View source for UNITA

{{short description|Angolan political party}}
{{distinguish|UNITAS}}
{{redirect|Unita|the Italian newspaper|L'Unità|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox political party
| country          = Angola
| name             = National Union for the Total Independence of Angola
| native_name      = União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola
| native_name_lang = pt
| colorcode        = {{party color|UNITA}}
| logo             = UNITA logo.png
| leader           = [[Adalberto Costa Júnior]]
| president        = 
| chairperson      = 
| spokesperson     = 
| leader1_name     = 
| founder          = [[Jonas Savimbi]]
| split            = [[National Liberation Front of Angola]]<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.17104/9783406623141  |title=Der Kalte Krieg |lang=de|page=72|author=Bernd Stöver|date=2003 |isbn=978-3-406-48014-0 }}</ref>
| foundation       = 13 March 1966
| dissolution      = 
| headquarters     = [[Luanda]]
| youth_wing       = Revolutionary United Youth of Angola
| womens_wing      = Angolan Women's League
| wing2_title      = Armed wing
| wing2            = [[Armed Forces of the Liberation of Angola|FALA]] (until 1993)
| membership_year  = 
| membership       = 
| ideology         = {{ubl|class=nowrap|
 |[[Big tent]]<ref name="JUSTINO">JUSTINO, Jofre. A actual UNITA traiu o espírito de Muangai. Maputo, 2006</ref>
 |[[Conservatism]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.consuladodeangola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=27 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103123040/http://www.consuladodeangola.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=27 | archive-date=3 November 2013 | title=Consulado Geral de Angola }}</ref>
 |[[Anti-communism]]
 |'''Formerly:'''
 |[[Communism]]
 |[[Maoism]]
|[[Black nationalism]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://allafrica.com/stories/200202270537.html|title=Angola: Jonas Savimbi: Who Was He?|access-date=26 August 2023}}</ref>
 |[[Anti-Sovietism]]
}}
| position         = {{ubl|class=nowrap|
 |[[Centre-right politics|Centre-right]] to [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]]<ref name="JUSTINO">JUSTINO, Jofre. A actual UNITA traiu o espírito de Muangai. Maputo, 2006</ref>
 |'''Formerly:'''
 |[[Far-left]]
}}
| national         = [[Supreme Council for the Liberation of Angola]] {{small|(1972–1975)}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.worldstatesmen.org/Angola.html | title=Angola }}</ref><br>[[United Patriotic Front]]
| regional         = [[Democrat Union of Africa]]
| international    = [[Centrist Democrat International]]
| colors           = 
| seats1_title     = Seats in the [[National Assembly of Angola|National Assembly]]
| seats1           = {{Composition bar|90|220|hex={{party color|UNITA}}}}
| website          = {{Official URL}}
| flag             = Flag of UNITA.svg
| footnotes        = 
}}
{{Politics of Angola}}
The '''National Union for the Total Independence of Angola''' ({{langx|pt|União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola}}, [[abbr.]] '''UNITA''') is the second-largest [[political party in Angola]]. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ([[MPLA]]) and the [[National Liberation Front of Angola]] (FNLA) in the [[Angolan War of Independence|Angolan War for Independence]] (1961–1975) and then against the [[MPLA]] in the ensuing [[Angolan Civil War|civil war]] (1975–2002). The war was one of the most prominent [[Cold War]] [[proxy war]]s, with UNITA receiving [[military aid]] initially from the [[China|People's Republic of China]] from 1966 until October 1975<ref name=Weigert2011>{{cite book|last=Weigert|first=Stephen L.|title=Angola: A Modern Military History, 1961–2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LdzJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA33|date=25 October 2011|publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]]|isbn=978-0230337831|pages=33–34|access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref><ref name=HessThesis>{{cite thesis |last=Hess |first=Morgan |year=2014 |url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1267&context=cc_etds_theses | title=U.S.-Chinese Cooperation and Conflict in the Angolan Civil War |publisher=[[City University of New York]] (CUNY) City College |access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref> and later from the United States{{efn|The United States supported the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) from 1961 to 1969 and from August 1974 to January 1976. The FNLA/UNITA coalition opposed the MPLA.<ref name=HessThesis/>}} and [[History of South Africa#Apartheid era (1948–1994)|apartheid South Africa]] while the MPLA received material and technical support from the [[Soviet Union]] and its allies, especially [[Cuba]].<ref name=Jameston09052007>{{cite news |url=https://jamestown.org/program/china-in-angola-an-emerging-energy-partnership/ |title=China in Angola: An Emerging Energy Partnership |newspaper=Jamestown |publisher=[[Jamestown Foundation]] |via=China Brief Volume: 6 Issue: 22 |last=Hare |first=Paul |date=9 May 2007 |access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref><ref name=BBC25022002>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/264094.stm |title=Obituary: Jonas Savimbi, Unita's local boy |publisher=[[BBC]] |last=Simpson |first=Chris |date=25 February 2002 |access-date=27 January 2020}}</ref>

