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Apartheid's Contras: An Inquiry into the Roots of War in Angola and Mozambique
Apartheid’s Contras provides a nuanced analysis of the complex causes of the wars in Angola and Mozambique between independence from Portugal in 1975 and the fall of apartheid in South Africa in 1994. It examines the roles of internal divisions, South Africa’s regional assault on its neighbors, and of the Cold War. Based on extensive secondary research as well as on on-the-ground interviews, it has won praise for being “remarkably lucid, dispassionate yet committed” (Shula Marks, School of Oriental and African Studies” and “an indispensable contribution” (Basil Davidson).
320 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 1994
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October 22, 2019
William Minter's in-depth study of cold war confrontation in southern Africa remains relevant as outside powers continue to insert themselves into local conflicts, in Africa and globally. In the 1970s and 80s, the former Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique were one of at least three Third World proxy "fronts"; taking and turning about Che Guevara's maxim of raising "two, three many Vietnams." South Africa, with US support, intervened in both neighboring states with allies RENAMO and Jonas Savimbi's "Unita," against Cuban-supported and Soviet-sponsored "Marxist regimes." As such they were the regional counterparts of Nicaraguan Contras and Afghan mujahadeen. The result was a bloody mess that forced all sides - like Vietnam - to disengage.
Whether anyone proved the victor in this is a moot point, despite claims all around. But as Minter concludes, the "international community" that set itself up as peace-broker composed the same parties who instigated the bloodshed in the first place, who fed it at the expense of local pawns and peoples. As in other "peace processes" - Central America, Israel, South Africa itself - the outside meddler/enablers washed the blood off their own hands by high-minded "reconciliation", leaving the guilt and the wreckage for their proxies and victims to bear.
Whether the world actually learned something from this process is, of course, doubtful. Again we see the same hypocrisy unfolding in Ukraine and Syria, with the same talk of the "price of peace" to be borne by those with nothing left to lose or pay.
Whether anyone proved the victor in this is a moot point, despite claims all around. But as Minter concludes, the "international community" that set itself up as peace-broker composed the same parties who instigated the bloodshed in the first place, who fed it at the expense of local pawns and peoples. As in other "peace processes" - Central America, Israel, South Africa itself - the outside meddler/enablers washed the blood off their own hands by high-minded "reconciliation", leaving the guilt and the wreckage for their proxies and victims to bear.
Whether the world actually learned something from this process is, of course, doubtful. Again we see the same hypocrisy unfolding in Ukraine and Syria, with the same talk of the "price of peace" to be borne by those with nothing left to lose or pay.
Displaying 1 of 1 review