African Activist Archive

The press release says Damu Smith, Executive Director of the Washington Office on Africa, called for serious U.S. talks with the Angolan government, following his month-long tour of the "Frontline States" of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola. These countries "are regularly attacked by the South African military and bandit groups financed by Pretoria," according to Smith. Smith says he met with the Angolan Minister of External Relations Afonso Van Dunem and Vice Minister Venancio de Moura and said he believed "the Angolans were willing to be flexible on a number of key points" raised in previous negotiations. A key issue in past talks has been a timetable for the withdrawal of Cuban troops in Angola and of South African forces occupying Angola's southern provinces, a topic closely linked with efforts to implement U.N. Resolution 435, the peace plan for Namibian independence. Smith said he discussed prospects for talks between Luanda and Washington, which Angola unilaterally suspended last year after UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi's visit to the U.S. and the Reagan Administration's decision to provide covert aid to UNITA. On June 11, the New York Times reported that the Reagan Administration had already informed Congress that it had decided to provide another $15-17 million in covert aid to UNITA rebels. At a camp for displaced persons at Bita, people told Smith that they were forced to flee their homes in Moxico province along the Zambian border because of UNITA attacks on their villages. Smith met with the Vice Foreign Ministers of Mozambique and Zimbabwe, Southern Africa Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) officials, Sam Nujoma, President of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO, and Oliver Tambo (President of the African National Congress, ANC). He also attended the World Council of Churches Program to Combat Racism conference in Lusaka on May 4-8 in support of the liberation of southern Africa, and was the only official American NGO representative at the UN Council for Namibia Extraordinary Session in Luanda on May 18-22. Smith visited the largest Namibian refugee settlement in Kwanza-Sul Province in southern Angola. Smith called upon Congress to overturn the administration's decision to send more aid to UNITA and oppose any of the recent attempts to provide U.S. assistance to the RENAMO bandits in Mozambique. He also urged Congress to swiftly pass H.R. 1580, introduced by Congressman Ron Dellums (D-CA) and Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA), to impose comprehensive economic sanctions against South Africa. The press release mentions Huambo's central hospital, the International Red Cross, and development aid.

African Activist Archive

ANTI-APARTHEID LEADER RETURNS, CALLS FOR "SERIOUS" U.S. TALKS WITH ANGOLANS TO END WAR

Concludes Month Long Southern Africa Tour

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