Guerrillas Who Will Not Give Up

UNITA is still fighting against the Cubans

Under a blazing African sun, the guerrillas' battered trucks crashed through the thick bush of southern Angola. Small bands of soldiers trekked beside the sandy roads. Their destination: a clearing in the jungle known only by the code name Chipundo. There, among the camouflaged grass huts of a hastily erected "instant village," a burly, bearded man with skin the color of oiled ebony embraced each new arrival. He was Jonas Savimbi, 44, who had convened the annual congress of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) to prove a point: far from being wiped out, as Savimbi's foes in the Soviet-and Cuban-supported government in Luanda have claimed, UNITA was still carrying on its struggle to drive the Communists out of the country.

Savimbi claims that UNITA now has wrested effective control of much of south and central Angola from Marxist President Agostinho Neto and the 17,000 Cuban troops fighting on his behalf. Armed largely with captured Soviet-made AK-47 assault rifles, Savimbi's 12,000 guerrillas freely roam the countryside, seizing towns and villages at will, disappearing when the Cubans or government troops appear. Savimbi's soldiers have shut down the vital Benguela railroad, which once carried ore from mines in Zaire and Zambia to the Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito. The disruption of rail service has given Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda no choice but to reopen his country's rail link with Rhodesia, the only alternative route.

Savimbi's forces have stayed intact by relying on well-tested guerrilla survival tactics. To travel safely on roads that may be mined, UNITA convoys follow herds of elephants or buffalo; if these animated mine detectors trigger an explosion, the guerrillas know not only that the way is clear, but also that they are going to eat well. Now that large areas of south Angola are coming under its control, UNITA is setting up schools and agricultural cooperatives. But for the most part, Savimbi's forces are constantly on the move, carrying their possessions on their backs. The site of last week's congress was changed six times for security reasons.

Four years ago, after Portugal withdrew from its former colony, Neto's Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (M.P.L.A.) and 25,000 Cubans apparently had defeated UNITA and another liberation movement, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (F.N.L.A.). But Savimbi fought on. Since January, his guerrillas claim to have killed 350 government soldiers or Cubans, while suffering only 150 fatalities. Savimbi has recruited heavily among his fellow Ovimbundu (40% of the country's population) and other southern Angolan tribes, which have deep-rooted hostility toward Neto, a mixed-race assimilado, and the Cubans. He has also received substantial backing from South Africa, which wants UNlTA's help in controlling the Namibian guerrillas of SWAPO (Southwest African People's Organization), who operate from base camps in southern Angola.

Traveling by a clandestine UNITA supply route, TIME'S Peter Hawthorne last week entered southern Angola for an exclusive interview with Savimbi. Dressed in characteristic fatigues and gun belt, the former political science student at Switzerland's Lausanne University spoke of the war, UNITA'S goals and the dangers of Soviet expansionism in Africa. "The battle we are fighting is not only for the independence of Angola," he said. "It is also for the independence of the West." Excerpts from the interview:

On Soviet aims in Africa: In 1975 we were crushed by tanks and MiGs and troops from Cuba. Western countries, who profess to believe in democracy, did not help us. Cannot the West see that the Russians are step by step getting bits of Africa, encircling the oil riches of the Persian Gulf, getting the minerals of Angola, trying to control the sea route around the South African cape? The Russians want the world, but not a world war.

On South Africa: The white South Africans are Africans. Anything that affects us affects South Africa and anything that affects them affects us. If UNITA had come to power in Angola in 1975, I am sure that today the problems of Rhodesia and Namibia could have been solved peacefully. When we take over, we shall be looking for a dialogue with South Africa, not war. With such know-how in South Africa, we feel that all the countries in this area would benefit.

On UNlTA's support: It is not true to say that support comes largely from South Africa. After the invasion of Shaba province in Zaire [which was launched by Katangan exiles from Angolan territory in 1978], independent African countries realized that the Russians and Cubans will not be content with Angola. From that point, we started to get substantial support from some African countries, but they can't say it openly, of course. Second, we are getting substantial support from Arab countries. Obviously I can't say which ones.

On UNlTA's objectives: We will approach step by step the day when the Cubans and Russians find that it is impossible for them to stay any longer. That will be our first victory. From there, we will be ready to talk with the M.P.L.A. and to explain, even if it takes us years, that we have at last proved that foreign interference of that kind does not solve any problems. Ultimately, we want democratic elections and a coalition government between UNITA, M.P.L.A. and the F.N.L.A.

On Cuban involvement: The intention of the Cubans is to control the border with Namibia so that they can help SWAPO. Today they fear to come into this area. We control most of the south. I don't think the Cubans are very keen on the war any more. When they start being sent home in their coffins, they will be less keen. -

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