Timeline Angola
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90Mil BC Scientists in 2011
reported the discovery a previously unknown, plant-eating dinosaur
in Angola that dated to about this time. It was named Angolatitan
adamastor. The fossil was found along with fish and shark teeth in
what would have been a sea bed 90 million years ago.
(SFC, 3/17/11, p.A2)(http://tinyurl.com/4k4vtum)
1590 Jul 6, English admiral
Francis Drake took the Portuguese Forts at Taag, Angola.
(MC, 7/6/02)
1959 May 25, Khrushchev visited
Angola.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1961 In the Portuguese colony
of Angola fighting erupted as 3 anti-colonial guerrilla movements
battled for independence. Rebels butchered Portuguese settlers,
including women and children, on remote Angolan plantations. In
revenge, Portuguese militias and troops carried out a vicious
campaign of repression, despite pressure from the US and UN to pull
out of Africa.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)(AP, 12/9/07)
1970 In Portuguese Angola the
father of Michael Durney bought the Mampeza Industrial SARL, a
cannery in Benguela. By 1997 under Michael it was processing 5 tons
of tuna a day and one tone of sardines and mackerel.
(WSJ, 11/10/97, p.A17)
1972 Barcelo de Carvalho, aka
"Bongo," recorded the album "Angola 72" in the Netherlands. The
music’s predominant rhythm is semba, described as the origin of
Brazil’s Samba. The album was smuggled into Angola and became very
popular but was banned by the government. It was re-released in the
US in 1997. One of its songs was featured in the 1997 French film
"When the Cat’s Away."
(SFC,10/24/97, p.E1)
1975 Jun, From June to July the
US launched covert operations in Angola to prevent a Communist
takeover. In 2002 Dr. Piero Gleijeses authored “Conflicting
Missions, Havana, Washington and Africa: 1959-1976.”
(SSFC, 3/29/02, p.A12)
1975 Oct 14, South Africans
secretly launched Operation Savannah when the first of several South
African columns (task force Zulu) crossed into Angola from Namibia.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_intervention_in_Angola_(1975-1991))
1975 Oct 23, A Battle between
Cuban and South Africa troops took place in Angola.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_intervention_in_Angola_(1975-1991))
1975 Nov 10, In Angola the MPLA
and Cuban troops warded off the last big attack of the FNLA.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_intervention_in_Angola_(1975-1991))
1975 Nov 11, Angola proclaimed
independence from Portugal. Civil war began following the 14-year
fight for independence. The Movement for the Liberation of Angola
(MPLA) proclaimed unilateral independence. Jonas Savimbi led UNITA
and the FLNA was backed by Zaire.
(SFC, 6/20/96, p.A10)(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A12)(SFC,
4/19/00, p.A10)
1975-1988 Some 350,000 Angolans died in the Civil
War. Cuba sent in 50,000 soldiers to back the MPLA and the USSR
contributed billions of dollars. South African troops and US guns
and money supported UNITA.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)
1977 Rebel forces from Angola
swept into Zaire and captured much of the copper-rich Shaba
province. Zaire regained control after 3 months with American and
other foreign support.
(SFC, 11/11/96, p.A11)(SFC, 5/17/97, p.A14)
1978 May 4, The South African
Air Force (SAAF) engaged in air to ground combat at the Battle of
Cassinga in Angola.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Border_War)
1979 Sep 10, Pres. Agostinho
Neto (b.1922), Angola’s 1st president, died and Jose Eduardo dos
Santos was elected president. Neto was originally embalmed but later
cremated.
(SFC, 8/24/01,
p.A16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agostinho_Neto)(SFC, 9/10/08,
p.A5)
1980 Apr 1, The southern
African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was established
by 9 countries with the Lusaka declaration (Angola, Botswana,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe).
The main aim was coordinating development projects in order to
lessen economic dependence on apartheid South Africa. On
August 17, 1992, it was transformed into the Southern African
Development Community (SADC). By 2008 it included 15 members.
(www.sadc.int/index/browse/page/52)
1980 The population of Angola
was about 7 million.
(Econ, 1/30/10, p.55)
1982 In Angola a 520-megawatt
hydroelectric plant was inaugurated in Capanda. It was expected to
go online in 2009.
(Econ, 1/5/08, Angola p.4)
1984 Jun 28, In Angola the wife
and daughter of activist Marius Schoon were killed by a parcel bomb.
It was sent by Craig Michael Williamson (b1949), a former South
African police major, who was exposed as a spy in 1980.
(Econ, 11/6/10, p.74)
1988 Mar 22, In Angola the
battle of Cuito Cuanavale changed the region's political landscape,
accelerating the independence of Namibia and the fall of apartheid
in South Africa. While the Cuban and Angolan forces claimed victory,
South Africa claimed it lost only 31 soldiers against 4,785 who fell
on the other side.
