Jose Eduardo dos Santos

José Eduardo dos Santos , 1942-, president of Angola (1979-). Educated in the USSR as an engineer, he was foreign minister in the first government of independent Angola, succeeding Neto as president in 1979. In 1991, he abandoned Marxism and negotiated an end to the civil war with the insurgent National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The peace ended when dos Santos outpolled UNITA candidate Jonas Savimbi for the presidency, and UNITA forces resumed fighting (1992). A second peace effort in 1994 also ended in renewed fighting, in 1998.

dos Santos, José Eduardo (1942– ) Angolan statesman, president (1979– ). Dos Santos' succession to the presidency was marked by escalating violence between the Cuban-backed People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government, and the South African-backed National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi refused to recognize Dos Santos' narrow election victory in 1992 and fighting resumed. The Lusaka Protocol (1994) paved the way for a unified government which was inaugurated in 1997, headed by Dos Santos. In 2002, after the death of Savimbi, Dos Santos declared an end to the civil war.

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Dos Santos, José Eduardo (b. 28 Aug. 1942). President of Angola 1979–  Born at Luanda, he joined the Angolan resistance movement, the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), in 1961. In that year, he was forced into exile to the Congo, and in 1963 went to Moscow, where he attended university. He then returned to join the MPLA government-in-exile, and became Minister of Foreign Affairs upon independence in 1975. In 1979, he became President. Although originally a dogmatic Marxist, he became more progressive during the 1980s as he recognized that the country's economic problems could not be overcome unless the Civil War was ended. He led his country through a bitter civil war, and in 2002 he prevailed over his rival, Jonas Savimbi, who was killed by government troops.