DOCSLIB.ORG

Angolan “Freedom Fighter” Stamps

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Angolan “Freedom Fighter” Stamps H-Postal-History Angolan “Freedom Fighter” Stamps Blog Post published by Susan Smith on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 Angolan “Freedom Fighter” Stamps By Matin Modarressi Thirty-three years ago, the leader of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) arrived in Washington, DC, on a precarious mission. Angola was in the middle of a bloody civil war, and both sides—UNITA and the Soviet-backed government—had been accused of targeting civilians. But the leader of the rebel movement, Jonas Savimbi, hoped that by portraying himself as ananti-communist “freedom fighter,” he could convince the US to formally support him. Savimbi sought the services of Republican lobbyist Paul Manafort (the same one who was recently convicted in the Trump-Russia investigation). As described in the Washington Post, he paid Manafort $600,000—almost $1.4 million in today’s money—and in January 1986 was rewarded with a visit to the US to meet with President Reagan and other top government officials. During the visit, a Florida stamp dealer named Marc Rousso announced that he had been commissioned by Savimbi (or more likely, his American PR handlers) to issue “postage stamps” on behalf of UNITA. These would purportedly be valid for use in rebel-held Angolan territory. The stamps, which came out in February of that year and were widely reported on, featured Savimbi in military uniform, a white hand shaking a black hand, and a tiger. (No wild tiger population exists in Angola or anywhere else on the continent; one wonders if this design was chosen because of someone’s preconceived notion of what Africa looks like.) At $15 a set, the stamps were primarily a way of raising funds for UNITA while also seeking postal, and therefore political, legitimacy. “Postage stamps may change the course of history for Angola,” claimed the ads for the stamps. “Dramatically drawn Angola freedom stamps signify the fight of the UNITA against an oppressive Marxist government.” A US congressman who sat on both the committee in charge of postal affairs and the one that helped oversee foreign policy towards Africa—Republican Dan Burton—urged the US Postal Service to accept international mail bearing the UNITA stamps. At the same time, the White House received a letter from the American- Angolan Public Affairs Council lobbying group asking if Reagan could endorse the stamps. But Associate White House Counsel (now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) John Roberts wrote a memo recommending against it: “We have no way of Citation: Susan Smith. Angolan “Freedom Fighter” Stamps. H-Postal-History. 02-13-2019. https://networks.h-net.org/node/193635/blog/object-blog/3707547/angolan-%E2%80%9Cfreedom-fighter%E2%80%9D-stamps Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-Postal-History knowing if UNITA could handle postage, and should not encourage others to use UNITA stamps for this purpose.” Reagan received a set of the UNITA stamps as agift from Rousso at a 1988 Republican Party fundraising dinner. TheWashington Post’s weekly stamp columnist, Bill McAllister, later wrote about how Reagan apparently kept the stamps in the Oval Office, noting, “Reagan, however, may be alone in joy. Aside from Rousso, few stamp collectors recognize the ‘freedom fighter’ stamps as anything other than colorful stickers.” While the UNITA stamps may have been useless for trying to mail a letter from Angola, the act of deciding whether to buy the stamps and the debate over the stamps’ postal validity gave some Americans the opportunity to learn about and engage with their country’s role in international affairs. Far from the streets of Angola, their stamp albums became part of the material legacy of the Cold War. UNITA stamps. From the collection of Matin Modarressi. image1.jpeg Envelopes showing a postmark from the rebel headquarters of Jamba were prepared Citation: Susan Smith. Angolan “Freedom Fighter” Stamps. H-Postal-History. 