Savimbi, << sah VIHM bee >>, Jonas Malheiro (1934-2002), was the leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). From 1966 to 2002, UNITA engaged in a civil war against the government of Angola.
Savimbi was born on Aug. 3, 1934, in Munhango, a small town in central Angola. At the time, Angola was a Portuguese colony. In 1958, Savimbi left Angola to pursue his higher education in Portugal. In Lisbon, he became involved with Angolan nationalist movements. In 1960, he left Portugal to study in Switzerland.
Savimbi returned to Africa, where he joined the Union of Angolan Peoples (UPA), a rebel group fighting for Angolan independence. In 1962, the UPA joined the Democratic Party of Angola to form the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA). That same year, the FNLA proclaimed a revolutionary government of Angola in exile. Savimbi served as the foreign minister of the government in exile from 1962 to 1964. He received a Ph.D. degree in political science from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland in 1965. He again returned to Africa. Dissatisfied with the various Angolan nationalist movements, Savimbi founded UNITA in 1966.
From 1966 to 1975, UNITA and two rival movements, the FNLA and the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), fought a three-front war against Portuguese rule in Angola. In 1975, Portugal declared Angola independent and withdrew from the country. UNITA, the FNLA, and the MPLA waged a civil war over which group would head the government. The MPLA eventually gained control and in 1976 established a Marxist government—that is, a government based on the philosophy of Karl Marx. Communism is also based on the teachings of Marx, but the MPLA denied that their government was a Communist dictatorship.
Savimbi’s UNITA guerrillas continued to fight the MPLA. The fighting became one of the regional conflicts of the Cold War. The Cold War was an intense political and military rivalry between Communist and non-Communist nations. Two Communist nations, the Soviet Union and Cuba, gave major support to the MPLA. UNITA’s supporters included the United States and South Africa.
The government and UNITA agreed to a cease-fire in 1989 and signed a peace treaty in 1991. MPLA leader José Eduardo dos Santos defeated Savimbi in the first round of presidential elections held in 1992. Savimbi claimed the elections were rigged, and UNITA resumed its guerrilla war against the government. The two sides signed a peace agreement in 1994. However, fighting continued between government troops and UNITA, which controlled a rich diamond-mining region in Angola. Savimbi died in a gun battle with government commandos on Feb. 22, 2002. In April of that year, UNITA and government officials signed a cease-fire agreement.