(AP, 3/22/08)
1988 Jul, The apartheid regime
in South Africa, having entered into discussions with the ANC,
agreed to elections in Namibia in exchange for the withdrawal of
Cuban troops from Angola.
(AP, 3/22/08)
1988 Cuba and South Africa
negotiated a mutual withdrawal. The MPLA and UNITA continued
fighting.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)
1989 Jan 10, Cuba began
withdrawing its troops from Angola, more than 13 years after its
first contingents arrived.
(AP, Internet, 1/10/99)
1989 Jun 22, The government of
Angola and the anti-Communist rebels of the UNITA movement agreed to
a formal truce in their 14-year-old civil war. Some 1.5 million
people were killed during this period and over 4 million forced to
flee their homes.
(AP, 6/22/99)(Econ, 1/30/10, p.55)
1991 May 1, The government of
Angola and US-backed guerrillas initialed agreements ending their
civil war.
(AP, 5/1/01)
1991 May 23, Last Cubans troops
left Angola.
(www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/cuba.cfm)
1991 May 31, Pres. Jose Eduardo
dos Santos signed a peace treaty with Jonas Savimbi of UNITA, ending
a 16-year-old Angola civil war. It called for a unified military and
democratic elections.
(AP, 5/31/01)(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)
1991 In Angola the Bicesse
Accord failed to resolve squabbles and ended with a resumption of
war.
(WSJ, 5/31/00, p.A26)
1991 Fighting between US
supported UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola), and the Marxist MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation
of Angola), ended.
(SFC, 4/12/97, p.A12)
1991 In Angola Elisol was
established as a refuse collection company. In the 1990s it took on
the maintenance of sanitation networks.
(Econ, 1/5/08, Angola p.4)
1991-1999 UNITA rebels in Angola raised an
estimated $3-4 billion through diamond sales.
(SFC, 7/30/99, p.A13)
1992 Angola’s Pres. Jose
Eduardo dos Santos and the MPLA beat Jonas Savimbi and UNITA in
elections.
(Econ, 9/4/04, p.48)
1992 In Angola fighting between
UNITA and the MPLA resumed when UNITA rejected its political defeat
in the country’s first democratic elections. Jonas Savimbi of the
Ovimbundu tribe, leader of UNITA, refused to accept defeat.
(SFC, 4/12/97, p.A12)(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A12)(SFC,
7/14/99, p.A6)
1992 The Angola food company,
Angoalissar, was founded by local and int’l. investors.
(Econ, 1/5/08, Angola p.5)
1993 UN peace talks began in
Zambia as fighting continued.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)
1993 Arms and an oil embargo
was imposed on the UNITA rebels by the UN but it had little effect.
(SFC,10/30/97, p.A13)
1994 Sep 22, In Tolunda,
Angola, faulty brakes caused a train to plunge into a ravine and
some 300 people were killed.
(SFC, 6/4/98, p.A15)(AP, 2/18/04)
1994 Oct 17, Negotiators for
the Angolan government and rebels agreed to a peace treaty to end
their 19-year civil war.
(AP, 10/17/99)
1994 Nov 20, The Angolan
government under dos Santos and rebels under Savimbi signed a treaty
in Zambia to end 19 years of war, even as fighting continued in
their homeland.
(AP, 11/20/99)(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)
1994 The Lusaka Protocol called
for a halt to the civil war between Unita and the government that
had run for 2 decades. The accord called for UNITA to disband its
70,000 man army and hand control of almost half the country to the
government. Svimbi was given key posts in the military and Cabinet.
(WSJ, 10/1/97, p.A16)(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A12)(SFC,
7/14/99, p.A6)
1995 Feb 8, The U.N. Security
Council approved sending 7,000 peacekeepers to Angola to cement an
accord ending 19 years of civil war.
(AP, 2/8/00)
1995 Mar 2, Ferry boat sank off
Sumbe, Angola, and over 42 people were killed.
(SC, 3/2/02)
1995 Jun 18, A private plane
carrying the Angolan soccer team crashed in Luanda, Angola, killing
48 people.
(AP, 6/18/00)
1997 Feb, The government under
Prime Minister Sir Julius Chan hired Sandline Int’l., a company that
provides military training and support, to help put an end to the
bloody secessionist movement on Bougainville Island. Sandline in
turn subcontracted much of the work to the South African mercenary
firm Executive Outcomes, known for its effective work in Angola and
Sierra Leone.
(WSJ, 3/4/97, p.A15)(SFC, 3/21/97, p.A20)
1997 Mar 6, In Angola an armed
group killed 30 people at a Roman Catholic mission in southern
Angola and held 6 missionaries hostage.
(SFC, 3/13/97, p.A13)
1997 Apr 11, In Angola a
national reconciliation governing body was formed that united the
MPLA under president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and UNITA under Jonas
Savimbi.
(SFC, 4/12/97, p.A12)
1997 Apr 25, Angola was
supporting Kabila’s rebels. The government of Zaire claimed that
Angolan troops had invaded near Cabinda.
