Unita

UNITA, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, is a political party and former guerrilla movement in Angola. Founded in 1966 by Jonas Savimbi, UNITA originated during the struggle against Portuguese colonial rule and later became a major participant in the Angolan Civil War, opposing the MPLA government.

During the civil war, UNITA received support from foreign actors, notably South Africa and the United States, as part of Cold War geopolitics. It controlled significant rural areas and waged a protracted insurgency against the MPLA-led government that had been backed by the Soviet Union and allied states. After independence in 1975, the conflict continued until Savimbi's death in 2002, when a ceasefire effectively ended major fighting.

Throughout the 1990s, UNITA participated in multiparty politics, entering negotiations such as the Bicesse Accords and the Lusaka Protocol; elections held in 1992 led to a contested result that sparked renewed fighting, and the peace process remained fragile until 2002.

Following the war, UNITA reconstituted itself as a political party and remains one of Angola's main political forces, serving as the principal opposition to the ruling MPLA. It has representation in the National Assembly and in many provincial and municipal bodies. Its platform emphasizes national reconciliation, governance reform, and economic diversification, while moving toward a more market-oriented stance.

Leadership and structure: Jonas Savimbi led UNITA until his death in 2002; since then the party has been led by successive chairpersons, with Adalberto Costa Júnior elected as its president in 2019.