02-13-2019. https://networks.h-net.org/node/193635/blog/object-blog/3707547/angolan-%E2%80%9Cfreedom-fighter%E2%80%9D-stamps Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2 H-Postal-History in time for an international stamp exhibition in Chicago in May 1986. From the collection of Matin Modarressi. image3.jpeg Posted in: Object blog Citation: Susan Smith. Angolan “Freedom Fighter” Stamps. H-Postal-History. 02-13-2019. https://networks.h-net.org/node/193635/blog/object-blog/3707547/angolan-%E2%80%9Cfreedom-fighter%E2%80%9D-stamps Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 3.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Konrad English Layout - Vol 11.Indd 1 8/8/2012 11:04:58 AM Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
    KONRAD ADENAUER STIFTUNG AFRICAN LAW STUDY LIBRARY Volume 11 Edited by Hartmut Hamann, Jean-Michel Kumbu & Yves-Junior Manzanza Lumingu Hartmut Hamann is a lawyer specialized in providing legal support for international projects between states and private companies, and in international arbitration proceedings. He is a professor at the Freie Universität Berlin, and at the Chemnitz University of Technology, where he teaches public international law and conflict resolution. His legal and academic activities often take him to Africa. ([email protected]) Jean-Michel Kumbu is a lecturer in employment law and economic legislation at Université de Kinshasa and other universities in Democratic Republic of Congo. He is a lawyer and focuses on business law. He is an expert in democratic governance by the United Nations Development Program in Kinshasa. Yves-Junior Manzanza Lumingu has a Bachelor of Law from the Université de Kinshasa where he worked as a research assistant to the Vice Dean. He was responsible for research within the faculty of law and was later nominated as an assistant at the Université de Kikwit (Bandundu / Democratic Republic of the Congo). Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate at the Julius-Maximilians- Universität Würzburg. His field of research covers the three areas "constitutional state – protection of private investment – worker protection". He is also interested in issues relating to the promotion of women’s and children’s rights. Konrad Published By: Adenauer Stiftung Rule of Law Program for Sub-Saharan Africa ©July 2012 AFRICAN LAW STUDY LIBRARY Vol 11 A Konrad English Layout - Vol 11.indd 1 8/8/2012 11:04:58 AM Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Office : Mbaruk Road, Hse, No.
    [Show full text]
  • Angola Background Paper
    NATIONS UNIES UNITED NATIONS HAUT COMMISSARIAT HIGH COMMISSIONER POUR LES REFUGIES FOR REFUGEES BACKGROUND PAPER ON REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS FROM ANGOLA UNHCR CENTRE FOR DOCUMENTATION AND RESEARCH GENEVA, APRIL 1999 THIS INFORMATION PAPER WAS PREPARED IN THE COUNTRY INFORMATION UNIT OF UNHCR’S CENTRE FOR DOCUMENTATION AND RESEARCH ON THE BASIS OF PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION, ANALYSIS AND COMMENT, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE UNHCR STATISTICAL UNIT. ALL SOURCES ARE CITED. THIS PAPER IS NOT, AND DOES NOT, PURPORT TO BE, FULLY EXHAUSTIVE WITH REGARD TO CONDITIONS IN THE COUNTRY SURVEYED, OR CONCLUSIVE AS TO THE MERITS OF ANY PARTICULAR CLAIM TO REFUGEE STATUS OR ASYLUM. PREFACE Angola has been an important source country of refugees and asylum-seekers over a number of years. This paper seeks to define the scope, destination, and causes of their flight. The first and second part of the paper contains information regarding the conditions in the country of origin, which are often invoked by asylum-seekers when submitting their claim for refugee status. The Country Information Unit of UNHCR's Centre for Documentation and Research (CDR) conducts its work on the basis of publicly available information, analysis and comment, with all sources cited. In the third part, the paper provides a statistical overview of refugees and asylum-seekers from Angola in the main European asylum countries, describing current trends in the number and origin of asylum requests as well as the results of their status determination. The data are derived from government statistics made available to UNHCR and are compiled by its Statistical Unit. Table of Contents 1.
