STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT JOSÉ EDUARDO DOS SANTOS
ON THE 20th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF CUITO CUANAVALE
Luanda, 28 March 2008
We are commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, which is now regarded as the biggest battle fought by regular forces since the Second World War.
South Africa was then ruled by a racist white minority that maintained absolute power politically, militarily, economically, financially and in terms of information, through a policy of racial segregation known as apartheid.
The areas in which most of the black population lived were transformed into Bantustans, which were a form of cheap labour reserve and also made it possible to control people of a potentially active age in order to prevent their involvement in any kind of protest.
Namibia, which has an extensive border with Angola, was illegally occupied and administered by the South African government, in violation of United Nations resolutions.
The peoples of South Africa and Namibia, under the leadership of the ANC and SWAPO, had launched a national liberation struggle against oppression to win their freedom.
The South African white minority government then decided on a ‘constellation of states’ policy, which meant extending its domination to all countries in the region and destabilising them politically, militarily, economically and socially through direct support for subversive forces, terrorist acts against leaders and officials of the ANC and SWAPO and military attacks by land and air on identified targets in neighbouring countries or the occupation of parts of their territory.
When the South African Defence Force decided on its offensive to occupy Cuito Cuanavale it already controlled the border between Cunene Province and Namibia and planned to seize control of Kuando Kubango Province to make it easier for its Unita allies to infiltrate and consolidate positions north of the Benguela Railway, so as to enable the guerrilla war to spread and cause the collapse of the government. This would also have destroyed the support bases of the ANC and SWAPO.
The military units of the People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola, FAPLA, defended Cuito Cuanavale heroically and defeated the South African forces.
They then strengthened the defence of this position with a small contingent of Cuban forces, until the arrival two or three months later of reinforcements for the Cuban contingent, in order to start the victorious offensive, in various directions, against the South African forces that had invaded our country.
Those forces lost their fighting capability and had to withdraw from Angola unconditionally, following an agreement between Angolan and South African government delegations in a European country.
There were then sufficient human and military resources and capability in Angola to cross the border on the way to Windhoek, capital of Namibia.
Angola and Cuba then set their conditions for a settlement of the conflict with South Africa, contributing decisively to radical change in the southern region of the continent.
These conditions led to the definitive withdrawal of the South African occupying forces and the final negotiation of a tripartite agreements on peace and security in south-western Africa (Angola and Namibia), concluding a process that had been taking place since the early eighties with no end in sight.
They also led to the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 435 (1978), resulting in the independence of Namibia, the retirement of the leader of the Nationalist Party and profound changes in South African domestic policies.
There was a phased withdrawal of Cuban internationalist forces when South African aggression against Angola finally ended.
The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was therefore a decisive turning point in a war that had been dragging on for many years and during which the young Angolan state had to suffer pressure and threats from big powers and the direct aggression of the military forces they financed, supported and armed.
That great victory followed an in-depth study of the military situation in the country, leading to an increase in the technical and military capability of the Angolan government’s armed forces, FAPLA, and their Cuban allies deployed along the 16th parallel, for the first time giving them both air and land superiority and changing the balance of forces in the field of operations.
Together with far-reaching political and diplomatic work, it made it possible to disrupt the strategic plans against our country completely and to end some of the alliances that sustained them.
The material evidence of the military defeat of the apartheid regime, the war materiel it abandoned in its haste, still lies on the battlefield today.
It is precisely in that place that the Angolan government now plans to build a monument to honour the combined victory of Angola and Cuba, the progressive forces of our continent and all those who supported us.
The monument will also highlight the patriotism and total commitment of young Angolans who gave their all to safeguard independence, sovereignty and the integrity of our borders.
This is a historic feat that must be preserved and made widely known, because of its military, political and diplomatic significance and, above all, because of the prospect of peace and freedom that it created for the peoples of Southern Africa.
We praise that feat because it was, without any doubt, the fundamental precondition for peace and national reconciliation in Angola.
Through the victory of Cuito Cuanavale and measures subsequently taken, the major external factors sustaining the conflict in Angola were eliminated and favourable conditions were created for an internal settlement.
It was within this context that the Bicesse Agreement on peace in Angola was negotiated and signed, though, for the reasons everyone knows, it was only definitively concluded and completed by a Protocol in Lusaka and the Memorandum of Understanding in Luena, in April 2002.
Southern Africa became a different political, social and economic reality. Its countries were emancipated, its peoples became masters of their destiny and they are now the architects of their own history, thanks to the outcome of Cuito Cuanavale.
Recalling this is to recall peace and to reject war and violence as means of resolving problems.
In Cuito Cuanavale we confirmed a great maxim. No one can prevent people from being free, independent and sovereign when they are determined and have right on their side. No one can prevent them from blazing their own path to recovering their dignity and build their future.
The facts refute and negate the intentions of those who, defeated in that historic battle, are still using all kinds of subterfuges and obvious distortions to try to claim a victory that was not theirs, invoking the purported attainment of objectives they never initially announced.
I should like, on this occasion, to express my pleasure at having met some of those responsible for that extraordinary victory of twenty years ago.
I hail all the known and anonymous participants and heroes of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale.
On behalf of the Angolan people, I express my gratitude for all that you did for Angola and Africa.
Honour and glory to the heroes and to people of goodwill.
