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THE
SANCTIONS AGAINST UNITA ARE A CRIME AND MUST END AS SOON AS POSSIBLE...
137TH TEXT OF THIS CIVIL WAR THAT ENG. EDUARDO DOS SANTOS
AS FORCED ON US.
THE TWELVE PEACE PROPOSALS OF UNITA
On the 29th of October, of the year 2000, from the Free Lands
of Angola, came out a Document of UNITA's Direction. It was published in
Portugal under the title of IN MEMORY OF ENG. JEREMIAS KALANDULA CHITUNDA.
In this Document the Direction of UNITA shows how the
Totalitarian Regime of the Mpla has made it harder on the Angolan people to
reach the goal of an Independent, Democratic and Developed Country.
The Document also contains the Twelve Proposals for Peace of
UNITA, which was presented to the Angolan People and the International Community
as another mean to reach peace.
This useless Civil war forced on the Angolan people has been
going on for two years, for too long. This document pays respect to Eng.
Chitunda, an Angolan hero, a citizen of peace, an investigator and a renowned
diplomat. In homage, UNITA relates this man of Peace to another Peace Proposal,
for this 3rd Civil War.
Angola could have been born with honour, openly and with a
positive economical background, even if with serious social problems. Instead
these last 25 years turned it into a project-nation, permanently delayed.
It's upon these years of delay that these twelve peace
proposals now emerge.
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1. Real National Independence as opposed to
neo-colonialism. During the times of the colonies, Angola exported a great
deal of products. In the agriculture area it exported coffee and sisal. In
the mining business there were diamonds, oil, iron and gold. Angola had an
Industrial sector for Internal Production and it was self-sufficient in the
Fishing, Energy and Water areas.
Angola had a road plan that reinforced its' outside
relationships and that allowed the free circulation of People and Property in
its' Regions. The "proclamation of the independence of Angola, on the
11th of November of 1975, following free and fair elections" was ignored
in Alvor and a Civil war was forced on the Angolan people. All those who
didn't belong to the Mpla, who joined UNITA or the FNLA, lived in an
exclusion-based independence. As a result of that instability "Cubans
kept on going to Angolan soil until they were 70 000", making Angola an
immense battlefield. From the Book Cubans in Angola, written by the diplomat
Carlos António Carrasco - and he's no friend to UNITA too... - we can
retrieve the following: "... in the eleven months that followed the
Angolan independence, the ex-USSR subscribed with that country a treaty of
Peace and Co-operation. This treaty was followed by a "program of
economical and technical co-operation" signed on the 21st of January of
1982, an "Agreement on Naval Repairs" signed during May of 1982 and
in May of 1983, president "dos Santos" subscribed another three
documents of co-operation between fellow parties, a "plan of
multiplication of shared information between the two parties" and a
"protocol of cultural and scientific co-operation "". We
mustn't forget the part of the United Sates. From the same author we learned
that in the first decade that the Mpla was in the government, American
companies "exploited oil reserves estimated in 1, 7 billion barrels of
oil of high quality", investing "millions of dollars in profitable
operations". By 1985, "the USA were the number one client of Angola,
with an annual expense of mutual exchanges of one billion dollars". The
real problem isn't this intense economical activity that the totalitarian
regime shared with the USA and the USSR (although that is a problem).
The problem is in the lack of benefits that the Angolan
people extracted from those activities. Mostly damaged were those who stood by
UNITA, but Mpla also suffered the consequences. What came out from both sides
were Famine, illiteracy, external debt and the destruction of all the start-up
conditions left by the Portuguese colonial system.
On one side there was a self-imposed regime, supported by
foreign influence. On the other, the need to survive. According to data
extracted in 1998 by the "L'État du Monde", the Angolan external
debt is of 12173 million dollars.
The Public Expense and Defence also presented a deficit of
11, 5% from the PIB that tipped over the 40% of the State Budget of 1999. The
Exports are making an enormous effort to pay back the 24, 1 % of the service
of the Angolan debt. Angola is tired of enduring this exploitation of its'
natural resources.
Tired of living with this elite, dependent of
international interests, that never goes according the national ones. It's
natural that the defence of a real and anti-neo-colonial independence is on
the top of the lists of UNITA' s revindications.
According to the report on Human Rights in the World from
the American Department of State, most Angolan live on 2, 5 US dollars/month.
