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A Farewell to Arms?
| Article
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15414 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1989 |
1,870 Words |
| Author
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M. Hough
M. Hough is director of the Institute for Strategic Studies at
the University of Pretoria in South Africa. |
The termination of hostilities in Namibia--leading to elections there--and the current peace initiatives in Angola are, of course, linked. South Africa deemed it important to obtain withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola, as Pretoria viewed the Cuban presence as disturbing the balance of power in southern Africa. To achieve this, South Africa had to withdraw its forces from southern Angola and agree to a date for the implementation of UN Resolution 435.
Moreover, South Africa had found its financial commitments in Namibia to be a substantial drain on its resources and had already slashed its contribution to the Namibian budget. Of course, the Cubans and the South-West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) claimed that their military pressure on South Africa, especially in Angola, were a factor. South Africa, in turn, saw military pressure by UNITA (assisted by South Africa) on Cuba and the Angolan Defense Force (FAPLA), as well as South African military pressure on SWAPO in Angola and Namibia, as important factors leading to the peace initiatives.
International pressure on South Africa (including a possible escalation of sanctions), as well as demands for independence by the internal parties in Namibia, also played a role. Partly as a result of its new approach to Third World conflict situations, the USSR most certainly also was involved in putting pressure on Cuba to withdraw its troops from Angola. This would, in turn, leave the government in Luanda to eventually face UNITA without the protection of Cuban troops, if there were no settlement of the civil war (although UNITA would no longer have the benefit of South African assistance). The civil war also placed a heavy burden on Angola's resources. And although an internal
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