(SFC, 4/26/97, p.A10)
1997 May 8, In Zaire rebels
were meeting increased resistance from French mercenaries and
Angolan UNITA forces. A shortage of cash was also hindering their
advance on Kinshasa.
(WSJ, 5/9/97, p.A1)
1997 May 29, In Angola troops
overran the northern part of the country held by the former Unita
movement.
(WSJ, 5/30/97, p.A1)
1997 Aug 28, The UN imposed air
and travel sanctions on the UNITA movement in Angola to deter Jonas
Savimbi reform increasing tensions.
(SFC, 8/29/97, p.A16)
1997 Oct 1, It was reported
that Unita was demobilizing its soldiers and getting the UN to
return them to Unita-held territory, where they could again be
mobilized.
(WSJ, 10/1/97, p.A16)
1997 Oct 12, Angolan troops
backed the rebels in an offensive around southern cities. Rebels
surrounded Brazzaville and Gen’l. Jean-Marie Tiaffou urged
government troops to surrender. There were reports that Angola’s
UNITA rebels were backing Pres. Lissouba.
(SFC, 10/13/97, p.A12)
1997 Oct 29, The UN put new
sanctions on the UNITA rebels under Jonas Savimbi for not adhering
to the 1994 Lusaka Protocol.
(SFC,10/30/97, p.A13)
1997-2002 In 2004 a Human Rights Watch report said
more than $4 billion in oil revenue disappeared from Angolan state
coffers over this period, even as the country was struggling to
recover from 27 years of civil war.
(AP, 1/13/04)
1998 Jan 27, The UN Security
Council approved a 3-month extension for peacekeeping operations.
(WSJ, 1/28/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 1, The UN imposed
sanctions on Unita-held areas due to the former rebels refusal to
abide by a 1994 peace accord.
(WSJ, 7/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Jul 7, In Angola 16
policemen were killed in an ambush by Unita.
(WSJ, 7/7/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 10, In Angola fighting
broke out between government troops and UNITA.
(WSJ, 8/11/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 24, In Congo some
2,000 Angolan troops captured a coastal naval base and oil port and
moved up the Congo River to battle the rebels.
(SFC, 8/25/98, p.A7)
1998 Aug 27, In Congo Unita
forces from Angola joined the rebels, while forces from Namibia
fought for Kabila’s regime.
(WSJ, 8/28/98, p.A1)
1998 Aug 31, The ruling party
expelled Unita deputies from parliament.
(WSJ, 9/2/98, p.A1)
1998 Nov 8, In Angola some 50
gunmen dressed in uniforms of the police, government and rebels,
attacked the Diamond Works mine at Yetwene. At least 6 workers were
killed and dozens were injured.
(WSJ, 11/11/98, p.A16)
1998 Nov 17, Renewed fighting
created some 331,000 refugees since April.
(WSJ, 11/18/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 9, In Angola Unita
rebels advanced on Cuito after saying they had routed an attack by
government forces on their southern stronghold.
(WSJ, 12/10/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 14, The British human
rights group, Global Witness, reported that in Angola UNITA was
selling diamonds to finance its battles against government forces.
(SFC, 12/15/98, p.C7)
1998 Dec 14, In Angola UNITA
rebels launched an offensive at Cuito and Huambo and claimed to have
shot down a government jet.
(WSJ, 12/15/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 16, UNITA rebels
advanced on Cuinji and dozens of civilians were killed at the train
station when rebels attacked with automatic weapons and grenades.
(SFC, 12/17/98, p.C10)
1998 Dec 22, In Angola rebels
shelled Kuito. Some 60,000 refugees had fled there to escape
fighting elsewhere.
(WSJ, 12/23/98, p.A1)
1998 Dec 23, In Angola
government forces retook the towns of Vila Nova and Caala.
(SFC, 12/24/98, p.A12)
1998 Dec 24, In Angola a rebel
attack on Kuito killed 30 people and wounded 37. 9 of the dead,
killed by mortar fire, had sought refuge in a Catholic church.
(SFC, 12/26/98, p.A12)
1998 Dec 26, In Angola a
transport plane with 14 people aboard crashed near Vila Nova, an
area of continued fighting. 8 of the passengers were members of a UN
Observer Mission. UNITA rebels reportedly held some of the
survivors. A rescue team reached the site Jan 8 and there were no
survivors.
(SFEC, 12/27/98, p.A22)(SFC, 12/29/98, p.A8)(SFC,
1/2/99, p.A9)(SFC, 1/9/99, p.A10)
1998 Dec 30, In Angola rebels
bombarded Huambo and killed 5 people.
(SFC, 12/31/98, p.D2)
1998 Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe,
chairman of the African body “Organ on Politics, Defense and
Security,” joined with Namibia and Angola in a war of plunder in
Congo.
