Angola is a country in southwestern
Africa bordering
Namibia,
Congo-Kinshasa,
Congo-Brazzaville and
Zambia. The capital city is
Luanda. A former portuguese colony, it has considerable natural resources, among which oil and diamonds are the most relevant. After a long war with portuguese colonial forces, Angola became independent in
1975. Shortly after, a civil war broke out between
MPLA[?],
UNITA and
FNLA[?]. The later would retire from the conflict, leaving the marxist
MPLA[?] and the western backed
UNITA to fight for power. In
1991, both factions agreed to turn Angola into a multiparty state but after the current president
José Eduardo dos Santos[?] of
MPLA[?] won UN supervised elections,
UNITA claimed there was a fraud and fighting broke out again. A
1994 peace accord (
Lusaka protocol) between the government and
UNITA provided for the integration of former
UNITA insurgents into the government. A national unity government was installed in
1997, but serious fighting resumed in late
1998, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless. President
José Eduardo dos Santos[?] suspended the regular functioning of democratic instances due to the conflict. On February 22nd
2002,
Jonas Savimbi[?], the leader of
UNITA was shot dead and a cease-fire was reached by the two factions.
UNITA gave up its armed wing and assumed the role of major opposition party. Although the political situation of the country seems to be normalizing, president dos Santos still hasn't allowed regular democratic processes to occur. Among Angola's major problems are a serious humanitarian crisis (a result of the prolonged war), the abundance of mine fields, and the actions of guerrilla movements fighting for the independence of the northern enclave of
Cabinda.
Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.
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