Mr. Camara,
Thank you for this one. A couple of weeks ago i watched Fidel Castro's
speech after Cuito Cuanavale. Even though the man is seen as a dictator by
the West, i believe they respect him. For if there is a leader who cherishes
the ideals of a liberated world, he goes by the name Fidel Castro. If there
is anyone who truly upholds the worth and equality of ordinary people(abhors
white supremacy) he is Fidel. American corporate-media calling Jonas Savimbi
a " charismatic" leader and all those positively-charged socialist labeling?
Talk about two-faced hypocrisy! Anybody who admires Che Guevera and what the
guy stood for would never wreak the havoc Savimbi unleashed on the people of
Angola! I hope the Angolans will move on and to borrow the author's
concluding remarks, that they would now more than before, determined and
inspired by their general struggle, embrace their slogan 'a luta continua'.
Good luck!
Lamin Sanyang(jatafaakoreing)
>From: Momodou Camara <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: FWD.VICTORY FOR ANGOLA: U.S.-PUPPET SAVIMBI BITES THE DUST
>Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 22:42:38 +0100
>
>I hope this is not stale news.
>
>Momodou Camara
>****************
>
>VICTORY FOR ANGOLA: U.S.-PUPPET SAVIMBI BITES THE DUST
>By G. Dunkel
>
>When the news spread on Feb. 22 that Jonas Savimbi had been shot dead
>in an ambush by the army in southeastern Angola, the general reaction
>in Angola and the rest of Africa was one of jubilation. Savimbi was
>the most hated and despised man in Angola.
>
>His death was seen as a major victory in the 41 years of armed
>struggle that the Angolan people have waged against imperialism. It
>was hoped that peace--at least the end of armed conflict--could be
>near.
>
>The big corporate media--New York Times, BBC, CNN, Financial Times,
>the Washington Post--have called Savimbi "charismatic," "a leader in
>the struggle against Portuguese colonialism," "one of the contenders
>in a three-way tribally based struggle" for control of Angola, and so
>on. They claim he had ties to China, admired Che Guevara and had
>adopted "people's war."
>
>It is all spin. In reality, Savimbi was a puppet of U.S. imperialism
>in a war against the Angolan revolutionary government that left at
>least 500,000 dead, tens of thousands crippled for life by U.S.-made
>land mines, billions upon billions of dollars of material destruction,
> vast misery and a debt that Angola will spend decades paying.
>
>Capitalist accounts of Savimbi's life are full of distortions. For
>example, he was not an opponent of Portuguese colonialism, which was
>financed, armed and supported by the United States, a NATO ally.
>
>By the early 1970s, Savimbi's organization, UNITA, had a formal
>agreement with the Portuguese army for military cooperation in the
>struggle against the MPLA, which was leading the struggle against the
>Portuguese and currently leads the Angolan government. (See William
>Minter's book "Operation Timber: Pages from the Savimbi Dossier" for
> detailed documentation.)
>
>This is not just an interesting but minor historical footnote--it
>foreshadowed Savimbi's military and political agreements with the
>apartheid South African regime, the CIA and the most reactionary
>Reaganite wing of the U.S. ruling class.
>
>The MPLA, with significant aid from revolutionary Cuba, defeated an
>invasion by the apartheid South African army in 1975 that had been
>intended to put UNITA in power in Luanda. After that defeat, the CIA
>took over the care and construction of UNITA, while apartheid South
>Africa supplied the military muscle.
>
>The role of the CIA in Angola until 1978 is detailed in John
> Stockwell's book "In Search of Enemies." Stockwell was the CIA
>station chief in Angola but turned against the agency. While the
>connection of Savimbi to the CIA is well documented, neither the New
>York Times nor the Washington Post mentioned it in their recent
>articles on Savimbi's death.
>
>The struggle continued with ups and downs until the Angolans,
>Namibians and Cubans decisively defeated the South Africans at the
>battle of Cuito Cuanavale in 1988. This defeat led to an agreement
>that involved the withdrawal of Cubans from Angola in return for the
>independence of Namibia and the end of South African invasions.
>
>After Cuito Cuanavale, the U.S., acting under the auspices of the
>United Nations, managed to put together two peace/election agreements.