(Econ, 3/13/04, p.48)
1999 Jan 2, In Angola rebel
forces shot down a UN plane with 8 people shortly after takeoff from
Huambo. The plane was later found with bullets in the tail section
and the flight recorders removed.
(SFEC, 1/3/99, p.A23)(SFC, 1/27/99, p.C10)
1999 Jan 4, UNITA rebels denied
shooting down 2 UN planes and claimed that there were no survivors.
(WSJ, 1/5/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 5, Unita rebels
shelled Malanje for a 2nd day. 25 people were killed and 100
wounded.
(WSJ, 1/6/99, p.A1)
1999 Jan 18, UN leader Kofi
Annan recommended that UN military observers leave Angola due to
their targeting by the warring sides.
(SFC, 1/19/99, p.A6)
1999 Jan 21, The UN voted to
maintain at least a token presence in Angola.
(SFC, 1/22/99, p.A12)
1999 Jan 27, Angola admitted
that UNITA rebels had taken the northern city of Mbanza Congo.
(WSJ, 1/28/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 2, In Angola a
chartered Antonov crashed in a Luanda residential area and 28 people
were killed.
(WSJ, 2/3/99, p.A1)
1999 Feb 26, The UN Security
Council voted to close its peacekeeping mission in Angola due to the
renewed civil war.
(SFC, 2/27/99, p.A16)
1999 Apr 25, UNITA rebels
claimed to control 70% of the country.
(SFC, 4/29/99, p.D8)
1999 Apr 26, Angola blamed
Unita for an attack on a truck convoy that killed at least 25
people. Aid workers questioned whether the rebels were responsible.
(WSJ, 4/27/99, p.A1)
1999 May 5, The WHO planned a
mass vaccination program in Angola following a polio outbreak that
killed nearly 50 children and left 700 paralyzed.
(WSJ, 5/5/99, p.A1)
1999 May 31, It was reported
that an estimated 5,000 children lived homeless in the streets of
Luanda.
(SFC, 5/31/99, p.A8)
1999 Jun 1, In Angola UNITA
rebels claimed that they killed 49 government soldiers in 4 clashes
over the past week.
(SFC, 6/2/99, p.A13)
1999 Aug 9, Police shut down
Radio Ecclesia, a Roman Catholic radio station that was one of the
few independent sources of information in the country.
(SFC, 8/10/99, p.A10)
1999 Nov 15, In Angola the
armed forces reported that Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA forces were
dislodged from their highland strongholds.
(SFC, 11/17/99, p.A18)
1999 Dec 26, Government forces
with help from Namibian troops captured Jamba and took control of
the southern border with Namibia.
(SFC, 12/27/99, p.A13)
1999 About 40% of Angola’s
budget was devoted to military expenditures. Less than 5% went
towards education.
(SFC, 11/22/01, p.E6)
2000 Feb 5, In Angola a
military helicopter crashed and 30 people were killed at Lubango. 12
people survived and 3 Catholic nuns were among the dead.
(SFC, 2/8/00, p.A14)
2000 Mar 5, In Angola about
this time some 500 armed men killed 30 diamond prospectors in
Chivungo. UNITA rebels were blamed.
(SFC, 3/8/00, p.C4)
2000 Mar 15, A UN Security
Council panel accused governments of Africa and Europe of violating
sanctions against the UNITA rebels.
(SFC, 3/16/00, p.A14)
2000 Mar, Pres. Blaise Compaore
of Burkina Faso and Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo were reported to have
helped Jonas Savimbi of UNITA obtain arms and fuel in exchange for
diamonds.
(SFC, 4/19/00, p.A12)
2000 Jul 18, Rebels abducted 14
church workers and as many as 20 civilians from the Swiss mission of
Our Lady of La Salette in Dunde.
(SFC, 7/20/00, p.C3)
2000 Oct 18, Gunmen attacked 2
buses at Andurie, Angola, and killed dozens of people.
(SFC, 10/21/00, p.A14)
2000 Oct 31, In Saurimo,
Angola, a Russian Antonov 26 charter plane burst into flames after
takeoff and all 48 people aboard were killed.
(SFC, 11/2/00, p.A13)
2000 Nov 15, In Angola an
Antonov 24 airplane crashed near Luanda Int’l. Airport and 39-40
people were killed. All Antonovs were ordered grounded in Sept.
(SFC, 11/16/00, p.A17)(WSJ, 11/16/00, p.A1)
2000 Dec 21, A UN report
accused Jonas Savimbi and UNITA rebels of trading diamonds for arms.
(SFC, 12/22/00, p.A20)
2000 The Angola government
agreed to open its oil accounts to the IMF and to redirect revenues
from defense to rebuilding. The population was about 13 million.
(SSFC, 12/24/00, p.B4)
2001 Mar 17, In Angola a small
plane crashed into a mountain near Lubango and all but one of 17
people on board were killed.