    [Show full text]
  • CHAPTER = ANGOLA the Bush and Reagan Administrations Have Been Quick to Criticize Human Rights Violations by the Angolan Government
    @CHAPTER = ANGOLA The Bush and Reagan administrations have been quick to criticize human rights violations by the Angolan government. Among the abuses protested have been the intolerance of dissent, the use of land mines against civilians, and the holding of political detainees and prisoners. These serious abuses deserved the strong condemnation that they have received. However, both administrations have neglected serious violations by the U.S.-backed rebels seeking to overthrow the Angolan government, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ("UNITA"). @PAGE = This refusal to criticize rebel abuses stems from the Bush administration's unwavering support of UNITA and its leader, Jonas Savimbi. For 14 years UNITA has been seeking to topple Angola's post-independence government in a war that to date has resulted in the deaths of over 100,000 people, most of them civilians. The U.S. policy of funding UNITA, first initiated by President Reagan in late 1985, has if anything been solidified under President Bush. Even before President Bush took office, he wrote to Savimbi assuring him that "all appropriate and effective assistance" would continue. Then, in 1989, to compensate for the loss of South African military and economic assistance to UNITA, the Bush administration increased the level of U.S. covert aid for Savimbi to close to $50 million.<$F Although termed "covert," U.S. assistance is widely characterized as an "open secret." Savimbi himself made a public statement in June that Congress had renewed his aid, and was also quoted in Jeune Afrique magazine as saying that he had received $35 million in funding from the Central Intelligence Agency.
    [Show full text]
  • Apartheid's Contras: an Inquiry Into the Roots of War in Angola and Mozambique
    Apartheid's Contras: An Inquiry into the Roots of War in Angola and Mozambique http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.crp20005 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Apartheid's Contras: An Inquiry into the Roots of War in Angola and Mozambique Author/Creator Minter, William Publisher Zed Books Ltd, Witwatersrand University Press Date 1994-00-00 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa (region) Coverage (temporal) 1975 - 1993 Rights By kind permission of William Minter. Description This book explores the wars in Angola and Mozambique after independence.
    [Show full text]
  • Saved by the Civil War: African 'Loyalists' in the Portuguese Armed Forces and Angola's Transition to Independence
    Saved by the civil war: African ‘loyalists’ in the Portuguese armed forces and Angola’s transition to independence Pedro Aires Oliveira Instituto de História Contemporânea, Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1069-061 Lisboa [email protected] Abstract: The article examines the trajectories of ‘loyal’ African troops in Angola before and after the demise of Portugal’s authoritarian regime in 1974. It starts by placing the ‘Africanization’ drive of the Portuguese counterinsurgency campaign in a historical perspective; it then explores the rocky transition from colonial rule to independence in the territory between April 1974 and November 1975, describing the course of action taken by the Portuguese authorities vis-à-vis their former collaborators in the security forces. A concluding section draws a comparison between the fate of Portugal’s loyalists in Angola and the one experienced by similar groups in other ex-Portuguese colonies. The choice of Angola has the advantage of allowing us to look into a complex scenario in which the competition amongst rival nationalist groups, and a number of external factors, helped to produce a more ambiguous outcome for some of the empire’s local collaborators than what might have been otherwise expected. Keywords: Angola; colonial troops; Loyalists; counter-insurgency; Decolonization The dissolution of Portugal’s overseas empire in 1975 happened after a protracted counterinsurgency war which took place in three of its African territories (Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique), a 13 year conflict (1961- 74) that put an enormous strain on the limited demographic and economic resources of what was then Western Europe’s poorest and most undeveloped 1 state.
    [Show full text]
  • A Military History of the Angolan Armed Forces from the 1960S Onwards—As Told by Former Combatants
    Evolutions10.qxd 2005/09/28 12:10 PM Page 7 CHAPTER ONE A military history of the Angolan Armed Forces from the 1960s onwards—as told by former combatants Ana Leão and Martin Rupiya1 INTRODUCTION The history of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) remains largely unwritten—yet, understanding the FAA’s development is undoubtedly important both for future Angolan generations as well as for other sub- Saharan African countries. The FAA must first and foremost be understood as a result of several processes of integration—processes that began in the very early days of the struggle against Portuguese colonialism and ended with the April 2002 Memorandum of Understanding. Today’s FAA is a result of the integration of the armed forces of the three liberation movements that fought against the Portuguese—the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola), the FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola) and UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola). This was a process that developed over more than 30 years. The various phases that characterise the formation and development of the FAA are closely related to Angola’s recent political history, particularly the advent of independence in 1975 and the civil war that ensued. This chapter introduces that history with a view to contributing to a clearer understanding of the development of the FAA and its current role in a peaceful Angola. As will be discussed, while the FAA was formerly established in 1992 following the provisions of the Bicesse Peace Accords, its origins go back to: 7 Evolutions10.qxd 2005/09/28 12:10 PM Page 8 8 Evolutions & Revolutions • the Popular Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and the integration over more than three decades of elements of the Portuguese Colonial Army; • the FNLA’s Army for the National Liberation of Angola (ELNA); and • UNITA’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FALA).