Until 1996, UNITA was [[Blood diamond#Angola|funded through Angolan diamond mines]] in both [[Lunda Norte Province|Lunda Norte]] and [[Lunda Sul Province|Lunda Sul]] along the [[Kwango River|Cuango River]] valley, especially the [[Catoca diamond mine|Catoca mine]], which was Angola's only [[Kimberlite]] mine at that time.<ref name=NYT06042000>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/06/world/diamond-wars-a-special-report-africa-s-gems-warfare-s-best-friend.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title=DIAMOND WARS: A special report.; Africa's Gems: Warfare's Best Friend |work=[[The New York Times]] |last=Harden |first=Blaine |author-link=Blaine Harden |date=6 April 2000 |access-date=27 January 2020 |archive-date=28 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128032031/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/04/06/world/diamond-wars-a-special-report-africa-s-gems-warfare-s-best-friend.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |language=en}}</ref> Valdemar Chindondo served as [[chief of staff]] in the government of UNITA,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n00kKKraE0UC&q=Valdemar+Chidondo&pg=PA19|title=Death of Dignity: Angola's Civil War|last=Brittain|first=Victoria|date=1998|publisher=[[Pluto Press]]|location=London|isbn=978-0-7453-1247-7|language=en}}</ref> pro-Western rebels, during the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002). [[Jonas Savimbi]], leader of UNITA, allegedly ordered Chindondo's assassination.<ref name=a>{{cite book|last=Kukkuk|first=Leon|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdtX3FwAMEoC&pg=PA102|title=Letters to Gabriella|publisher=FLF Press|pages=102|isbn=978-1891855672}}</ref>

Savimbi's successor as president of UNITA was [[Isaías Samakuva]]. Following Savimbi's death, UNITA abandoned armed struggle and participated in electoral politics. The party won 51 out of 220 seats in the [[2017 Angolan general election|2017 parliamentary election]]. Samakuva resigned as party leader in November 2019, being replaced by [[Adalberto Costa Júnior]].

==Founding==
[[Jonas Savimbi]] and [[Antonio da Costa Fernandes]] founded UNITA on 13 March 1966 in Muangai in [[Moxico (province)|Moxico]] province in [[Portuguese Angola]] (during the [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Estado Novo]] regime). 200 other delegates were present in the event.<ref name=BBC25022002/> UNITA launched its first attack on Portuguese colonial authorities on 25 December 1966.<ref name=c>{{cite book|last=Kukkuk|first=Leon|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdtX3FwAMEoC&pg=PA156|title=Letters to Gabriella|publisher=FLF Press|page=156|isbn=978-1891855672}}</ref>

Savimbi was originally affiliated with [[Holden Roberto]]'s [[National Liberation Front of Angola]] (FNLA). UNITA later moved to [[Jamba, Cuando Cubango|Jamba]] in Angola's southeastern province of [[Cuando Cubango]].  UNITA's leadership was drawn heavily from Angola's majority [[Ovimbundu]] ethnic group and its policies were originally [[Maoist]], they quickly abandoned the Maoist struggle, when they started collaborating with Portuguese Officials against the [[MPLA]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNITA {{!}} Facts & History {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/UNITA |access-date=3 May 2024 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> They then aimed for rural rights and recognized ethnic divisions. During the 1980s, however, UNITA was aligned with the United States and [[apartheid South Africa]]. After the [[1992 Angolan general election]], UNITA lost its support from the United States and was only supported by apartheid South Africa.<ref name=BBC25022002/>

