Angola: Second civil war (1992-2002)

Updated October 2005

The elections were held on September, 29-30 1992 and achieved a 92% turnout; they were endorsed by foreign observers and the UN as free and fair. The MPLA won 129 seats in the legislature with 54% of the vote, UNITA won 70 seats with 34% and the FNLA took 5 seats with 2.4% of the vote (see Elections 1992: National Assembly results for more details). The remaining 16 seats went to eight other parties, the most significant of which was the Partido Renovador Social (PRS) which achieved 2.3% of the vote and 6 seats (Accord 2004).

In the presidential elections the MPLA's José Dos Santos won 49.6% of the vote, UNITA's Jonas Savimbi 40.7% and the remaining 9 candidates shared the rest, none taking more than 3% of the vote (se 1992 election presidential results for more details). In terms of the constitution, since Dos Santos failed to win an outright majority, a second round of the presidential election was required (Accord 2004).

The second round of elections never took place because Savimbi rejected the results as fraudulent and, despite efforts at mediation by the UN, withdrew his generals from the joint military command. Violence in Luanda between the two parties escalated into war by the end of October. UNITA's leadership and supporters in Luanda were massacred, but by the end of November it found itself in control of two-thirds of the country, while Huambo fell to it in March 1993 (Meijer & Birmingham 2004, Accord 2004).

The second civil war was more violent and brutal than the first. According to Meijer & Birmingham (2004), "Whole cities were reduced to ruins, hundreds of thousands of people were killed or died from war-related deprivation and disease, and millions were displaced, some for the second or even the third time". History World (undated) puts the number of displaced at 20% of the population, 2 million people, and asserts that 20 million landmines were planted.

In May the US extended recognition to the MPLA government, completing UNITA's diplomatic isolation in the UN. After repeated condemnation of Savimbi's return to war, in September 1993 the UN imposed an oil and arms embargo against UNITA. At this point UNITA was in control of 70% of Angola. In the wake of the displacements famine and disease stalked the land, with 1 000 people dying a day in mid-1993. Late in the year new talks began between the government and UNITA but broke down early in 1994 (Accord 2004).

During the course of 1993 and 1994 the government was able to regroup, rearm and return to the offensive (Angolan Embassy 1996). Renewed assaults on UNITA were financed from oil revenue, while for its part UNITA had gained control of the country's diamond fields, which provided its income. According to Eiseman (2002), "Between 1992 and 1998 UNITA raised about US$2 billion from diamond sales, far more than it ever received from international donors". The war was thus both a struggle for the oil and diamond wealth of Angola, as well as the means by which it could be prosecuted. Of the nefarious impact of oil revenue Eiseman wrote in 2002:

More than US$2 billion annual government revenue from oil exports has served as the ultimate prize for that war, encouraged corruption and patronage in the MPLA government, and allowed for almost total neglect of the non-oil economy. A third of Angolans are internal refugees displaced by war, and nearly two thirds live in poverty.

References

ACCORD 2004 "Chronology" Accord 15, [www] http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/angola/chronology.php [opens new window] (accessed 15 May 2008).

ANGOLAN EMBASSY 1996, "Government Forces Gain Ground" IN Virtual Historical Tour of Angola, Washington DC, [www] http://www.angola.org/referenc/history/tour12.html (page off-line 19 Oct 2007).

EISEMAN, M 2002, "Oil and diamonds and the prospects for recovery", EISA [www] http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/angrecovery.htm [opens new window] (accessed 19 Oct 2007).

HISTORY WORLD UNDATED, "History of Angola", [www] http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ad33 [opens new window] (accessed 19 Oct 2007).

MEIJER, G & BIRMINGHAM, D 2004, "Angola from past to present" Accord 15 [www] http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/angola/past-present.php [opens new window] (accessed 15 May 2008).