Angola–Cuba Declaration of 1984

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In the Angola–Cuba Declaration of 1984, signed 19 March 1984 in Havana by president José Eduardo dos Santos of Angola and Fidel Castro, premier of Cuba, the two countries agreed to the withdrawal of Cuban forces from Angola after the withdrawal of South African troops from Angola and Namibia, and after UN-Security Council resolution 435 on Namibian independence was strictly applied.[1]

Soon after getting independence from Portugal in 1975, civil war was fought among the three leading groups in Angola. Angola's three main guerrilla groups agreed to establish a transitional government in January 1975. Within two months, however, the FNLA, MPLA and UNITA had started fighting each other and the country began splitting into zones controlled by rival armed political groups.

The MPLA gained control of the capital Luanda and much of the rest of the country. With the support of the United States, Zaïre and South Africa intervened militarily in favour of the FNLA and UNITA with the intention of taking Luanda before the declaration of independence. In response, Cuba intervened in favor of the MPLA, which became a flash point for the Cold War. With Cuban support, the MPLA held Luanda and declared independence on 11 November 1975, with Agostinho Neto becoming the first president, though the civil war continued. José Eduardo dos Santos became the first elected President of Angola from the MPLA-LT and continued to get the support of Cuba.

Background

Jonas Savimbi, the leader or UNITA, the major opposition party

Angola was a colony of

National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), founded in 1966. After many years of conflict that weakened all of the insurgent parties, Angola gained its independence on 11 November 1975, after the 1974 coup d'état in Lisbon, Portugal, which overthrew the Portuguese régime headed by Marcelo Caetano.[2]

Portugal's

retornados.[2] The new Portuguese government tried to mediate an understanding between the three competing movements, which was initially agreed by the movements, but later disagreed. After it gained independence in November 1975, Angola experienced a devastating civil war which lasted several decades. It claimed millions of lives and produced many refugees; it didn't end until 2002.[3]

José Eduardo dos Santos who won and became the President of Angola in the elections

Following negotiations held in Portugal, itself experiencing severe social and political turmoil and uncertainty due to the April 1974 revolution, Angola's three main guerrilla groups agreed to establish a transitional government in January 1975. Within two months, however, the FNLA, MPLA and UNITA had started fighting each other and the country began splitting into zones controlled by rival armed political groups. The MPLA gained control of the capital Luanda and much of the rest of the country. With the support of the United States, Zaïre and South Africa intervened militarily in favour of the FNLA and UNITA with the intention of taking Luanda before the declaration of independence.[4] In response, Cuba intervened in favor of the MPLA, which became a flash point for the Cold War. With Cuban support, the MPLA held Luanda and declared independence on 11 November 1975, with Agostinho Neto becoming the first president, though the civil war continued. At this time, most of the half-million Portuguese who lived in Angola – and who had accounted for the majority of the skilled workers in public administration, agriculture, industries and trade – fled the country, leaving its once prosperous and growing economy in a state of bankruptcy.[5]

Cuban intervention in Angola

AIDS while at Angola, but it was strongly denied.[6]

Declaration

The declaration was a confirmation of a joint declaration by the two governments made 4 February 1982. The declaration reaffirmed that Angola and Cuba “will resume, by their own decision and in exercise of their sovereignty, the execution of the gradual withdrawal of the Cuban internationalist military contingent as soon as the following requisites are fulfilled;

See also

References

  1. ^ Encyclopedia of the United Nations and international agreements, Vol. 1 by Edmund Jan Osmańczyk, Anthony Mango, 2002, p. 96
  2. ^ a b "Dismantling the Portuguese Empire". Time. 7 July 1975. Archived from the original on January 13, 2009.
  3. ^ Stuart A. Notholt (1998). "The Decolonization of Portuguese Africa: Metropolitan Revolution and the Dissolution of Empire by Norrie MacQueen – Mozambique since Independence: Confronting Leviathan by Margaret Hall & Tom Young". African Affairs. 97 (387): 276–278.
    JSTOR 723274
    .
  4. ^ "Americas Third World War: How 6 million People Were killed in CIA secret wars against third world countries". Imperial Beach, California: Information Clearing House]. 16 November 1981. Archived from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  5. ^ "The Economist: Flight from Angola". 16 August 1975.
  6. ^ "Cuba sets terms for withdrawal of its 25,000 troops in Angola". The New York Times. Hawana. 1 February 1987. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Cuba's withdrawal of troops". Texas University. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Cuba sets terms for withdrawal of its 25,000 troops in Angola". The New York Times. Hawana. 19 March 1984. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
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