Savimbi, Jonas Malheiro

Angolan soldier and right-wing revolutionary, founder and leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). From 1975 UNITA, under Savimbi's leadership, tried to overthrow the government. A peace agreement was signed in 1994. Savimbi rejected the offer of vice presidency in a coalition government in 1996; however, in 1998, UNITA was demilitarized and accepted as a national political party.

The struggle for independence from Portugal escalated in 1961 into a civil war. In 1966 Savimbi founded the right-wing UNITA, which he led against the left-wing People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), led by Agostinho Neto. Neto, with Soviet and Cuban support, became president when independence was achieved in 1975, while UNITA, assisted by South Africa, continued its fight. A ceasefire was agreed in June 1989, but fighting continued, and the truce was abandoned after two months. A further truce was signed in May 1991. Civil war re-erupted in September 1992 following an election victory for the ruling party, a result which Savimbi disputed. Representatives of UNITA and the government signed a peace agreement in 1994. He was offered the post of vice presidency by President José Dos Santos, but turned it down.