Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-01-19-Speech-3-054"
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"en.20000119.2.3-054"2
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"It is good to hear that Africa is on the Portuguese Presidency’s list of priorities. Indeed, Europe carries considerable historical responsibility in this respect and it would be really irresponsible to leave the black continent in the care of the Americans. I hope that the Euro-African Summit will take place and that the Union will, at last, manage to adopt a common position regarding the conflict in Central Africa. It is only logical that Portugal’s attention should be mainly focused on Angola.
I would, however, like to make some comments concerning the statement on the Angola war, in which the rebel movement UNITA is held to be the main culprit. It is indeed correct that Savimbi wrecked the first peace agreement when he lost the elections in 1992. It is also correct that UNITA has used the period of demilitarisation to re-arm itself and is responsible for gross human rights violations in the current war. We need to continue to come down hard on this.
But this does not put Angola’s leaders in the clear. After all, it was the government that, in late 1998, declared all-out war on the rebels and did not spare the citizens in this war either. It is also a fact that the government also re-armed itself on a massive scale during this period of peace. Human rights organisations such as
and
have accused the government of large-scale corruption, the use of billions of oil dollars for military deals, involving – would you believe it – Portugal among others, and of repressing the opposition and the press.
Africa's second largest oil-producing country has one of the world’s worst socio-economic indicators with undernourished children and cholera epidemics reaching the very heart of the capital. Europe must continue to demand a dialogue without starting to think along military lines. Portugal could play a key role in this, not by taking a unilateral stance but by reminding both parties of their responsibilities. In this way, a ray of light can finally reach the dark Angolan tunnel."@en1
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