Savimbi Dead;War in Colombia

Jonas Savimbi, head of UNITA, National Union for the Total Independence of 
Angola, counterrevolutionary extraordinaire, ally of such humanist 
illuminaries as Reagan, Bush, the CIA, the DeBeers Corporation, Israel, and 
apartheid South Africa, murderer of thousands of innocent Angolan civilians, 
subverter of the Angolan state and its independence, has reportedly been 
killed earlier today in skirmishes with the Angolan Armed Forces.

I sincerely hope that this is a sign that peace will come to the Angolan 
people after they have suffered so much, not only since 1975, when the civil 
war began, but for more than five centuries of exploitation, colonization, 
slavery, and indignity.  What is needed now is real leadership from MPLA, 
the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, and a real commitment on 
their part to peace.  It would also be nice if the ruling party wasn't a 
client to transnational capitalism, but that is a different issue 
altogether.

We also recognize another people who have been involved in a long and bloody 
civil war: the people of Colombia, and the decision of the Colombian 
government, fully backed by arms and billions of dollars in aid from the 
U.S., to attack areas held by the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of 
Colombia.  Given, the FARC are no angels themselves, but it has been 
documented that the state army and right-wing paramilitary death squads 
aligned with the state (although they continuously claim otherwise) are 
responsible for the vasy majority of civilian deaths during the civil war.  
This new incursion into rebel territory will undoubtedly result in the death 
and displacement of many more innocent people.

As Angola at least symbolically moves out of an era of perpetual despair, 
suffering, violence, and death, Colombia re-enters into such an era.  In 
both situations we see the tentacles of U.S. interference and imperialism in 
propping up and arming the most reactionary, murderous forces as long as 
they comply with U.S. demands and policy.

So on this day we hope, and we act, for a real peace in Angola and Colombia 
and across the world, for the end of the exploitation of corporate 
globalization, the suffering of war, and the insanity of our apathy which 
allows these things to happen.

Relevant reports below:

TERRORIST SAVIMBI KILLED
The Angolan army says it has killed Jonas Savimbi. A statement, read on 
state media, said Savimbi died during an army attack his forces in southeast 
Angola. There was no independent confirmation of the claim and the statement 
did not say where or when Savimbi was killed. Jonas Savimbi was the leader 
of a group of terrorists and mercenaries known as UNITA. Earlier this week 
the army announced it had captured the deputy commander of UNITA and three 
other top officers during a military operation to encircle the group's 
leadership. Angola's MPLA government has been locked in a civil war with 
Unita for 26 years. The conflict has killed about a million people and has 
created more than four million refugees in and outside Angola. The UNITA war 
effort is funded by illicit diamonds.
Sources: Ananova, Republic of Angola Website, AP, The Post (Lusaka)
---

Forças Armadas Angolanas abateram Jonas Savimbi

O presidente da UNITA, Jonas Savimbi está morto. O anúncio chegou hoje 
através de um comunicado divulgado pelas Forças Armadas Angolanas que 
afirmam terem abatido Savimbi.

Esta informação divulgada através da Rádio Nacional de Angola foi também 
confirmada pelo Governo de Luanda.

As Forças Armadas Angolanas terão efectuado um ataque à coluna militar da 
UNITA na província de Moxico, no leste de Angola pelas 15 horas locais.

Segundo Almiro da Conceição, o porta-voz da presidência da República 
angolana, o corpo do líder da União Nacional da República Angolana 
encontra-se na posse das forças armadas governamentais.

O porta-voz disse ainda que vai informar oficialmente a troika de 
observadores - Portugal, Estados Unidos e Rússia -, de quem espera uma 
"reacção razoável, de compreensão".

Entretanto, um comunicado avançado pelo Governo da República de Angola apela 
a "todos aqueles que voluntária ou involuntariamente se tenham associado a 
essas práticas terroristas, para que reconsiderem a sua opção e se 
reintegrem a partir de agora na vida normal do país, contribuindo assim para 
o processo de democratização e reconciliação nacional".

Segundo a agência noticiosa Angola Press, o Governo em tempo oportuno, "e 
consoante os sinais que receber da parte daqueles que ainda se encontrem de 
armas na mão, irá emitir um comunicado contendo um programa detalhado para a 
cessação definitiva de todas as hostilidades em Angola".

No comunicado, o Governo reitera o seu propósito de implementar na 
totalidade o Protocolo de Lusaka e considera também que todos os partidos 
políticos angolanos são necessários para a democratização de Angola.

O executivo angolano exorta toda a população para que se mantenha calma e 
serena, respeitando a lei e a ordem, particularmente o direito à diferença e 
à convivência pacífica entre todos os angolanos.
Source: O Diario de Noticias, Portugal
---

UNITA não se pronuncia
Governo angolano anuncia morte de Jonas Savimbi

   O Governo angolano anunciou hoje, em comunicado lido na Rádio Nacional de 
Angola, a morte de Jonas Savimbi, o líder da UNITA. A informação carece 
ainda de confirmação de fonte independente.

Jonas Malheiro Savimbi terá sido abatido na província do Moxico (Leste de 
Angola), durante uma operação das Forças Armadas Angolanas, que resultou 
ainda na morte de outros elementos da UNITA. De acordo com o texto, a 
operação terá sido desencadeada às 14h00, hora de Lisboa, contra uma coluna 
do movimento em que alegadamente seguiria Savimbi.