    [Show full text]
  • Kitona Operations: Rwanda's Gamble to Capture Kinshasa and The
    Courtesy of Author Courtesy of Author of Courtesy Rwandan Patriotic Army soldiers during 1998 Congo war and insurgency Rwandan Patriotic Army soldiers guard refugees streaming toward collection point near Rwerere during Rwanda insurgency, 1998 The Kitona Operation RWANDA’S GAMBLE TO CAPTURE KINSHASA AND THE MIsrEADING OF An “ALLY” By JAMES STEJSKAL One who is not acquainted with the designs of his neighbors should not enter into alliances with them. —SUN TZU James Stejskal is a Consultant on International Political and Security Affairs and a Military Historian. He was present at the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, from 1997 to 2000, and witnessed the events of the Second Congo War. He is a retired Foreign Service Officer (Political Officer) and retired from the U.S. Army as a Special Forces Warrant Officer in 1996. He is currently working as a Consulting Historian for the Namib Battlefield Heritage Project. ndupress.ndu.edu issue 68, 1 st quarter 2013 / JFQ 99 RECALL | The Kitona Operation n early August 1998, a white Boeing remain hurdles that must be confronted by Uganda, DRC in 1998 remained a safe haven 727 commercial airliner touched down U.S. planners and decisionmakers when for rebels who represented a threat to their unannounced and without warning considering military operations in today’s respective nations. Angola had shared this at the Kitona military airbase in Africa. Rwanda’s foray into DRC in 1998 also concern in 1996, and its dominant security I illustrates the consequences of a failure to imperative remained an ongoing civil war the southwestern Bas Congo region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
    [Show full text]
  • U.S.-Chinese Cooperation and Conflict in the Angolan Civil Arw
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Dissertations and Theses City College of New York 2014 U.S.-Chinese Cooperation and Conflict in the Angolan Civil arW Morgan Hess CUNY City College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/268 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Abstract This study examines China’s role in the Angolan Civil War through the context of U.S.-Chinese rapprochement and the global Cold War. Based on declassified conversations between U.S. and Chinese officials along with declassified intelligence cables, government documents, and research in the United Nations archives this paper illuminates how China played a crucial role in escalating the Angolan Civil War and encouraged U.S. intervention in the conflict. This study builds on previous scholarship yet takes a new approach that emphasizes China played the primary role in intensifying the Angolan Civil War, not the U.S. or Soviet Union. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! “Empty Cannons” U.S.-Chinese Cooperation and Conflict in the Angolan Civil War Morgan Hess Dr. Craig Daigle May 3rd, 2012 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of (Fine) Arts of the City College of the City University of New York Table of Contents 1) Introduction 1 2) Portuguese Colonialism, African Resistance, and Angola’s Independence 5 3) U.S.-Chinese Diplomacy Surrounding Angola 14 4) Motives Behind China’s Angolan Policies 20 5) Foreign Aid, Intervention, and Escalation 26 6) Recognition of Angola and Effects of the War 39 7) Conclusion 42 8) Bibliography 46 ! Introduction Angola, China, and the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • UNEP Report on "Greening the Blue Helmets"
    Greening the Blue Helmets Environment, Natural Resources and UN Peacekeeping Operations United Nations Environment Programme About UNEP’s Disasters and Conflicts Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) seeks to minimize threats to human well-being from the environmental causes and consequences of conflicts and disasters. Through its Disasters and Conflicts programme, it conducts field based environmental assessments and strengthens national environmental and resource management capacity in countries affected by conflicts and disasters. Since 1999, UNEP has operated in more than 35 countries and published over 20 environmental assessment reports. Based on this expertise, UNEP is providing technical assistance to a number of UN and international actors, including the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO), the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), the Department of Field Support (DFS), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Commission, in assessing the role of natural resources and the environment in conflict and peacebuilding. The main objective of this technical cooperation is to help member states identify conflict risks and peacebuilding opportunities from natural resources and the environment. The aim is to promote the use of natural resources in ways that create jobs, sustain livelihoods and contribute to economic recovery and reconciliation while avoiding new forms of grievances or major environmental degradation. About this report This report aims to provide a comprehensive overview of how peacekeeping operations affect and are affected by natural resources and environmental conditions. The report is divided into two main parts. Part 1 reviews the environmental management of peacekeeping operations and showcases good practices, technologies and behaviours that have already been adopted.