==Independence and civil war==
{{Main|Angolan Civil War}}
After the Portuguese withdrawal from Angola in 1974–75 and the end of their colonial rule, the MPLA and UNITA splintered, and civil war began as the movements clashed militarily and ideologically. MPLA leader [[Agostinho Neto]] became the first president of post-colonial Angola.  Backed by Soviet and Cuban money, weapons and troops, the MPLA defeated the FNLA militarily and forced them largely into exile.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/World-Leaders-2003/Angola-POLITICAL-BACKGROUND.html|title=Political background&nbsp;– Angola&nbsp;– area, power|publisher=Nations Encyclopedia|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> UNITA also was nearly destroyed in November 1975, but it managed to survive and set up a second government, the [[Democratic People's Republic of Angola]], in the provincial capital of [[Huambo]]. UNITA was hard-pressed but recovered with South African aid and then was strengthened considerably by U.S. support during the 1980s.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13036732|title=Angola country profile&nbsp;– Overview|work=[[BBC News]]|date=11 April 2011 |access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> The MPLA's military presence was strongest in Angolan cities, the coastal region and the strategic oil fields. But UNITA controlled much of the highland's interior, notably the [[Bié Plateau]], and other strategic regions of the country. Up to 300,000 Angolans died in the civil war.<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/>

===Guerrilla movement===
{{Covert United States involvement in regime change}}
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Savimbi sought out vastly expanded relations with the U.S. He received considerable guidance from [[The Heritage Foundation]], an influential conservative research institute in Washington, D.C. that maintained strong relations with both the [[Reagan administration]] and the U.S. Congress. [[Michael Johns (policy analyst)|Michael Johns]], the Heritage Foundation's leading expert on Africa and Third World Affairs issues, visited Savimbi in his clandestine southern Angolan base camps, offering the UNITA leader both tactical military and political advice.<ref name=MichaelJohnsSavimbiVictory>{{cite web |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:E26OC9-320 |title=Savimbi's Elusive Victory in Angola |work=[[Human Events]] |via=[[Congressional Record|U.S. Congressional Record]] |last=Johns |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Johns (policy analyst) |date=26 October 1989 |access-date=20 January 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Through the lobbying efforts of [[Paul Manafort]] and his firm [[Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly]] which was paid $600,000 each year from Savimbi beginning in 1985, UNITA gained strong backing from the Reagan administration.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Swan |first1=Betsy |last2=Mak |first2=Tim |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/top-trump-aide-led-the-torturers-lobby |title=Top Trump Aide Led the 'Torturers' Lobby' Blood Money: Paul Manafort and the partners at his firm made a fortune repping some of the most despicable dictators of the 20th century. |work=[[Daily Beast]] |date=13 April 2016 |access-date=28 August 2021 |quote=Updated on 6 November 2017.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Evan |author-link=Evan Thomas |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,960803-1,00.html |title=The Slickest Shop in Town (page 1) |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=3 March 1986 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=18 April 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418033553/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,960803-1,00.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Evan |author-link=Evan Thomas |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,960803-2,00.html |title=The Slickest Shop in Town (page 2) |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=3 March 1986 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226060300/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,960803-2,00.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Shear |first1=Michael D. |last2=Birnbaum |first2=Jeffrey H. |author1-link=Michael D. Shear |author2-link=Jeffrey Birnbaum |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052103006.html |title=McCain Adviser's Work As Lobbyist Criticized: Charles Black, John McCain's top political strategist, is now retired from a 30-year (page 1) |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=22 May 2008 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309131432/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052103006.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Shear |first1=Michael D. |last2=Birnbaum |first2=Jeffrey H. |author1-link=Michael D. Shear |author2-link=Jeffrey Birnbaum |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052103006_2.html |title=McCain Adviser's Work As Lobbyist Criticized: Charles Black, John McCain's top political strategist, is now retired from a 30-year (page 2) |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=22 May 2008 |access-date=28 August 2021 |archive-date=16 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416161838/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052103006_2.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Levine |first=Art |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qnVC8yS4N_AC&pg=PA62 |title=Inside Washington's Propaganda Shops: Publicists of the Damned |work=[[Spy (magazine)|Spy]] (volume 6) |pages=52–60 |date=February 1992 |access-date=28 August 2021 |quote=See page 60. The full title of the article is "Believe it or not, there are Americans out there who have nice things to say about Saddam Hussein, Nicolae Ceaucescu, and the murderous governments of Zaire, Myanmar, and El Salvador&nbsp;– and they have better access to your congressman than you do. They're lobbyists, and they earn hundreds of thousands of dollars flacking for fascists and schmoozing on behalf of tyrants blithely waltzing through life as PUBLICISTS OF THE DAMNED."}}</ref>