An important part of the Angolan people watches their villages being bombed
with chemical weapons and the international community sits still. Another part
are refugees and some other have found refuge in the old colonial towns,
waiting for the promised 2001 elections... where they'll have to vote for a
futunguist Mpla and for the foreign interests that the Mpla represents in
Angola. Who are the Angolan people? The citizens living in the cities of the
coast? This is exactly the method that the colonial system used to distinguish
those who lived along from those who survived. We're a Black Country. Is that
possible to ignore? That should be seen in all instances of power, politics,
economical and social. Is it still possible to neglect all the Nations that
exist inside Angola?
Since we've stopped discussing this matter as we had
done since 1975, aren't we contributing to destroying the possibility of true
independence?
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3. National unity and equality to all Angolan under the
law. Assuring the right to live and the right of equality, without
exclusions or humiliations, rejecting all forms of colonial heritages. Each
time an aeroplane bombs an Angolan village with chemical weapons, what does
the villager think about equal rights, specially when his brother is living
in R. de Luanda, in Alvalade. 41, 48% of young people living in Portugal
don't have access to school or education.
Do they believe they have their right of opportunities
assured? Or do they know that the 40% going for the state could work things
out. The Mothers and Fathers of the 125 each thousand children that die per
year do they think there's equality for all Angolan under this war? The kidnap
of the son of the leader of the opposition party, UNITA, is the most
outrageous deed yet. It's representative of the need to end the humiliation
between the Angolan people.
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4. The creation of a true, democratic State of Right,
with a real delegation of powers. Let us start by asking: is there a State
in Angola? Can we continually forget the urgency of erecting a State of
Right in Angola? IS it possible to build it excluding the people that only
know the strength of cannons and the power of chemical bombs?
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5. To assure the respect and the freedom of independent
media. I refuse to mention more than has been said by Rafael Marques,
William Tonet, etc. Their statements are enough to reinforce this
item.
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6. Defining the guide lines of the social and economical
development of the country The International Money Fund and the World Bank
are honest enough to try and persuade the Angolan government to be more
transparent. Have they succeeded without the help of the Angolan people? Who
can have faith in the possibility of development when there isn't even a
national project, being discussed in a free National Assembly? Can the
Angolan State, today composed of an elite that wasn't chosen by the people,
understand the need of development of the country?
Creating trust between Angolan will only come through a
free and open discussion. That is the kind of trust needed to Reconcile the
Angolan people. An open discussion that does not neglect international
commitments, the external debt and solutions for Angola. Every day that goes
by and this war goes on, equals one opportunity lost for peace in Angola. This
reality is undeniable. More than the opportunity of Development, we're
assassinating a Country. On whose behalf? What's all this fuss about diamonds,
when every one shuts up when oil is mentioned?
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7. The creation of a transitional government, of great
national awareness. The mandate of the actual parliament ended in October of
1996. Since 1992, the actual state leader turned into a candidate to the
second turn of the elections, side by side with the president of UNITA. The
creation of a true State in Angola must guide itself along the lines of
awareness and fairness. So that everyone can identify with it, ensuring
stability and confidence. Plus, those who, so far, have been kept out should
carry out the creation of such a State. The trust the Nation requires must
contemplate that.
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How many doctors, teachers, nurses, etc from UNITA were
integrated in the Central and Local Administration? How many from the FNLA?
How about the rest of the parties of the opposition? What manner of trust
does a government pass out, when it leaves behind those who politically
oppose to it? Leaving behind part of a Nation... But are there really any
ways to make it better? Evidently, yes! 40% of the National Angolan Budget
is spent on armament. We only need to remember how paralysed the Angolan
economy is, consequently to a war imposed on us. The Angolan war forces a
continuos maintenance of an army of 200 000 citizens, divided in each sides
of the conflict. This number is only two times bigger than the intervention
task force of the European Union. In fact, the only thing Angola could be
proud of is the fact that it has the biggest army in the world. Evidently,
the re-structure of this sad reality can't happen turned against those who
took part of the conflict, some because they were force, others merely to
survive. It is essential to maintain the principle of good will and make
these two structures trust each other without feeling the Nation abandoning
them.
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8. The independence of the public administration, the
police and the Army from the dominant political party. We must understand
that the growth of the IPB of 0, 2%, between 1988 and 1998, only happened
because the main strategy of the government at that time, was war. We must
believe that an economy of Peace generates Wealth, Jobs and Stability for
everyone We must all believe that in the public administration, in the army
and in the police the main goal is to serve the Nation, not a party. For
that to happen is fundamental that those kept out of the system so far,
start integrating the boards in the public administration, in the army and
in the police, not minding about ethnical, origins or political options. Is
there a cost? No doubt. Democracy comes with a cost. Peace comes with a
cost. But Peace, like democracy, generates efficiency. An efficiency that
the current government does not have, or never did.
