Opposition to Portuguese colonialism In September 1961, African students from Portuguese colonies studying abroad formed União Geral dos Estudantes da Africa Negra Sob Dominacão Colonial Portuguesa (UGEAN) during a meeting in
Rabat, Morocco. UGEAN maintained an affiliation with the MPLA. While continuing to study in Switzerland, Savimbi maintained an active leadership position in União Nacional dos Estudantes Angolanos (UNEA). In September 1961, he traveled to
Yugoslavia for the first summit of the
Non-Aligned Movement, and he and Holden Roberto then visited the
United Nations in New York City that autumn. In December 1961, Roberto chaired a meeting at Camp Green Lane in
Green Lane, Pennsylvania, near
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which Savimbi attended. Following this meeting, in March 1962 in
Lucerne, Switzerland, Savimbi became one of several founding organizers and was elected secretary-general of UNEA. Savimbi was also a member of UPA's executive committee, in which he encouraged the Partido Democrático de Angola (PDA) to join UNEA in a united front with the UPA, which led to the founding of the Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola (
FNLA), which then formed Governo Revolucionário de Angola no Exílio (GREA) on April 3, 1962, in which Savimbi served as foreign minister.
Angolan War of Independence In the early 1960s, seeking a leadership position in the
MPLA, Savimbi joined the
MPLA Youth in the early 1960s. He was rebuffed by the MPLA, and joined forces with the
National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) in 1964. The same year, Savimbi conceived UNITA with
Antonio da Costa Fernandes. Savimbi went to China for help and was promised arms and military training. Upon returning to Angola in 1966, he launched UNITA and began his career as an anti-Portuguese guerrilla fighter. He also fought the FNLA and MPLA, as the three resistance movements tried to position themselves to lead a post-colonial Angola. In 2008,
PIDE, Portugal's secret police, released documents revealing that, prior to Angola's independence in 1975, Savimbi signed a collaboration pact with the agency to fight the MPLA. Following the
Angolan War of Independence in 1975, Savimbi began gradually drawing the attention of
Chinese and, ultimately,
American policymakers and intellectuals. In the 1960s, Savimbi received military training in China, and began developing as a highly successful
guerrilla fighter schooled in classic
Maoist approaches to warfare, including baiting his enemies with multiple military fronts, some of which attacked and some of which consciously retreated. Like the
People's Liberation Army of
Mao Zedong, Savimbi mobilized important ethnic segments of the rural peasantry, especially among Angola's
Ovimbundu tribe, which proved a central component of his military tactics. From a military strategy standpoint, he is considered one of the most effective guerrilla leaders of the 20th century.
Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War emerged as a central proxy war in the
Cold War. Beginning in 1974, the MPLA was supported by the
Soviet Union. Three years later, in 1977, the MPLA declared itself
Marxist-Leninist. Savimbi, on the other hand, subsequently renounced his earlier Maoist leanings and contacts with China, and presented himself globally as an
anti-communist.
United States support in the
Oval Office in 1986 in 1990 In 1985, with the backing of the
Reagan administration and aided by lobbying efforts from
Paul Manafort and his firm,
Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, which was paid $600,000 annually from Savimbi beginning in 1985,
Jack Abramoff and other U.S. conservatives organized the
Democratic International in Savimbi's base in
Jamba, in
Cuando Cubango Province in southeastern Angola. Savimbi's U.S.-based supporters ultimately proved successful in convincing the
Central Intelligence Agency to channel covert weapons and recruit guerrillas for Savimbi's war against Angola's Marxist government. During a visit to
Washington, D.C. in 1986, Reagan invited Savimbi to meet with him at the
White House. Following the meeting, Reagan spoke of UNITA winning "a victory that electrifies the world." Two years later, with the Angolan Civil War intensifying, Savimbi returned to Washington, where he praised the Heritage Foundation's work on UNITA's behalf. In visits to foreign diplomats and in speeches before American audiences, he often cited classical Western political and social philosophy, ultimately becoming one of the most vocal anti-communists of the
Third World. Savimbi's biography describes him as "an incredible linguist. He spoke four European languages, including English although he had never lived in an English-speaking country. He was extremely well read. He was an extremely fine conversationalist and a very good listener." By 1989, UNITA held total control of several limited areas, but was able to develop significant guerrilla operations everywhere in Angola, with the exception of the coastal cities and
Namibe Province. At the height of his military success, in 1989 and 1990, Savimbi was beginning to launch attacks on government and military targets in and around the country's capital,
Luanda. Observers felt that the strategic balance in Angola had shifted and that Savimbi was positioning UNITA for a possible military victory.
1990s , UNITA's headquarters in southeastern Angola. Under his image, the caption reads, "Here in Jamba of the elephants, on the banks of vanished rivers, on the frontier at the end of the earth, it was here that courage and bravery were bred." In January 1990 and again in February 1990, Savimbi was wounded in armed conflict with Angolan government troops. The injuries did not prevent him from again returning to Washington, where he met with his American supporters and President Bush in an effort to further increase US military assistance to UNITA. Savimbi's supporters warned that continued Soviet support for the MPLA was threatening broader global collaboration between Gorbachev and the US. In February 1992, Antonio da Costa Fernandes and Nzau Puna defected from UNITA, declaring publicly that Savimbi was not interested in a political contest, but on preparing another war. In late October 1992, Savimbi dispatched UNITA Vice President
Jeremias Chitunda and UNITA senior advisor
Elias Salupeto Pena to Luanda to negotiate the details of the run-off election. On 2 November 1992 in Luanda, Chitunda and Pena's convoy was attacked by government forces and they were both pulled from their car and shot dead. Their bodies were taken by government authorities and never seen again. The MPLA offensive against UNITA and the FNLA has come to be known as the
Halloween Massacre where over 10,000 of their voters were massacred nationwide by MPLA forces. Alleging governmental electoral fraud and questioning the government's commitment to peace, Savimbi withdrew from the run-off election and resumed fighting, mostly with foreign funds. UNITA again quickly advanced militarily, encircling the nation's capital of
Luanda. In 1994, UNITA signed a new peace accord. Savimbi declined the vice-presidency that was offered to him and again renewed fighting in 1998. Savimbi reportedly purged those within UNITA whom he saw as threats to his leadership or as questioning his strategic course. According to
Fred Bridgland, Savimbi's foreign secretary
Tito Chingunji and much of his family, possibly numbering more than 60, were murdered in 1991 after Savimbi suspected that Chingunji had been in secret, unapproved negotiations with the Angolan government during Chingunji's various diplomatic assignments in Europe and the United States. Savimbi denied his involvement in the Chingunji killing and blamed it on UNITA dissidents. In May 1992, the high-ranking UNITA members
Tony da Costa Fernandes and
Miguel N'Zau Puna left the rebel group, stating that at least five people had been executed on Savimbi's orders in August 1991. These included Chingunji, his brother-in-law, his sister and the latter's two children (aged 6 and 13). ==Death==