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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!usc!hela.iti.org!cs.widener.edu!ukma!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!daemon
- From: Greg Dunkel <JOSCU%CUNYVM.bitnet@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
- Subject: Re: NLNS: ANGOLA UPDATE
- Message-ID: <1992Nov9.205353.2976@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: ?
- Resent-From: "Rich Winkel" <MATHRICH@MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
- Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 20:53:53 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 37
-
- According to the NY Times, (Nov 8), the Angolan government declared the
- South African ambassador Pik Botha persona non grata after they defeated
- the UNITA forces in a week-long battle in Luanda and other major
- Angolan cities.
-
- According to the French newspapaer Le Monde (Nov. 4), UNITA's chief
- spokesperson Elias Salupeto Pena (a nephew of Jonas Savimbi) and its
- vice-prsedient Jeremias Chitunda were killed while fleeing Luanda; a
- number of other high ranking UNITA officials were either seriously injured
- or captured.
-
- According to the same Le Monde article, Savimbi is either in Jamba, his
- headquarters during the civil war or Johannesburg.
-
- In contrast to the NY Times, Le Monde seems to think that UNITA suffered
- a serious defeat in this fighting.
-
- It should be pointed out in no uncertain terms that without the full & firm
- backing of the United States, UNITA would have vanished years ago.
- MPLA won the election and they likely would win any reasonably fair
- and free election held in Angola.
-
- The only reason why Savimbi and UNITA aren't raked over the coals,
- lambasted and decried in complete and utter vigor by the US press for
- their complete and total violation of even the elementary principles of
- democracy is that Savimbi has been bought and paid for; he's the
- US's tool to control Angola's oil and untapped wealth.
-
- Without the US (and South Africa but they're not the main players here)
- backing Savimbi the civil war would have been over years ago.
-
- And that's a civil war that cost 350,000 Angolans their lives, left tens
- of thousands disabled (according to the WHO, Angola has the highest per
- capita number of disabled in the world) and created at least $35 billion
- worth of damage to the Angolan economy.
-
- That's what the US did through Savimbi in Angola.
-