In 1986, [[American conservatism|U.S. conservatives]] convinced President [[Ronald Reagan]] to meet with Savimbi at the [[White House]].  While the meeting itself was confidential, Reagan emerged from it with support and enthusiasm for Savimbi's efforts, stating that he could envision a UNITA "victory that electrifies the world," suggesting that Reagan saw the outcome of the Angolan conflict as critical to his entire [[Reagan Doctrine]] foreign policy, consisting of support for anti-communist resistance movements in Central America, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/08/usa.comment|title=Terrible legacy of the Reagan years|last=Aaronovitch|first=David|author-link=David Aaronovitch|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=7 June 2004|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref>

Under Savimbi's leadership, UNITA proved especially effective militarily before and after independence, becoming one of the world's most effective armed resistance movements of the late 20th century. According to the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]], UNITA came to control "vast swaths of the interior (of Angola)".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/6619.htm|title=Angola|work=U.S. Department of State|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> Savimbi's very survival in Angola in and of itself was viewed as an incredible accomplishment, and he came to be known as "Africa's most enduring bush fighter"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399488/Angola-Key-Figures.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399488/Angola-Key-Figures.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Angola: Key Figures|date=8 August 2002|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=20 January 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> given assassination attempts, aided by extensive Soviet, Cuban, and East German military troops, advisors and support, that he survived.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-980554.html|title=Angolan peace talks stall over alleged attempt to kill Savimbi|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|last=Taylor|first=Paul|date=19 December 1993|access-date=27 January 2020|archive-date=29 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329152848/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-980554.html}}</ref>

As Savimbi gained ground despite the forces aligned against him, American conservatives pointed to his success, and that of Afghan [[mujahideen]] and the Nicaraguan [[contras]], all of which, with U.S. support, were successfully opposing Soviet-sponsored governments, as evidence that the U.S. was beginning to gain an upper hand in the Cold War conflict and that the Reagan Doctrine was working.  Critics, on the other hand, responded that the support given to UNITA, the contras, and the Afghan mujahideen was inflaming regional conflicts at great expense to these nations. Furthermore, UNITA, like the Angolan government it fought, was criticized for human rights abuses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Urgent_Action/apic_92699.html|title=Angola: Human Rights Watch Report, 9/26/99|publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]|editor=Ali B. Ali-Dinar|date=26 September 1999|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref>

===1980s===
UNITA gained some international notoriety in 1983 after abducting 66 Czechoslovak civilians and detaining a third of them for about 15 months.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.radio.cz/en/section/czech-history/the-angola-abduction|title=The Angola abduction|work=[[Radio Praha]]|last=Falvey|first=Christian|date=8 February 2011|access-date=15 November 2018|language=en}}</ref> Belgium eventually negotiated the release of the civilians. Fighting in Angola continued until 1989, when, with UNITA advancing militarily, Cuba withdrew its support, removing several thousand troops that it had dispatched to Angola to fight Savimbi's UNITA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cuban-troops-begin-withdrawal-from-angola|title=Cuban troops begin withdrawal from Angola|work=[[History (American TV channel)|History.com]]|date=10 January 1989|access-date=27 January 2020|archive-date=8 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100308040539/http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cuban-troops-begin-withdrawal-from-angola}}</ref> With many commentators and foreign policy specialists seeing that the [[Cold War]] might be drawing to an end, Savimbi's U.S. support, which had been strong, began to be questioned, with some in Congress urging the end of U.S. support for UNITA.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kora.matrix.msu.edu/files/50/304/32-130-FD9-84-GMH%20ACAS%20Angola89-5.pdf|title=Congress to Act Soon on Angola: Urgent Lobbying Needed|work=[[Association of Concerned Africa Scholars]]|last=Root|first=Christine|date=5 May 1989|access-date=27 January 2020}}</ref> Matters were further complicated by repeated reports that Soviet General Secretary [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] had raised U.S. support for UNITA in several formal and informal summit meetings with President [[George H. W. Bush]], placing further pressure on the U.S. to end its support for UNITA.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/02/world/us-soviets-bridge-gap-conventional-weapons-plan-for-summit-soon-bush-hails.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=U.S. and Soviets Bridge Gap on Conventional Weapons and Plan for Summit Soon; Bush Hails Accord|work=[[The New York Times]]|last=Riding|first=Alan|author-link=Alan Riding|date=2 June 1991|access-date=27 January 2020}}</ref>