(SSFC, 3/18/01, p.S2)
2001 May 5, In Angola Unita
rebels attacked Caxito, a town near Luanda, and 79 people were
killed. Some 30,000 people fled the area following the attack.
(WSJ, 5/8/01, p.A1)(SFC, 5/8/01, p.C3)(SFC,
5/11/01, p.D8)
2001 May 24, De Beers suspended
investment and prospecting for diamonds in Angola due to lack of
clarity over its legal rights. Rebel groups controlled many of the
diamond mines.
(SFC, 5/25/01, p.D6)
2001 Aug 11, In northwestern
Angola a train carrying hundreds of refugees and some soldiers hit a
mine and derailed. Refugees were machine-gunned and over 252 were
killed. Unita forces claimed responsibility.
(SSFC, 8/12/01, p.A18)(WSJ, 8/13/01, p.A1)(SFC,
8/14/01, p.A6)(SFC, 8/16/01, p.A9)
2001 Aug 18, Some 10,000 people
marched in Luanda in a government-organized protest against the Aug
11 train ambush.
(SSFC, 8/19/01, p.A16)
2001 Aug 23, Angola’s Pres.
Jose Eduardo dos Santos (58) announced that he would not run in
presidential elections next year.
(SFC, 8/24/01, p.A16)
2001 Aug 24, Gunmen fired a
missile at a passenger bus near Malanje, Angola, and sprayed it with
gunfire. At least 50 people, including women and children were
killed.
(SFC, 8/28/01, p.A7)
2001 Sep 1, Gunmen ambushed 2
passenger buses 185 miles south of Luanda, sprayed them with gunfire
and ransacked them. 38 people were killed.
(SFC, 9/4/01, p.B1)
2001 Sep 25, UNITA rebels
attacked an electricity substation and plunged Luanda into darkness.
The rebels with an estimated 10,000 members under Jonas Savimbi
continued operations from the bush with no sign of surrender.
(SFC, 11/22/01, p.E6)
2002 Feb 22, In Angola
government troops reportedly killed UNITA rebel leader Jonas Savimbi
(67) in Moxico province.
(SFC, 2/23/02, p.A1)
2002 Feb 24, Angola’s Pres.
Jose Eduardo dos Santos arrived in Portugal to present plans for
ending the civil war. Santos was scheduled to meet with Pres. Bush
in Washington Feb 26.
(SFC, 2/25/02, p.A7)
2002 Mar 18, Angola’s army and
Unita rebels began cease-fire talks.
(WSJ, 3/18/02, p.A1)
2002 Mar 30, The Angola
government and Unita signed a preliminary cease-fire agreement. The
deal carved up the nation’s diamond mines among officials in Luanda
and the rebels.
(SSFC, 3/31/02, p.A12)(WSJ, 4/1/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 2, The Angola
parliament passed an amnesty bill that called for demobilizing
rebels and integrating them into the army.
(WSJ, 4/3/02, p.A1)
2002 Apr 4, The Angola
government and Unita signed a cease-fire agreement.
(SFC, 4/5/02, p.A11)
2002 Apr 26, It was reported
that the cease-fire in Angola had opened inaccessible areas and
revealed thousands of starving people leaving the war zones.
(SFC, 4/27/02, p.A11)
2002 Aug 2, The Angolan
government and UNITA rebels declared the official end to their
nearly three-decade old civil war.
(AP, 8/2/02)
2002 Aug 13, Angola reported
the capture of Augustin Bizimungu, a key figure in the 1994
Rwandan genocide.
(SFC, 8/14/02, p.A13)
2002 Aug 15, The U.N. Security
Council voted unanimously to strengthen the U.N. presence in Angola
to help consolidate peace in the southwest African nation after 27
years of civil war.
(AP, 8/15/02)
2002 Sep 12, The World Bank
pledged $120 million to help Angola rebuild after more than two
decades of civil war, but told its leaders they must take measures
to dispel suspicion of high-level corruption.
(AP, 9/12/02)
2002 Dec 9, The UN Security
Council lifted 9-year-old sanctions against Angola's UNITA movement,
welcoming efforts by the government and the former rebel group to
end the country's civil war.
(AP, 12/9/02)
2002 Angola’s TAAG Airlines
lost its monopoly of air transportation and was forced to adopt to
new market conditions.
(Econ, 1/5/08, Angola p.6)
2003 May 6, President Bush
lifted Clinton-era sanctions (1993-1998) against Angola's UNITA
rebels, citing the end of a quarter-century of civil war.
(AP, 5/7/03)
2003 May 25, A Boeing 727
chartered by an Angolan company vanished on a flight to either
Burkina Faso, South Africa, Libya or Nigeria.
(AP, 6/11/03)
2003 Jun, In Angola Isaias
Samakuva was elected head of UNITA.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3031752.stm)
2003 Dec, Angola's ruling party
chose Pres. Jose Eduardo dos Santos as its candidate for the next
general election.
