Angola

THE DOS SANTOS REGIME

When Neto died in September 1979 in a Moscow hospital, he was still in the process of consolidating his power and reconciling with former opponents. To his credit, the internal party cohesion that he fostered allowed a smooth transfer of power to José Eduardo dos Santos, a Soviet-educated Mbundu who had served as first deputy prime minister and then as minister of planning following the December 1978 reorganization.

Despite his student years in the Soviet Union, dos Santos was a moderate with a pragmatic outlook, not unlike that of Neto. He soon expressed his preference for a mixed economy with an important role for the private sector. The direction in which he guided the MPLA-PT was especially telling. He pushed for the promotion to the Central Committee of four moderates--Manuel Alexandre Rodrigues (nom de guerre Kito; Mbundu), Kundi Paihama (southern Ovambo), Paulo Jorge (mestiço), and Roberto de Almeida (mestiço). The ethnic backgrounds of these four men also demonstrated the new regime's continuing commitment to broadened representation in the top party leadership. Nonetheless, no Ovimbundu--the largest ethnic group and the one to which Savimbi belonged--was a member of the Political Bureau. Dos Santos defended this omission by explaining that there were no politically educated Ovimbundu who could fill top party positions. The promotion of Minister of Foreign Relations Jorge to full membership in the Central Committee was especially significant because, during the Neto regime, Jorge had initiated contact with the West and maintained the flexible foreign policy that characterized that regime, despite Soviet objections. Minister of Domestic and Foreign Trade Almeida, also promoted to full Central Committee membership, was an active participant in the fostering of Angola's economic ties with the West as well.

Data as of February 1989

Angola - TABLE OF CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION

• Chapter. 1. Historical Setting
  • PRECOLONIAL ANGOLA AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE PORTUGUESE
    • Kongo Kingdom
    • Ndongo Kingdom
    • The Defeat of Kongo and Ndongo
    • Matamba and Kasanje Kingdoms
    • Lunda and Chokwe Kingdoms
    • Ovimbundu and Kwanhama Kingdoms
    • The Dutch Interregnum, 1641-48
  • ANGOLA IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
    • Slave Trading in the 1700s
    • Portuguese Settlers in Angola
  • THE 1800s: TURMOIL IN PORTUGAL, REFORM AND EXPANSION IN ANGOLA
    • The Early Nineteenth Century
    • Abolition of the Slave Trade
    • Expansion and the Berlin Conference
  • SETTLEMENT, CONQUEST, AND DEVELOPMENT
    • The Demographic Situation
    • Military Campaigns
    • Administration and Development
  • ANGOLA UNDER THE SALAZAR REGIME
    • Angola under the New State
    • Salazar's Racial Politics
  • RISE OF AFRICAN NATIONALISM
    • Roots of Discontent
    • African Associations
      • The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola
      • The National Front for the Liberation of Angola
    • Organizational Weaknesses
    • Beginning of Revolution
  • ANGOLAN INSURGENCY
    • Ascendancy of the MPLA
    • Emergence of UNITA
    • Liberation Movements in Cabinda
    • Portuguese Economic Interests and Resistance to Angolan Independence
    • The Portuguese Coup d'Etat and the End of the Colonial Era
  • COALITION, THE TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT, AND CIVIL WAR
    • Foreign Intervention
    • Collapse of the Transitional Government
    • South African Intervention
  • INDEPENDENCE AND THE RISE OF THE MPLA GOVERNMENT
    • Transformation into a Marxist-Leninist Party and Internal Dissent
    • Shaba Invasion and the Nitista Plot
    • Strengthening Ties with the Soviet Union and Its Allies
    • Economic Problems and the Implementation of Socialist Policies
    • The UNITA Insurgency and the South African Threat
    • The Final Days of the Neto Regime
  • THE DOS SANTOS REGIME
    • Steps Toward a Stronger Party and Political Discord
    • The Namibia Issue and Security Threats in the 1980s
    • Second Party Congress