeded by Antonio Dembo, who died shortly after Savimbi. As of 2003, UNITA had not yet chosen a new leader. However, after having elections contested by General Paulo Lukamba, Dinho Chingunji and Isaias Samakuva, Samakuva won and emerged as the current president of UNITA.

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