[22 Pics] The Secret history of southern Africa: The Soviet Union & Cubans who fought in Angola

[This is one of the old but important stories from the original AfricanCrisis website that I am converting on to the new site, in the new format.

I should mention that UNITA initially was pro-Communist. Of the 3 original Liberation Movements in Angola, only the FNLA was non-communist. They were wiped out completely in the fighting. The FNLA were Black Christians who were fiercely anti-communist. But the MPLA and UNITA were both Marxist and Jonas Savimbi was very taken by the communist Che Guevara. Che also came to Africa to fight in the Congo (now DRC), but it was a big flop. Then he went to South America where he was killed while trying to start up communism there.After 1975, when the MPLA came to power, UNITA then fought against it, and America supported UNITA in a luke-warm sort of way. The late president of South Africa, PW Botha, told me that he and Henry Kissinger met and Kissinger had promised him that he would get America to help defeat the communists. The plan was that South Africa and UNITA would fight the land war, and the CIA would see to it that the Angolan ports were mined so that Soviet ships could not deliver the heavy weapons. South Africa stuck to its side of the deal. When Kissinger returned to America, the US Congress refused to give permission for the mining of Luanda harbour. And so, South Africa and UNITA fought on more or less alone. The CIA dropped in from time to time to help a bit, as did the British, but all in all, assistance from the West was non-existent.

In the end, one of the richest countries in Africa remained in the hands of the MPLA, and later still the American Govt just became friends with them, and traded with them. During all this time, an American oil company pumped oil out of Cabinda which belongs to Angola. Jan]

The Russians in Angola

Angola has seen more heavy fighting than any other country in southern Africa. The Cubans were there,the East Germans, the North Koreans and also Russian officers. The MPLA/Cuban forces in the mid 1980'swere commanded by General Shagnovitch, a Russian. They regularly fought big battles against South Africanand UNITA forces. South Africa destroyed or captured $1 billion worth of Russian weaponry in Angola. Americans have been inundated with so much pro-Communist news that I wonder how many of them realisethat their government supported UNITA - the black, pro-Western forces in Angola, while the Russiansand Cubans supported and supplied the MPLA - the black, Marxist government in Angola? In recent years,the commies have been trying to kill UNITA by getting the world to clamp down on "conflict diamonds". Recently, the leader of UNITA died in a battle. I have it on good authority that he was very possiblykilled by a sniper. How many Americans nowadays think of the MPLA as "good" and UNITA as "bad?" Lots I'llbet. Well, that is how lost people in the West are these days - they can't tell their friends from theirenemies. Here are two Soviet advisors to the Angolan Army posing for a photo in 1981. They were killed later bythe South African army during Operation Protea. This is Nikolai F. Pestretsov, a Russian soldier who was captured inside Angola in August, 1981 by South African troops. Here we see Russian and Cuban officers instructing blacks in Angola. Note: the words MPLA behind the officers. The Marxist MPLA has ruled Angola from 1975 to the present. Note: The portraits of Engels, Marx and Lenin in the background. Captured Russian weapons in Angola Here is a South African officer posing next to captured M-46 artillery pieces All the Soviert artillery and tanks in this photo were captured and are being used by UNITA against their original owners! South African troops inspect a Soviet supplied T-55 tank which was knocked out by them during one of thebattles along the Lomba River in southeast Angola This Russian BTR-60 Infantry Fighting Vehicle was destroyed by South African Ratel APCs Main photo: This advanced Russian flat-face radar was captured in tact by South African forces in Angola. Note: Many of the most sophisticated Eastern Bloc weapons systems were first seen by Western observerswhen they were captured by South African troops in Angola! The Western world benefitted greatly from this intelligence bonus Inset: A South African Brigadier (left) holds talks with a Cuban Colonel (right) This deadly Russian Mi8/17 helicopter was destroyed by mortar fire in Angola. Note the rocket pods under the winglet. [Sorry, but this photo spans two pages] In the foreground is a Soviet BRDM amphibious scout car. In the background is a Soviet BM-21 'Stalin Organ' Note: If it were not for the continual arms shipments from the Soviet Union (weapons coming in by the ship load), the war in Angola would have been won by South Africa and UNITA in the 1970's The following tins of canned food were found on the battlefield after fighting the MPLA (communist) forces.Note it comes from Cuba and Holland. The tin at the top has the words "Hollanda". This is but one ofmany examples of how food, donated for peaceful purposes by Western countries and Churches end up incommunist hands! All this communist weaponry was captured from the Angolan Defence force by the South African armyduring Operation Protea. This is just a small portion of the thousands of tons of Soviet weaponry captured by the South Africanforces in a single raid in 1981. (They captured much more in later years). There was often too muchfor them to capture and so they blew much of it up. Just to give the Reader an idea of the scale and ferocity of fighting in Angola in the 1980's betweenthe South African Army & UNITA versus the Communists (MPLA, Cubans, etc), take a look at the weaponsdestroyed and captured by the South African army. In one series of ferocious battles against the 47th Brigade (communists), the following equipment was captured or destroyed:- 21 T-54 and T-55 tanks (four T-54s captured and handed to UNITA for incorporation intothe rebels' own tank squadron); 4 SA-8 missile launcher vehicles (one captured intact); 1 BTR-60 Sam-8 logistics vehicle (captured); 1 BTR-60PU Sam-8 command vehicle (captured); 22 BTR-60 armoured personnel carriers (11 captured); 4 truck-mounted 122 mm BM-21 Multiple Rocket Systems, or 'Stalin Organs' (2 captured); 3 BMP-1 Mechanised Infantry Combat Vehicles (2 captured); 83 logistics trucks (45 captured); 2 BTS-4 armoured recovery vehicles (1 captured); 26 BRDM-2 amphibious scout cars; 2 TMM mobile bridges; 1 Flat Face air defence radar (captured); 6 23 mm ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns (4 captured); 3 122 mm D-30 Howitzer long-range guns (2 captured). This is the tailplane of a Mig-23 piloted by a Cuban. It was shot down by an American-supplied Stingermissile [Sorry, but this photo spans two pages] Two South African Airforce Mirages tangle with two MiG-21's. One is shot down. Here is footage of Major Rankin's kill. Another Russian-built Mi8 helicopter shot down. This one was in the Angolan airforce. Another Mig downed by an American Stinger missile These UNITA forces are using a captured Chinese Type 63, 107mm multiple rocket launcher The aftermath of battles in southeast Angola. Look at the destroyed communist armour littering the African bush These Russian vehicles were knocked out by the South African army. Some of them were so new they only had a few hundred miles on the clock The 1980's were better days for UNITA - when America still assisted it. This UNITA soldier is carrying an American supplied M-79 grenade launcher. Jonas Savimbi and a South African Army officer in the early 1970's. Jonas Savimbi died in February 2002, when the communists cornered some of his troops. They could notget close to him and his soldiers held off the communists for 10 days. According to a reliable source Iknow he was probably killed by a communist sniper. Savimbi had been at war from 1966-2002. From 1975-2002he was fighting against the communists. They cheated him out of an election which he won in recent years. They also slaughtered 5 of his top people just before a conference. Communists are scum no matter how youlook at it. Now that Jonas is dead, one wonders if UNITA will survive.

Posted By: Jan
AfricanCrisis Webmaster
Author of: Government by Deception

     

---

There are no Readers' Comments for this article