Word: luanda
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...Luanda, Agostinho Neto, head of the Soviet-backed M.P.L.A., announced the birth of the People's Republic of Angola. More or less at the same time, Holden Roberto of the F.N.L.A. (backed by Zaire, France and the U.S.) and Jonas Savimbi of UNITA (aided by Portuguese and South African business interests) jointly declared that they had formed the Democratic People's Republic of Angola, with a temporary capital in the southern city of Huambo, formerly Nova Lisboa...
TIME Nairobi Bureau Chief Lee Griggs, who observed independence-day celebrations in Luanda, reported that "the excited M.P.L.A. soldiers began indiscriminately firing their rifles in the air. Some shots whizzed less than 20 feet over the heads of the frightened crowd. A Red Cross DC-6, returning to the nearby airport from a relief mission, was hit by two bullets as it made its final approach but managed to land safely. The incident was quickly reported to a Portuguese Airways Boeing 747 entering the pattern, causing the cautious pilot to change course and head back to Lisbon. Ironically, the jumbo...
...following day, after being sworn in as President in Luanda's faded green city hall, Neto reviewed his forces. Past him paraded M.P.L.A. regulars, with their Soviet-built mobile antiaircraft guns, automatic weapons and armored cars. Then came brigades of the Young Pioneers, boys aged eight to twelve, dressed in cut-down camouflage uniforms. They, along with recently trained civilians, will be mobilized if the capital comes under attack...
...that war, the F.N.L.A. and UNITA forces have made spectacular gains in recent weeks. Two months ago, the M.P.L.A. controlled twelve of Angola's 16 districts; it now appears to have only six. At week's end columns of troops were moving toward Luanda from two sides; the F.N.L.A. was a mere dozen miles to the north of the city and had already come close enough to mortar the pipeline carrying the capital its water from the Bengo River. As a result, the few VIPS attending the M.P.L.A.'S independence ceremonies were unwashed and unshaven. Meanwhile, UNITA...
...once thriving city is now jittery and almost eerily quiet," reported TIME Nairobi Bureau Chief Lee Griggs from Luanda. "For weeks, residents have been dragooned into daily workouts at a dusty soccer field to practice street-fighting techniques; the sessions include being stomped by instructors to toughen stomach muscles. All Angolan males between 18 and 35 have been declared part of a 'Popular Power Militia.' Meanwhile garbage piles up in the streets, attracting scores of scrawny, scavenging dogs and cats abandoned by their departing owners. Most buses have broken down and roadways are littered with wrecked cars...