Word: luanda
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...theory, the 100,000 soldiers of the Angolan army, backed by as many as 40,000 Cuban troops and more than 1,500 Soviet and East German advisers, should have gained the upper hand long ago. Luanda has received $2 billion in military hardware from Moscow in recent years; airports are crowded with Soviet assault helicopters and fighter aircraft, and ports provide havens for Soviet warships. Despite this mighty arsenal, some Angolan troops are in rags and many are demoralized. Observes a church worker who has lived in the country three years: "When things get tough, they peel off their...
Savimbi's 40,000 UNITA fighters, backed by an estimated 20,000 South African troops stationed across the border in the South African-controlled territory of South West Africa, or Namibia, have extended their operations to within 40 miles of Luanda. In addition to their military successes, the rebels scored a diplomatic triumph earlier this year when President Reagan welcomed Savimbi to Washington and promised him $15 million for new equipment...
UNITA's efforts to topple the Luanda government have laid waste the countryside. Since the war began, guerrilla attacks and government mismanagement have combined to drive food production down by 80%; even in the fertile savanna plateau running across the heart of the country, half the children are suffering from malnutrition. Angola's diamond production, which once ranked fourth in the world, has plummeted by nearly 70%. Only the country's vast oil resources, including those controlled by Chevron Corp.'s subsidiary Gulf, continue to bolster the war effort. However, there are estimates that almost half of last year...
...been thrown into chaos. These days a dollar will buy more than 1,500 kwanza on the black market, or 50 times as much as at the official exchange rate. At bank rates, a sack of potatoes costs $100. Some 750,000 squatters jam the garbage-filled streets of Luanda, where many scrounge through trash cans for food and live in shacks. Even a confidential Soviet report on the capital acknowledged its "sense of hopelessness...
...part, Dos Santos, a Soviet-trained petroleum engineer, has shown an increasing inclination to distance his regime from Moscow. The Luanda government, for example, has accepted $100 million in development aid from the European Community. Still, with UNITA extending its influence, the war- weary Angolan army has gradually come under the control of Soviet military technicians. "Dos Santos must move very carefully in dealing with the Soviets," says one foreign diplomat in Luanda. "He does not yet enjoy enough of a power base to keep the Soviets in line -- or to do without them." At the same time, the President...