(Econ, 12/13/03, p.8)
2004 Jan 13, A Human Rights
Watch report said more than $4 billion in oil revenue disappeared
from Angolan state coffers between 1997 and 2002, even as the
country was struggling to recover from 27 years of civil war.
(AP, 1/13/04)
2004 Jan 28-2004 Jan 29, It was
reported that Angolan troops and police had driven at least 10,000
Congolese from northern Angola's diamond zones in a bloody month-old
campaign.
(AP, 1/30/04)
2004 Feb 22, In Angola a tanker
truck carrying gasoline exploded near the capital of Luanda, killing
18 people and injuring 87.
(AP, 2/23/04)
2004 Mar 17, Angola decided to
reject genetically modified food aid. The decision threatened to
disrupt distributions to hundreds of thousands of people.
(AP, 3/29/04)
2004 Inflation in Angola
dropped from 106% in 2002 to 31%.
(Econ, 9/17/05, p.45)
2005 Mar 22, Officials from the
ministry of health and the World Health Organization (WHO) said a
deadly hemorrhagic fever that has claimed the lives of 96 people,
mainly children, in Angola's northern Uige province has been
identified as the rare Marburg virus.
(www.meritcare.com/news/world/viewarticle.asp?id=18843)
2005 Apr 8, Angola’s death toll
from the Marburg virus, which has no effective treatment, rose to
181 with no signs of abating. Doctors without Borders urged the
government to close the regional hospital at Uige to help contain
the spread. Suspected cases have been identified in 7 provinces.
(SFC, 4/9/05, p.A8)(SSFC, 4/10/05, p.A5)
2005 May 19, UN health
officials said death from the Angola Marburg fever outbreak had
exceeded 300.
(WSJ, 5/20/05, p.A1)
2005 Angola’s economy grew this
year by an estimated 15.5%.
(Econ, 6/24/06, p.51)
2005 A syndicate called China
Int’l. Fund or China Sonangol, created by a man named Sam Pa (aka Xu
Jinghua), signed contracts giving the company the right to export
Angolan oil and act as a middleman between Sonangol and Sinopec. The
company operated out of Hong Kong. By 2009 the company had bought
the JPMorgan Chase building at 23 Wall Street, NYC. Newbright
Int’l., a core company of the syndicate, was 70% controlled by
Veronica Fung.
(Econ, 8/13/11, p.21)
2006 Aug 1, Cabinda, a 7,000
sq-km province of Angola located on the western coast just north of
the CongoDRC, signed the “Memorandum of Understanding for Peace in
Cabinda” with the government of Angola, granting it “a special
statute” and greater autonomy. In 2007 the province pumped over half
of Angola’s 1.7 million barrels per day oil production.
(Econ, 1/5/08, Angola p.8)
2006 Oct 23, Portuguese bank
BPI said it will open 30 new branches in fast-growing Angola next
year, bringing its total number of outlets in the oil-rich
southwestern African nation to 100 by the end of 2007.
(AP, 10/23/06)
2006 Dec 15, In Kenya 11
African heads of state attending the 2nd International Conference on
the Great Lakes Region signed a landmark $2 billion
(1.5-billion-euro) security and development pact to forestall fresh
violence in the area.
(AFP, 12/15/06)
2006 Angola’s Gen. Fernando
Miala, head of the external intelligence service, alleged that some
$2 billion in Chinese money intended for infrastructure projects had
disappeared. The general was soon sacked and imprisoned.
(Econ, 8/13/11, p.22)
2007 Mar 31, Luanda, Angola,
built for half a million people was now home for at least 4 million,
many of whom fled there during the civil war.
(Econ, 3/31/07, p.58)
2007 Jun 28, An Angolan
Airlines plane crashed into a house on landing, killing at least six
people in M'banza Congo, a town about 180 miles north of the
capital, Luanda.
(AP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jun 28, The European
Commission said all Indonesian airlines and several from Russia,
Ukraine and Angola will be banned from flying to the EU due to
safety concerns.
(AP, 6/28/07)
2007 Jul 20, Angola, Namibia
and South Africa launched a joint commission designed to lay the
groundwork for a sustainable and environmental approach of their
shared fishing grounds in the Atlantic Ocean.
(AFP, 7/20/07)
2007 Sep 21, Sources said the
presumed head of the Nigerian armed group the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), who goes under the name of
Jomo Gbomo, has been arrested in Angola.
(AFP, 9/21/07)
2007 Nov 22, The World Health
Organization said nearly 400 people, mostly children, have fallen
ill in Angola in what medical investigators suspect is an outbreak
of bromide poisoning.
(AP, 11/23/07)
2007 Dec 5, An international
aid organization said Angolan soldiers routinely and repeatedly rape
Congolese women who have crossed the border illegally in search of
work in the diamond fields.
(AP, 12/5/07)
2008 Feb 14, Angola extradited
Henry Okah, the alleged leader of Movement for the Emancipation of
the Niger Delta (MEND), to Nigeria.
