Word: unita
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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...
Blood and Tears. The chances of such an attack are growing. In Huambo, after lighting a freedom torch, UNITA's chief Savimbi told a crowd that "these celebrations may last a day, but our war for final victory -through blood and tears-will take much longer...
...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...
Most foreign observers doubt that either the M.P.L.A. or the UNITA-F.N.L.A. coalition is strong enough to win a decisive victory. A long civil war in Angola, however, could involve an increasing number of interested nations. Zaire, for example, might find itself in conflict with the Congo Republic over control of the rich oil deposits in the M.P.L.A.-controlled enclave of Cabinda. Last week there were reports of clashes between units of a Zaire-backed independence front in Cabinda and M.P.L.A. soldiers. Moreover, the Soviet Union seems alarmingly determined to make Angola-by means of the M.P.L.A.-a major...
Even then, the outcome may be a partitioning of the country into the three areas where the movements have their greatest indigenous support-the M.P.L.A. along the coastline and in the northern and eastern interior, the F.N.L.A. in the northwest and UNITA in the central and southern part of the country. Angola's resources are divided in such a way that each of the areas could be economically viable. But if it takes three years of bloodletting on the scale of the past twelve months to reach that solution, then everyone will be a loser in the wake...