[[File:Unitaprop.jpg|thumb|left|200px|A UNITA sticker, issued for its 20th anniversary celebrations in 1986. The sticker carries the UNITA symbol and the slogan 'Socialism&nbsp;– Negritude&nbsp;– Democracy&nbsp;– Non-Alignment']]As the war began to include both military and diplomatic components, Johns and leading U.S. conservatives urged Savimbi to make a ceasefire contingent on the MPLA's agreement to "free and fair elections."<ref>Michael Johns, [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:E16OC0-475: With Freedom Near In Angola, This is No Time to Curtail Unita Assistance] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810210840/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:E16OC0-475: |date=10 August 2014 }}, Heritage Foundation Executive Memorandum 276, 31 July 1990, as entered in ''U.S. Congressional Record''.</ref> When the UNITA demand was originally rebuffed by the MPLA, Savimbi vastly intensified his military pressure, while alleging that the MPLA was resisting free and fair elections because they feared a UNITA electoral victory. Meanwhile, an [[New York Accords|agreement]] was reached that provided for the removal of foreign troops from Angola in exchange for the independence of [[Namibia]] from South Africa.  In Angola, however, Savimbi told Johns and conservative leader [[Howard Phillips (activist)|Howard Phillips]] that he had not felt adequately consulted on the negotiations or agreement and was in opposition to it. "There are a lot of loopholes in that agreement. The agreement is not good at all," Johns reported Savimbi telling both of them during a March 1989 visit with Savimbi in Angola."<ref name=MichaelJohnsSavimbiVictory/>

A ceasefire ultimately was negotiated and MPLA leader [[José Eduardo dos Santos]] and the MPLA's Central Committee rejected its Marxist past and agreed to Savimbi's demand for free and fair elections, though UNITA and its supporters viewed the promises skeptically, especially because the MPLA's relations with the Soviet Union remained strong.<ref>{{cite web |last=Johns |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Johns (policy analyst) |url=http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1990/02/angola-testing-gprbachevs-new-thinking |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108083158/http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/1990/02/Angola-Testing-Gprbachevs-New-Thinking |url-status=unfit |archive-date=8 January 2011 |title=Angola: Testing Gorbachev's 'New Thinking' |work=[[The Heritage Foundation]] |date=5 February 1990 |access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

===1990s===
[[File:Jonas Savimbi.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Unita leader [[Jonas Savimbi]].]]
Following the 1991 [[Bicesse Accords]], signed in [[Lisbon]], United Nations-brokered elections were held, with both Savimbi and dos Santos running for president in 1992. Failing to win an overall majority in the first round of balloting, and then questioning the election's legitimacy, Savimbi and UNITA returned to armed conflict.  Fighting resumed in October 1992 in Huambo, quickly spreading to Angola's capital, [[Luanda]].  It was here that [[Jeremias Chitunda]], UNITA's long-time vice-president and other UNITA officials were killed while fleeing the city culminating in the [[Halloween Massacre (Angola)|Halloween Massacre]].  Following Chitunda's death, UNITA defensively moved their base from Jamba to Huambo.  Savimbi's 1992 decision to return to combat ultimately proved a costly one, with many of Savimbi's U.S. conservative allies urging Savimbi to contest dos Santos electorally in the run-off election.  Savimbi's decision to forego the run-off also greatly strained UNITA's relations with U.S. President [[George H. W. Bush]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/22/world/former-rebels-in-angola-shun-unity-meeting.html|title=Former Rebels in Angola Shun Unity Meeting|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=[[Reuters]]|date=22 November 1992|access-date=20 January 2015|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128035424/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/22/world/former-rebels-in-angola-shun-unity-meeting.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm}}</ref>