(AP, 2/15/08)
2008 Mar 29, A police
headquarters building in Angola's capital collapsed and at least 24
people were killed.
(AP, 3/31/08)
2008 Apr 18,
South Africa's main transport union thwarted the delivery of a
controversial shipment of Chinese arms destined for Zimbabwe, saying
its workers would not offload the cargo. The Chinese ship left the
South African harbor and headed for neighboring Mozambique. Angola
and Mozambique said the ship is not welcome. China defended the
cargo against international criticism.
(AFP, 4/18/08)(AP, 4/19/08)(AFP, 4/22/08)(SFC,
4/23/08, p.A2)
2008 Sep 5, Angolans voted for
the first time in 16 years in a parliamentary election expected to
extend the ruling party's hold of more than three decades in the
oil-rich African nation. A new quota required 30% of the candidates
to be women.
(AP, 9/5/08)(Econ, 9/20/08, p.76)
2008 Sep 6, Angolan election
officials extended voting by a day in the capital, but said the
logistical problems that marred the first balloting in 16 years were
confined to Luanda.
(AP, 9/6/08)
2008 Sep 9, Angola's former
rebel movement and main opposition party UNITA faced up to a
crushing electoral defeat in a landmark peacetime poll in which it
won only 10.4% of the vote. The ruling left-wing MPLA (Popular
Movement for the Liberation of Angola), which has been in power for
over three decades, had nearly 82 percent of the votes.
(AFP, 9/9/08)
2008 Oct 6, In France
Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, the son of a late French president, an
Israeli-Russian billionaire and 40 other people charged with
trafficking arms to war-riven Angola or taking kickbacks faced
judges in a long-awaited trial in Paris. Prosecutors alleged that
French businessman Pierre Falcone and Arkady Gaydamak, an Israeli
tycoon based in France at the time, organized the sale of Russian
arms to Angola from 1993-2000, for a total of US$791 million, in
breach of French government rules.
(AP, 10/6/08)
2008 Nov 7, The UN
secretary-general joined African leaders to try to end the fighting
in eastern Congo, where a fragile cease-fire is close to collapse. A
UN official and a peacekeeping officer said Angolan troops are
fighting alongside Congolese soldiers battling rebels outside the
eastern provincial capital of Goma. The UN official said an
unspecified number of Angolans arrived four days ago.
(AP, 11/7/08)
2008 Nov 12, Angola announced
it is mobilizing troops to send to neighboring Congo, heightening
fears that the fighting in this central African nation will engulf
other countries in the region. North of Kibati the bodies of two
dead government soldiers lay in the center of the road beside a
rebel checkpoint.
(AP, 11/12/08)
2008 Dec 17, In Beijing the
presidents of China and Angola signed a series of agreements as the
oil rich African nation sought greater Chinese participation in its
energy and infrastructure development.
(AP, 12/17/08)
2008 Luanda, Angola, became one
of the most expensive cities in the world as office space costs
reached $8,000 a square meter and rents for a 2-room apartment
downtown reached $15,000 a month. Large oil reserves and diamond
mines sparked development in the port with limited seafront land.
(SSFC, 9/14/08, p.A19)
2009 Mar 12, The UN refugee
agency said Angola is launching a fresh effort to bring back
refugees still displaced in neighboring African countries, seven
years after the end of the civil war in 2002.
(AFP, 3/12/09)
2009 Mar 20, Tens of thousands
of Angolans welcomed Pope Benedict XVI. He urged Angolans to
continue on the path of reconciliation after nearly three decades of
civil war, saying dialogue could overcome all conflict and tension.
(AP, 3/20/09)
2009 Mar 21, In Angola Pope
Benedict XVI appealed to the Catholics of Angola to reach out to and
convert believers in witchcraft who feel threatened by "spirits" and
"evil powers" of sorcery. Two people were killed in a deadly
stampede that broke out at Luanda stadium a few hours before Pope
Benedict XVI addressed young people.
(AP, 3/21/09)
2009 Mar 27, Southern African
countries (Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia) have been
hit by the worst floods in years, killing more than 100 people and
displacing thousands, as a tropical storm threatened to bring more
pain.
(AFP, 3/28/09)
2009 Aug 9, US Secretary of
State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in oil-rich Angola to
underscore America's presence in one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest
energy producers where America is competing with China for
resources.
(AP, 8/9/09)
2009 Aug 20, Angola and South
Africa signed a number of trade agreements including cooperation in
the oil sector, following major bilateral talks aimed at
strengthening economic relations.
(AFP, 8/20/09)
2009 Oct 14, The Democratic
Republic of Congo said it had agreed with Angola to halt tit-for-tat
expulsions of each other's citizens as victims told of being
subjected to brutal rapes and lootings when they were thrown out by
Luanda.
