Word: unita
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Hard-core conservatives misconstrue the mission of Savimbi's National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) as an anti-Communist "war of liberation." Savimbi's supporters completely overlook the fact that the leader of UNITA has never professed an ideological preference for "democracy"; in fact, he has freely publicized his own preference for Stalinist-Maoist forms of totalitarianism. Savimbi is willing to ingratiate himself with whomever is stupid enough to help him install his own regime--and it appears that American interventionists have been duped by his disingenuous propaganda...
...conflict by accepting aid, arms and even occasional direct military support from South African forces. Angola, which used to boast a vibrant tourist industry and a comparatively energetic economy, has been devastated by the war of attrition that pits the MPLA and 30,000 Cuban troops against UNITA and the South African army...
When Savimbi came to Washington last month to seek support for his guerrilla organization, UNITA, in its struggle against the Marxist regime in Angola, he hired Black, Manafort. What the firm achieved was quickly dubbed "Savimbi chic." Doors swung open all over town for the guerrilla leader, who was dapperly attired in a Nehru suit and ferried about in a stretch limousine. Dole had shown only general interest in Savimbi's cause until Black, the Senate majority leader's former aide, approached him on his client's behalf. Dole promptly introduced a congressional resolution backing UNITA's insurgency and sent...
Despite the red carpet reception for Savimbi, Congress remains uneasy on the question of U.S. involvement in southwestern Africa's complicated political stalemate. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Dante Fascell thinks the chances are "slight to none" that aid for UNITA would survive the Capitol Hill appropriations process. One major obstacle: the crunch on foreign aid imposed by the Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction...
Nevertheless, the White House did welcome Savimbi to Washington with more than words. The Administration has already informed the Senate and House Select Committees on Intelligence that it intends to offer UNITA about $10 million in covert aid from a special discretionary fund that is not subject to congressional approval. Although ranking Republican and Democratic Senators have told the Administration they consider covert aid a bad idea, it appears that Africa's controversial freedom fighter will not go home empty-handed...