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Uniao Nacional para a Independencia Total de Angola (UNITA)

by stuart notholt - 1996-01-10

See also: Angola for other Angolan movements

UNITA, the third of the three guerrilla movements which fought the Portuguese (and each other) for control of Angola was formed in 1966 when its leader, Jonas Savimbi, broke with the FNLA.
UNITA is an 'Africanist' party emphasising ethnic and rural rights in counterdistinction to the urbanized Marxism of the MPLA. UNITA was also 'Maoist' - not in the sense that it followed Chinese Communism but that Savimbi learned from Mao how to fight a successful guerrilla war. The CIA regarded UNITA both as the most radical and the weakest of the three guerrilla movements. This proved to be a grave underestimation.
Over 20 years after its 'defeat' in 1975-76, UNITA was still in the field and by 1989 had, with intermittent South African and American support, fought to a standstill up to 40,000 Cuban troops plus the MPLA army.
After losing the 1992 elections, UNITA took up arms again. However, it is, at time of writing, involved in negotiations with the MPLA government on the future of the country and an uneasy ceasefire appears to be holding.
The flag of UNITA is a red over green over red tri-bar. On the green stripe is a 16-pointed rising sun (Angola had 16 provinces at independence; the subsequent creation of two more has not been recognized in the UNITA flag).
Crowning the dawn is a black cockerel, placed to the left of the sun.
The top red stripe stands for the revolution against Portugal, the bottom one for the 'second liberation struggle' against the Cubans. (Since the UNITA flag was used before 1975, this symbolism must have been added later). The green stands for hope, victory, and agriculture.
The flag is popular amongst Angolan emigres and was purportedly frequently to be seen in Lisbon during the 1992 Angolan election period.
stuart notholt - 1996-01-10