Jonas Savimbi
1934 – 2002 Angolan Rebel leader, founder of UNITA
UNITA leader who waged a long Cold War-fueled civil war in Angola.
- Religion
- Christian
- Affiliations
- UNITA
Jonas Savimbi founded UNITA and fought first against Portuguese rule and then against the MPLA government in Angola's long civil war. Backed at various points by apartheid South Africa and the United States, he rejected election results in 1992 and returned to war. He was killed in a government ambush in 2002, and his death effectively ended the conflict.
In the timeline
- 1975 Backing Savimbi's UNITA in Angola mentioned