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9. A realistic approach on the Cabinda issue. Cabinda has
been a factor of instability for Angola. There are, at least, two kinds of
problems in Cabinda. One result from the harsh way the government of Luanda
tried to handle the issue, neglecting History and linearly taking for
granted the boundaries of the colonial Angola. A reaction typical of the
totalitarians. The other problem comes from the way the Cabinda resources
were used without benefit to the citizens of Cabinda. Today, Cabinda deals
with an extreme conflict situation. To reach a solution the Cabindas must be
granted the right to solve their future.
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10. The creation of a national commission to control and
manage the use of public finances. Particularly the gains obtained from oil
and diamonds. This national commission would work side by side with the
international team of auditorship. At 800 000 barrels of oil per day at
three francs each, means a commission of 13 million dollars per year. It's
based on these premises that we must reflect - the Nation is stolen at a
rate of one dollar per person, per year. This in a country where 40% of the
citizens don't make more than 30 dollars per year, according to the
Department of State of the USA. So, 40% of the Angolan people are deprived
of 3% of their annual gains... according to Mr. Tarallo of the ELF, This is
the meaning of the commissions Eng. Dos Santos gets paid by the oil
companies of the world. There are other "pay-offs" from the
acquisition of weaponry and outside goods... This situation must end.
Observed form the context of a potential investment, the conclusions are
even more serious... and it gets worst if we reflect upon the ethical side
of the issue facing the wealth of a Nation.
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11. The creation and the defence of an open mentality,
ready to dialogue with the neighbour countries, ending the bellicose
policies. It's in a pan African scenery that we'll find peace for Angola We
all saw in the International Social Communication, the Chief of the Higher
State of Armed Forces of the Zambia, being blackmailed and pressured by the
Angolan army, Hitler-style - as it seems to have become a fashion amongst
African leaders. We're also aware of the illegal presence of the Angolan
army in the Republic of the Congo and in the Republic of Namibia. We know
about the presence of Portuguese, Israelite, Zambian, Brazilian, Russian and
Namibian citizens, in Angolan territory. These days we are not a country,
but a central of conflict and a test base for military experimentation. It
takes nothing from them, and costs everything to us. This is the result of
policies based on revolution or the regional Angolan Power. Which is the new
concept behind military impulses and old murderers. We could be watching the
presence of Zambian technicians, discussing the railroad of Benguela wit h
us. Or the presence of Namibian technicians discussing with us the strategic
management of hydraulic streams. There's much to be done in the pan African
scenery. Much more important things than arguing about each military force,
while on the outside economy goes global, and knowledge spreads worldwide.
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12. The creation of an independent electoral committee.
Once the political psychological and material conditions have been gathered
and the legislative and presidential elections have been carried out, the
elected Parliament must decide on the criteria of the Political parties.
Many international chancelleries today, defend the happening of a
sketch-like election in 2001 to justify the unjustifiable. To ignore the
existence of a mistake amidst the International Community. We must end the
petty talk. There are lives at stake here. UNITA faces the world with a
serious, positive reflection. One which is interested in search of solutions
for a conflict that's 25 years old. As many as the Angolan nation. The same
people that were behind the destruction of Angola in 1975, in 1992, in 1994
and again today are the same who answer that we have already lost three
chances of peace with three International Treaties. How many agreements have
there been concerning Israel, Palestine, the IRA or the Irish Protestants?
Or related to Spain and the ETA? I'm sorry but that argument just won't do.
True that it may be that the Angolan people is an essential part of this
conflict. It's an undeniable truth that this conflict as too many people
involved. That's why it's up to us, Angolan, the decision to end this at
once.
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As it is up to the International Community to remember
it's part and take the blame as much as we will. UNITA will go on Resisting
as long as the idea of massive destruction prevails. It is better for
everyone to realise that honest and honourable Dialogue is the best solution.
Before anything else there should exist Dialogue between all Angolan. After
that we shan't have forgotten our need to dialogue with the rest of the
world, or the commitments to which we'll have to stick by. But above all, as
Human Beings, we shall learn our Rights, and how to demand them. Responsibly
demanding... So that in the coming 25 years of celebrating Angola's
independence we can do it with true Angolan Joy. Not in this bureaucratic,
formal and faded way.
Joffre Justino
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