Jonas Savimbi: The Notorious Angolan Rebel Leader of Unita | African Biographics

On February 22 2002, Soldiers of the Angolan Armed Forces, assisted by Israeli surveillance experts caught up with Jonas Savimbi and killed him in the province of Moxico in central eastern Angola. Savimbi’s death marked the end of the 27 year long Angolan Civil War in which at least half a million people died in the conflict for the vast, diamond and oil-rich Southern African nation.

Jonas Savimbi, who has been described as one of the most charismatic rebels on the continent, had spent more than 35 years in the bush battling first for Angolan independence and then later for personal power. Some senior officials in Ronald Regan’s administration he was touted as being “one of the most talented charismatic of leaders in modern African history.”

However some people saw him as a stooge of capitalism and a plaything of the racist apartheid government. In this episode of African Biographics, we look at the life story of Jonas Savimbi, the Angolan rebel leader of UNITA.

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TIMESTAMPS:

INTRO: 0:00

EARLY LIFE: 01:09

JOINS POLITICS: 03:42

FORMS UNITA: 05:47

ANGOLAN INDEPENDENCE: 07:36

ANGOLAN CIVIL WAR: 08:50

CIVIL WAR HEIGHTENS: 11:50

RELATIONSHIP WITH USA: 12:42

WAR CALMS DOWN: 14:05

FIGHTING RESUMES: 15:44

DEATH AND LEGACY: 18:07

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Sources:

https://africasacountry.com/2018/10/how-to-remember-savimbi

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jonas-Savimbi

https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/savimbi-jonas-malheiro-1934-2002/

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/23/world/jonas-savimbi-67-rebel-of-charisma-and-tenacity.html

https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/african-history-biographies/jonas-savimbi

https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/23/world/angola-says-soldiers-have-killed-savimbi-longtime-rebel-leader.html
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/news/2002/feb/25/guardianobituaries.victoriabrittain

https://reliefweb.int/report/angola/bio-sketch-dr-jonas-malheiro-savimbi

https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/angolan-civil-war-1975-2002/

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Music:

Heartbreaking Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Desert City by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100564
Artist: http://incompetech.com/

John Stockton Slow Drag by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/uvp/
Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/

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