As Savimbi resumed fighting, the U.N. responded by implementing an embargo against UNITA through [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1173]].  The UN-commissioned [[Fowler Report]] detailed how UNITA continued to finance its war effort through the sales of diamonds (later to be known as [[blood diamonds]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/202/41606.html|title=Final Report of the UN Panel of Experts ("The "Fowler Report")|last1=Fowler|first1=Robert|last2=Mollander|first2=Anders|author1-link=Robert Fowler (diplomat)|publisher=[[Global Policy Forum]]|date=10 March 2000|access-date=10 March 2010}}</ref> and resulted in further sanctions in the form of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1295]] and action to end to the trade in blood diamonds through the [[Kimberley Process Certification Scheme]]. In late 1992 following the [[1992 Angolan general election|general elections]], the U.S. government, which had never recognized the legitimacy of the MPLA, finally recognized the Angolan government and stopped supporting UNITA, further alienating Savimbi.<ref name=BBC25022002/> After failed talks in 1993 to end the conflict, another agreement, the Lusaka Protocol, was implemented in 1994 to form a government of national unity.  In 1995, U.N. peacekeepers arrived. But UNITA broke away from the Lusaka agreement in 1998, citing violations of it by the MPLA.  In late 1998, a militant group calling itself ''UNITA Renovada'' broke away from mainstream UNITA, when several UNITA commanders dissatisfied with the leadership of [[Jonas Savimbi]] ended their allegiance to his organization. Thousands more deserted UNITA in 1999 and 2000.<ref name="resolutions">{{cite book |last=Hodges |first=Tony |title=Angola: Anatomy of an Oil State |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |date=2004 |edition=second |pages=15–16 |isbn=978-0253344465}}</ref>

In 1999, a MPLA military offensive known as [[Operation Restore]] damaged UNITA considerably, essentially destroying UNITA as a conventional military force and forcing UNITA to return to more traditional guerrilla tactics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/29/world/world-briefing.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=World briefing|work=[[The New York Times]]|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]|date=29 December 1999|access-date=20 January 2015|archive-date=20 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120232509/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/29/world/world-briefing.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/dec/28/chrismcgreal?INTCMP=SRCH|title=Rebels lose former HQ to Angolan army|last=McGreal|first=Chris|author-link=Chris McGreal|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=27 December 1999|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref> In October 1999, UNITA alleged that the FAA [[Embraer EMB 312 Tucano]]s used during Operation Restore were crewed by Brazilian pilots on contract to the Angolan government. UNITA subsequently declared "that anything within the Angolan national territory, identified as Brazil's interest, is... considered a target and will not be spared" from their attacks.<ref name="WSWS">{{Cite news|last=Mason|first=Barry|date=1999-11-16|title=Angola: MPLA inflicts new defeats on UNITA|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1999/11/ango-n16.html|work=World Socialist Website}}</ref><ref name="Brazilian pilots">{{Cite web|url=https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/unita/en0510991.htm|title=Kwacha Unita Press – The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola – Unita Standing Committee of the Political Commission 1999 – Year of Generalised Popular Resistance – COMMUNIQUE NO. 39/CPP/99|website=Federation of American Scientists|access-date=3 December 2022|archive-date=5 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805192503/https://irp.fas.org/world/para/docs/unita/en0510991.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2000s===
The Angolan civil war ended only after the death of Savimbi, who was killed in an ambush on 22 February 2002.  His death was shocking to many Angolans, many of whom had grown up during the Angolan civil war and witnessed Savimbi's ability to successfully evade efforts by Soviet, Cuban and Angolan troops to kill him.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1836737.stm|title=Angolan rebel leader 'killed'|work=[[BBC News]]|date=23 February 2002|access-date=20 January 2015}}</ref>

Six weeks following Savimbi's death, in April 2002, UNITA agreed to a ceasefire with the government. Under an amnesty agreement, UNITA soldiers and their families, comprising roughly 350,000 people, were gathered in 33 demobilisation camps under the "Program For Social and Productive Reintegration of Demobilized and War Displaced People". In August 2002, UNITA officially gave up its armed wing, and UNITA placed all of its efforts on the development of its political party. Despite the ceasefire, deep political conflict between UNITA and the MPLA remains.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2700295/Angola-opposition-will-contest-election-result.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2700295/Angola-opposition-will-contest-election-result.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Angola opposition will contest election result|date=7 September 2008|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=20 January 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Savimbi was immediately succeeded by [[António Dembo]], who died shortly after Savimbi. Following Dembo, in elections contested by General [[Paulo Lukamba Gato]], [[Dinho Chingunji]] and [[Isaías Samakuva]], Samakuva won the UNITA election and emerged as UNITA's new president.

