Word: swapo
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...withdrawal of South African troops from Angola, where until recently they have been waging hit-and-run offensives against the Marxist-oriented guerrillas of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), Namibia's black liberation movement...
...north, in Angola, South African troops were withdrawing from a five-week offensive against guerrilla bases of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), following the negotiation of a joint South African-Angolan disengagement agreement. That had opened the door to a once inconceivable breakthrough in Southern Africa's knottiest diplomatic problem: achieving independence for the South African-controlled territory of Namibia. The developments were a sorely needed foreign policy victory for the Reagan Administration. After three years of deep involvement in all of the negotiations, the U.S. policy of "constructive engagement," or soft-spoken diplomacy with...
...followed suddenly upon a series of peace-negotiation failures. After nearly 18 years, the war between South Africa and a handful of black guerrillas intent on liberating Namibia, held by South Africa in violation of a United Nations ruling, had vastly broadened in scope. The presence of the guerrilla SWAPO bases on its territory brought Angola into the fray, and that led South Africa to retaliate with periodic raids and support for the pro-Western rebel National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Lately, the painstaking negotiations for Namibian independence, calling for U.N.-supervised elections, have become deadlocked...
...Crocker convinced the South African leader that a pullout of his country's forces in Angola could lead to a ceasefire, paving the way for a Namibian settlement. Meanwhile, in meetings on the Cape Verde Islands, Wisner won agreement from Angola that in return it would restrain further SWAPO attacks. As the disengagement went into effect in February, a team of U.S. observers was sent to the Namibian capital of Windhoek to monitor the progress. So far, the cease-fire seems to be holding...
Political analysts have felt that Toivo's release would take place as part of an international package that would lead to Namibian independence. Yet they have also speculated that South Africa might let Toivo out of prison as a means of causing a split in SWAPO leadership. If that is the case, the South African government could not have chosen a better time to weaken the guerrilla organization: negotiations for Namibia's independence could begin at any time...