No comunicado, o Governo angolano admite decretar um cessar-fogo definitivo, 
fazendo depender esta hipótese das reacções da UNITA à morte do seu líder. O 
comunicado governamental seguiu-se a uma nota do Estado-Maior das FAA, que 
noticiava igualmente a morte do líder do movimento do Galo Negro.

"Não nos vamos pronunciar sobre isso. Vamos aguardar", afirmou ao PÚBLICO 
uma fonte da UNITA, que pediu para não ser identificada, sublinhando que 
esta é a posição oficial do movimento. "O Governo angolano anunciou muitas 
vezes a morte e a prisão do doutor Jonas Savimbi. Ainda ontem entrámos em 
contacto com a direcção e estava tudo bem", afirmou a mesma fonte. "O MPLA é 
hábil 'em matar' e 'enterrar' o presidente Jonas Savimbi", acrescentou.

No início do mês de Janeiro, um comunicado das FAA anunciava a morte de 
Alcides Sakala, responsável pelas Relações Exteriores da UNITA, e a detenção 
de Paulo Lukamba Gato, secretário-geral do movimento, numa acção contra uma 
coluna militar, igualmente na província do Moxico. Esta informação seria 
categoricamente negada pela direcção da UNITA.

O porta-voz da Presidência angolana, Aldemiro da Conceição, acrescentou, em 
declarações à TSF, que o corpo está na posse das FAA e vai ser mostrado nas 
próximas horas.

Para já, o Presidente da República e o Governo português escusaram-se a 
comentar a notícia. O embaixador português em Luanda afirmou não ter sido 
contactado pessoalmente por qualquer responsável angolano, referindo ter 
apenas conhecimento da notícia através dos comunicados oficiais. Fernando 
Neves afirma que em Luanda foram ouvidos vários tiros de regozijo, mas que o 
ambiente permanece calmo.
Source: publico.pt
---

Savimbi 'killed' by Angolan army

The Angolan authorities say the veteran rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is dead.
A government statement said Mr Savimbi had been killed in fighting between 
Angolan army forces and his Unita rebels on Friday.

There has been no independent confirmation of the reported death of Mr 
Savimbi who has led Unita for more than 30 years.

The rebel movement has been engaged in civil war in Angola almost 
continuously since 1975 and for a while in 1992 controlled more than half 
the country.

'Closing in'
The Angolan Government said Mr Savimbi had been killed in the rural eastern 
province of Moxico - about 700 kilometres (480 miles) south-east of the 
capital, Luanda.

A spokesman for President Jose Eduardo dos Santos said the army was holding 
Mr Savimbi's body in Moxico.

"We are going to broadcast television footage of the body," the spokesman 
was quoted as saying.

A Unita representative in Portugal dismissed the reports of Mr Savimbi's 
death, saying they were simply propapanda.

However the BBC's Justin Pearce in Luanda says that while in the past the 
Angolan army has exaggerated its reports of military victories, it would be 
unlikely to issue a false report on a matter of such importance.

Since late last year, the Angolan army has been waging a renewed military 
campaign against Unita in Moxico province, which was seen as the last rebel 
stronghold.

The army had said it was closing in on Mr Savimbi, and several senior rebel 
officers were captured in the area.

Jonas Savimbi was born in 1934 and founded Unita - the National Union for 
the Total Independence of Angola - in the late 1960s as a rival movement to 
the MPLA which later became the government.

No peace in sight
Unita has been fighting against the Luanda government since 1975 when civil 
war erupted after Angola's independence from Portugal.

Elections were held during a ceasefire in 1992, but Unita did not accept the 
results and fighting resumed.

Another attempt to find peace in 1994 finally broke down in 1998 and the 
country returned to war.

The conflict in Angola is estimated to have killed more than 500,000 people, 
and displaced hundreds of thousands of others.

News of Mr Savimbi's death has been greeted with jubilation in Luanda.

People drove round the city sounding their car horns and firing off flares 
into the air.
Source: 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1836000/1836737.stm
---

Links to News Coverage:
http://www.cnnemportugues.com/
http://colombia.indymedia.org/
http://www.indymedia.org/
http://dn.sapo.pt/homepage/homepage.asp
http://brasil.indymedia.org/
http://southafrica.indymedia.org/
http://pt.indymedia.org/

Colombia Mobilization, Washington, D.C., April 19-22:
http://www.soaw.org/colombiaMobilization.html
http://www.colombiamobilization.org/

Information on Angola:
http://www.synapse.net/~acdi20/country/angola.htm
http://www.angola.org/index.htm
http://www.rhodesia.myweb.nl/marquez.htm
http://www.granma.cu/che/africa.html
http://newssearch.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/talking_point/debates/african/newsid_533000/533313.stm

Information on Colombia:
http://www.colombiareport.org/index.htm
http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2000/colombia07072000.html
http://www.commoncouragepress.com/colombia/
http://www.derechos.net/paulwolf/colombia/drugwar.htm
http://www.farc-ep.org/



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We declare our right on this earth ... to be a human being, to be respected 
as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, 
on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any 
means necessary. -Malcolm X
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