| Second,
the resettlment of displaced people, who total more
or less four million.
The
majority of these people are peasants. To get them back
home we need to create special conditions. We need to
give them materials for construction, materials for
agriculture."
But
Angola's third problem, according to Jorge, is probably
its biggest: landmines. One-third of the country is
off limits because of them. They were made in China,
Belgium, Italy, the U.K. and the U.S. Others date
from before the end of the cold war and the fall of
the Berlin Wall, from the former Soviet Union and
Czechoslovakia, and even West Germany. "We have
urgent need to demine the country," says Jorge.
"But where does the help come from? Maybe those
countries who where so eager to sell landmines to
UNITA could remove them."
Landmines
mutilate more than 70,000 Angolans every year, more
than anywhere else in the world. Widow Lusia Duarte,
50, has very personal experience of their deadly effects.
She stepped on one in 1984 and lost a leg. Only recently
has she been given a prosthesis by the Red Cross.
"Now, with a new leg, I can help my eight children
with the housework," she says. "Before,
I could do nothing."
The
beginning of the end of Angola's 30-year civil war came
on Feb. 22, 2002, when UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi died
in a hale of bullets fired by governement troops. By
April 4, 2002, the ceasefire between the MPLA Government
and the UNITA rebels was signed and the demobilization
of the guerillas began. Part of the deal was a promise
by the government of food and shelter for the former
guerillas. Yet the 74,000 soldiers have so far received
very little and their families are suffering the worst
losses of all Angolans.
The
rebels have known little else than war for three decades.
They have raised their children in the bush, taught
them how to fight and survive on virtually nothing.
But Rui Passolo, base manager for the UN's World Food
Program (WFP) in Kuito, rejects claims that the government
is not doing enough. "There's a very good relationship
between the government forces and UNITA," he says.
"Sometimes they joke together and laugh. That shows
this war was not an internal matter. It was an external
matter."
Now
a new era is dawning. Desire for a lasting peace can
be found on both sides. The last elections of any sort
were held 10 years ago, new elections are due in late
2003 or early 2004. The present president José
Eduardo Dos Santos has already said he will not stand
for reelection.
Until
then, the present government must deal with the twin
problems of hunger and disease. Polio claims the lives
of hundreds of Angolan children every year. Many more
are dying from malnutrition. Children under the age
of six months are often in a pretty good shape thanks
to breastfeeding, but one in three die before the age
of five.
But
amid the grinding poverty and malnutrition there is
a paradox: Angola is one of the world's most important
diamond producers. The Catoca mine, in the province
of Lunda Sul, is the world's fourth largest open-cast
diamond mine. In 1999 the mine made a net profit of
$38 million and the company expects to dig out 135 million
carats of diamonds before the soil is emptied of gems.
The country's oil wealth is even greater. Last year,
Angola provided 7% of the U.S.'s oil consumption. The
potential is there. What Angola's fledging democracy
needs now is more than food aid. It needs a new start.
Angola has a long journey ahead |