>But every time UNITA lost the election, even when international
>monitors asserted they were basically free and fair, Savimbi cried
>fraud and went back to fighting. The only solution he was willing to
>accept was one that left UNITA in complete control of Angola.
>
>WHERE IS ANGOLA HEADED?
>
>Angola is a desperately poor, war-wracked, deeply indebted country
>with one of the poorest living standards in the world. Some 4 million
>people--one-third of its population-- are internal refugees. Yet it
>still supplies 8 percent of all the oil the United States consumes.
>This is a bit surprising but indicates one reason for the sustained
>and intense U.S. interest in Angola.
>
>Ever since 1992, when Savimbi pulled out of the election/peace process
>and restarted the civil war, the U.S. has followed a two-pronged
>strategy. It gave Savimbi enough money, or enough access to the world
>diamond market, to keep on fighting. At the same time it offered the
>MPLA government diplomatic recognition, development aid, access to
>U.S. markets for goods other than oil, and loans if it would make a
>deal with UNITA that Savimbi would accept.
>
>Of course, everyone knew that the only deal Savimbi would really
>accept was the MPLA's capitulation, but while this process was going
>on, UNITA had time and opportunity to regroup and rearm itself.
>
>Since the U.S. and the CIA were so closely and openly linked with
>Savimbi, a good deal of the political maneuvering that took place in
>Angola was carried out through the auspices of the UN.
>
>With the U.S. taking a two-pronged approach, two groups developed
>within the Angolan movement. One felt that an agreement with Savimbi
>was possible. The other--especially strong in the Angolan army (FAA)--
>felt that the only possible solution was to crush UNITA. After the
>last agreement with Savimbi broke up in 1996, the government adopted
>a "two-track approach" of offering dialog while maintaining military
>pressure on UNITA.
>
>Late in 2001, the FAA began a powerful offensive that swept UNITA out
>of traditional strongholds it had occupied for years and forced its
>armed units to begin retreating toward the Zambian border in
>southeastern Angola. As the success of the offensive became clear, a
>propaganda campaign was begun to blunt it in the name of peace.
>
>On Feb. 6, the UN press service IRIN ran an interview with Abel
>Chivukuvuku, a former political adviser to Savimbi. This interview
>gave Chivukuvuku the forum to propose a two- month peace process for
>the Angolan government and the UN to follow, premised on the
>recognition that a solution to the country's problems could not be
>military.
>
>The U.S., remember, is right now preparing to wage high- intensity war
>all over the globe, ostensibly because 3,000 people were killed here
>on Sept. 11. But Angola, which has lost half a million people in a war
>created and financed by the U.S., must allow its foes into the
>government in the name of peace. By this logic, George W. Bush should
>be inviting Osama bin Laden into his cabinet.
>
>IRIN reported Feb. 13 that the Irish development agency GOAL condemned
>what it called the "FAA's scorched earth policy." It didn't discuss
>how the MPLA government could protect its people against UNITA
>atrocities.
>
>The same day that the news of Savimbi's death broke, IRIN reported on
>a national conference of Angola's traditional leaders that called for
>an immediate cease-fire and the creation of a sovereign national
>conference to discuss the country's political future. This conference
>was sponsored by the Open Society Foundation, which is a creation of
>George Soros, the international financier, Wall Street tycoon and
> currency speculator.
>
>Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos is due in Washington Feb. 26
>to talk to President George W. Bush, along with the presidents of
>Mozambique and Malawi, about regional security. Obviously, the
>direction of Angola after the death of Savimbi is going to be a major
>topic of discussion.
>
>Even if Angola can wrap up a 27-year-old civil war without any more
>major fighting, it is going to face major problems-- a completely
>devastated economy that needs IMF approval to borrow the funds it
>needs to start rebuilding. But the political price the IMF is
>currently demanding is a price that no poor country should have to
>pay.
>
>The armed struggle might possibly be over, but the general struggle
>will still continue. As the heroes of the African revolution against
>Portuguese colonialism put it, a luta continua.
>
>- END -
>
>(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and
>distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not
>allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY,
>NY 10011; via e-mail: [log in to unmask] For subscription info send
>message to: [log in to unmask] Web: http://www.workers.org) " JC
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
>Web interface
>at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
>[log in to unmask]
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos:
http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|