In November 2019, [[Isaias Samakuva]] resigned as president and was replaced by [[Adalberto Costa Júnior]] with [[Arlete Leona Chimbinda]] as the new vice-president.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Arlete Chimbinda indicada Vice-Presidente da UNITA|url=https://www.club-k.net/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=38270:arlete-chimbinda-indicada-vice-presidente-da-unita&amp;catid=23:politica&amp;lang=pt&amp;Itemid=641|access-date=25 January 2021|website=CLUB-K ANGOLA&nbsp;– Notícias Imparciais de Angola| date=16 November 2019 |language=pt-pt}}</ref>

==Foreign support==
UNITA received support from several governments in Africa, Europe, and Asia, including the [[People's Republic of Bulgaria]],<ref name=d>{{cite book|last=Howe|first=Herbert M.|year=2004|title=Ambiguous Order: Military Forces In African States|publisher=[[Lynne Rienner Publishers|Lynne Rienner]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ambiguousordermi0000howe/page/81 81]|isbn=978-1555879310|url=https://archive.org/details/ambiguousordermi0000howe/page/81}}</ref> [[Egypt]], France, Israel, [[Morocco]], the People's Republic of China,<ref name=Jackson>{{cite journal |last=Jackson |first=S F  |title=China's Third World Foreign Policy: The Case of Angola and Mozambique, 1961–93 |journal=The China Quarterly |date=June 1995 |volume=142 |pages=388–422 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000034986}}</ref> [[North Korea]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Zaire]],<ref name=e>{{cite book|last=Beit-Hallahmi|first=Benjamin|author-link=Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi|year=1988|title=The Israeli Connection: Whom Israel Arms and Why|publisher=[[I.B. Tauris|I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd]]|pages=65|isbn=978-1850430698|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7v-g21ksdVsC&q=UNITA}}</ref> and [[Zambia]].<ref name=f>{{cite book|last=AlʻAmin Mazrui|first=Ali|year=1977|title=The Warrior Tradition in Modern Africa|publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill Academic]]|pages=228|isbn=978-9004056466}}</ref><ref name=g>{{cite web |url=http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/issue43/articles/1975_angola.htm |title=1975, Angola: Mercenaries, Murder and Corruption |website=Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade |last=Stockwell |first=John |author-link=John Stockwell (CIA officer) |access-date=28 January 2020}}</ref>

===United States===
{{see also|CIA activities in Angola}}
During the [[Reagan administration]] high ranking security officials met with UNITA leaders. [[Central Intelligence Agency]] Director [[William J. Casey]], [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]] [[Richard V. Allen|Richard Allen]], and Secretary of State [[Alexander Haig]], on 6 March met with UNITA leaders in Washington, D.C. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walker met with Savimbi in March in [[Rabat]], Morocco. Secretary of Defense [[Caspar Weinberger]], his assistant for International Security Matters Francis West, Deputy Defense Secretary [[Frank Carlucci]], Deputy Director of the CIA [[Bobby Inman]], and Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency [[James A. Williams|James Williams]] met with Savimbi between November 1981 and January 1982. Although the [[Clark Amendment]] forbid U.S. involvement in the civil war, Secretary Haig told Savimbi in December 1981 that the U.S. would continue to provide assistance to UNITA.<ref name=h>{{cite book|last=Wright|first=George|year=1997|title=The Destruction of a Nation: United States Policy Towards Angola Since 1945|publisher=[[Pluto Press]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/destructionofnat0000wrig/page/110 110]|isbn=978-0745310305|url=https://archive.org/details/destructionofnat0000wrig/page/110}}</ref>

The U.S. government "explicitly encouraged" the governments of Israel, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Zaire to aid UNITA. In 1983 the U.S. and South African governments agreed to ship weapons from the [[Honduras]], [[Belgium]] and [[Switzerland]] to South Africa and then to UNITA in Angola. The U.S. also traded weapons with South Africa for intelligence on the civil war.<ref name=h/>

Savimbi benefited from the support of influential American conservatives, including [[The Heritage Foundation]]'s [[Michael Johns (policy analyst)|Michael Johns]] and other U.S. conservative leaders, who helped elevate Savimbi's stature in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] and promoted the transfer of American weapons to his war.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:E16OC0-475:|title=Congress.gov {{!}} Library of Congress|website=thomas.loc.gov|language=en|access-date=6 July 2017|archive-date=10 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810210840/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r101:E16OC0-475:|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Johns and other American conservatives met regularly with Savimbi in remote [[Jamba, Angola|Jamba]], culminating in the "[[Democratic International]]" in 1985. Savimbi later drew the praise of U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]], who hailed him as a [[freedom fighter]] and spoke of Savimbi winning a victory that "electrifies the world" while others hinted at a much darker regime, dismissing Savimbi as a power-hungry propagandist.<ref name=BBC25022002/>