(AFP, 10/14/09)
2009 Dec 30, An Iraqi official
said the Angolan national oil company Sonangol has signed
preliminary deals to develop two small oil fields in northern Iraq.
(AP, 12/30/09)
2010 Jan 8, In Angola hooded
gunmen sprayed the Togo soccer team’s bus with gunfire as it
traveled through the restive northern Cabinda enclave. The bus
driver was killed and 7 others were injured. The attack was claimed
by the separatist Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda
(FLEC), which has been fighting for decades for the independence of
the oil-rich territory. The next day media officer Stanislas Ocloo
and assistant coach Amalete Abalo died from their wounds. Virgilio
Santos, an official with the African Nations Cup local organizing
committee COCAN, said teams had been told explicitly not to travel
to the tournament by road.
(Reuters, 1/9/10)
2010 Jan 11, Angola said it had
arrested two people suspected of taking part in an attack on a bus
carrying the Togo national soccer team to the African Nations Cup in
which two delegation members were killed.
(Reuters, 1/11/10)
2010 Jan 19, An Angolan human
rights lawyer said that police are rounding up peaceful activists
and accusing them of responsibility in a deadly attack on the Togo
national soccer team's bus as it headed to the African Cup of
Nations tournament.
(AP, 1/19/10)
2010 Jan 21, Angola's
parliament approved a new constitution under which the president
would no longer be directly elected by the people, but would be
chosen by the parliament. The charter must now be approved by the
Constitutional Court, a step seen as a formality. Critics said
giving parliament the power to name the president will only further
entrench President Eduardo Dos Santos, who has been in power since
1979.
(AP, 1/22/10)
2010 Jan, Angola at this time
produced about 1.9 million barrels of oil per day. Its reserves were
estimated at 13 billion barrels.
(Econ, 1/30/10, p.55)
2010 May 13, The UN General
Assembly approved all 14 candidates for the 14 seats on the
47-member Human Rights Council. Human rights groups criticized the
poor human rights records 7 of the candidates: Angola, Libya,
Malaysia, Mauritania, Qatar, Thailand and Uganda.
(SFC, 5/14/10, p.A2)
2010 Oct 26, The UN Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said at least 30
women were kept as prisoners in a dungeon-like structure and
gang-raped over multiple weeks at the Congo and Angola border before
being left in the bush without their clothes. The deportees said
they were held by Angolan authorities in a dingy building. At least
three were killed, including two men and a woman (27) who died after
being raped repeatedly.
(AP, 10/27/10)
2010 Nov 6, United Nations
officials said they were investigating reports that some 700
Congolese women were sexually attacked along the country's border
with Angola. Many women had said Angolan soldiers were responsible
for their attacks.
(AP, 11/6/10)
2010 Nov 19, In the Republic of
Congo 8 countries signed a convention to limit the spread of weapons
in central Africa, but three countries opted out. Angola, Cameroon,
the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Gabon, The Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe all
signed. Burundi, Equatorial Guinea and Rwanda did not sign.
(AFP, 11/20/10)
2010 Nov 23, In Angola activist
Antonio Paca Panzo was released from jail for lack of evidence after
seven months and 12 days. Panzo was arrested in april in the Cabinda
region for apparently having T-shirts emblazoned with the faces of
four activists who had been arrested in January and were accused of
responsibility in a deadly attack on the Togo team bus as it headed
to the African Cup of Nations. Panzo was freed because of lack of
evidence.
(AP, 11/30/10)
2010 Dec 14, Angolan President
Jose Eduardo dos Santos started a historic first state visit to
South Africa, a trip aimed at ending decades-long enmity between two
of the region's major economies.
(AFP, 12/14/10)
2010 Dec 29, An Angolan court
sentenced Jean Antuan Pwaty (42) a Congolese citizen, to 24 years in
prison following the Jan 8 attack on Togo's national soccer team
that killed two people and left eight others wounded including a
goalkeeper. Pwaty was convicted of murder, armed rebellion and
attempted murder.
(AP, 12/30/10)
2011 Feb, The population of
Angola was about 18 million. Half had virtually no access to health
care. 5 million people lived in the capital, Luanda.
(Econ, 2/12/11, p.53)
2011 Jul 13, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel visited Angola and sparked controversy over an offer
to sell six to eight patrol vessels to Luanda.
(AFP, 7/14/11)
2011 Jul 29, Angolan officials
said 2 children have died from a wave of mysterious poisonings over
the last two days in schools, but police have yet to identify the
toxin that has sown panic in the country. Nearly 570 cases have been
recorded across the country.
(AFP, 7/29/11)
2011 Aug 8, Cuban state media
reported that Cuba and Angola, long-standing allies, have boosted
military cooperation during a visit to the communist-run Caribbean
island by Angolan defense officials.
(AFP, 8/8/11)
2011 Aug 13, Angolan
authorities barred activists from entering the country ahead of the
annual Southern African Development Community summit that opens Aug
16.
(AP, 8/13/11)
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End of file.