After the [[1992 Angolan general election]], UNITA lost its support from the United States and was only supported by South Africa. Support ceased after the end of the ''[[apartheid]]'' in South Africa and the election of [[Nelson Mandela]] as President in 1994; Mandela and the [[African National Congress]] had given the MPLA military support through the ANC armed wing ''[[uMkhonto we Sizwe]]''.<ref name=BBC25022002/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGT1zAEACAAJ |title=The Diplomacy of Liberation: Foreign Relations of the ANC Since 1960 |date=1995-12-31 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-85043-993-6 |pages=202–207 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Shubin |first=Vladimir Gennadyevich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5MMAQAAMAAJ |title=The Hot 'Cold War': The USSR in Southern Africa |date=2008-10-20 |publisher=[[Pluto Press]] |isbn=978-0-7453-2472-2 |pages=92–93, 249 |language=en}}</ref>

==Electoral history==

===Presidential elections===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
!Election
!Party candidate
!Votes
!'''%'''
!Result
|-
|[[1992 Angolan general election|1992]]
|[[Jonas Savimbi]]
|1,579,298
|40.07%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|[[2012 Angolan general election|2012]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Isaías Samakuva]]
|1,074,565
|18.67%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|[[2017 Angolan general election|2017]]
|1,818,903
|26.68%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|[[2022 Angolan general election|2022]]
|[[Adalberto Costa Júnior]]
|2,756,786
|43.95%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|}

===National Assembly elections===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Election
!Party leader
! Votes
! %
! Seats
! +/–
! Position
! Result
|-
|[[1992 Angolan general election|1992]]
|[[Jonas Savimbi]]
| 1,347,636
| 34.10%
|{{Composition bar|70|220|hex={{party color|UNITA}}}}
|New
|{{increase}} 2nd
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|[[2008 Angolan legislative election|2008]]
| rowspan="3" |[[Isaías Samakuva]]
| 670,363
| 10.39%
|{{Composition bar|16|220|hex={{party color|UNITA}}}}
|{{decrease}} 54
|{{steady}} 2nd
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|[[2012 Angolan legislative election|2012]]
| 1,074,565
| 18.66%
|{{Composition bar|32|220|hex={{party color|UNITA}}}}
|{{increase}} 16
|{{steady}} 2nd
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|[[2017 Angolan legislative election|2017]]
| 1,790,320
| 26.70%
|{{Composition bar|51|220|hex={{party color|UNITA}}}}
|{{increase}} 19
|{{steady}} 2nd
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|[[2022 Angolan legislative election|2022]]
| [[Adalberto Costa Júnior]]
| 2,756,786
| 43.95%
|{{Composition bar|90|220|hex={{party color|UNITA}}}}
|{{increase}} 39
|{{steady}} 2nd
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|}

==See also==
*[[African independence movements]]
*''[[Blood Diamonds]]''
*[[David Chingunji]]
*[[Jorge Sangumba]]
*[[Kafundanga Chingunji]]
*[[RENAMO]], a similar group in Mozambique also supported by Apartheid South Africa

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Didier Péclard, "Les incertitudes de la nation en Angola: Aux racines sociales de l'Unita", Paris: Karthala, (2015).
* Hoekstra, Quint. "The effect of foreign state support to UNITA during the Angolan War (1975–1991)." ''Small Wars & Insurgencies'' 29.5–6 (2018): 981–1005.
* Pearce, Justin. "From Rebellion to Opposition: UNITA's Social Engagement in Post-War Angola." ''Government and Opposition'' 55.3 (2020): 474–489.
* Wright, George. ''The Destruction of a Nation: United States' Policy Towards Angola Since 1945'' (1997)

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.unitaangola.org/}} {{in lang|pt}}
*[http://www.unitaeleicoes.com/ Unita campaign website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512192629/http://unitaeleicoes.com/ |date=12 May 2009 }} {{in lang|pt}}
*[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4cpfb_savimbi_politics French interview of Jonas Savimbi in 1978]
*[http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?perpetrator=499 List of attacks attributed to Unita on the START terrorism database], [http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3509 Profile on START] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130111153015/http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3509 |date=11 January 2013 }}
{{Angolan political parties}}
{{Armed groups in the Congo wars}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:UNITA| ]]
[[Category:Angolan nationalism]]
[[Category:Anti-communist parties]]
[[Category:Conservative parties in Angola]]
[[Category:Military history of Angola]]
[[Category:Political parties in Angola]]
[[Category:Separatism in Angola]]
[[Category:Separatism in Portugal]]