    [Show full text]
  • The Politics of Survival: UNITA in Angola by John A
    ( A publication of ihe African Studies Program of The Georgetown University Center for Strategic and International Studies No. 8 • February 18, 1983 The Politics of Survival: UNITA in Angola by John A. Marcum In early 1976, the remnants of an ill-trained peasant that march he "can be assisted by pragmatic, but army retreated into the vast wilderness of southeast cautious, contact with South Africa, so be it." Tan­ Angola. Its rivals, spearheaded by a Soviet-armed zania's President Julius Nyerere, among other African Cuban expeditionary force, drove the army's several political opinion leaders, perceives Savimbi as a thousand disheveled soldiers into the sanctuary of a political opportunist who betrayed Africa when he sparsely peopled savannah from which they had secretively aligned UNITA with South Africa. earlier waged a protracted, small-scale guerrilla war Savimbi was born in 1934 at a railway village in against Portuguese colonial rule. There, most Angola's central highlands where his father served as observers expected the army slowly to disintegrate. stationmaster. His parents, described by a United Over time, however, the world heard just often Church missionary as being of "exceedingly humble, enough of ambush and sabotage by rusticated in­ primitive, pagan background," had been converted to surgents of the Uniiio Nacional para a lndependencia Protestant Christianity in their youth. As a lay Total de Angola (UNITA) to know that they survived preacher, his father, Lote Savimbi, founded a series of as a political and military force. In 1983, seven years small churches and schools along the Benguela after defeat in the 1975-76 war, UNITA leaders and railroad.
    [Show full text]
  • Should the United States Give Support to Jonas Savimbi and the UNITA
    Should the United States Give Support to Jonas Savimbi and the UNITA Movement in Angola? by David S. Wiley Michigan State University It is the judgment of practically all American academic experts on Africa, that proposals to provide U.S. aid for the UNITA movement in Angola will both harm the long-term interests of the United States and result in an intolerable loss of life and human welfare in Angola. A petition has been signed by approximately 500 "scholars of Africa" in colleges and universities in approximately 40 states calling on President Reagan and the Congress to prevent all military and non-lethal assistance to UNITA or other insurgent movements devoted to civil war, sabotage, and destruction in Angola. Signers of the petition include five current and former presidents of the African Studies Association - two of whom are Angola specialists, directors of major university African studies centers, two former U.S. ambassadors in Africa, the co-chairpersons of the Assocation of Concerned Africa Scholars, senior officers of the Ford Foundation and of the African-American Institute, and specialists on African politics. In addition, the petition was signed by African specialists from Colum­ bia, ~arvard, Yale, Stanford, Univers~ty of Chicago, Northwestern, Massachu­ setts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, Georgetown, Dart­ mouth, and many other institutions. The petition has been circulated by the Association of Concerned Africa Scholars (ACAS), a voluntary association of African studies scholars concerned about U.S. foreign policy toward Africa. Angola, a grossly underdeveloped nation as large as the eastern USA from Maine to Florida, has been torn apart by foreign intervention for almost 500 years - first by the rapacious Portuguese slave trade which forcibly brought so many Angolans to this nation as slaves.
    [Show full text]
  • Reagan Doctrine
    633 , _,I-. ..A . - .. .. .. -. - -__-. ..-.... .-... ...-- - - .-----. ."". - . .. .. ... i.... February . 12,.. 1988 IN SOUTHERN AF'RICA, THE STATE DEPARTMENT .. .. - . -.-. .BETS.AGAINST .THE.-.REAGAN DOCTRINE INTRODUCTION ._ ._ Africa has been the key testing ground in the struggle between the Reagan . ... Doctrine's support for resistance forces fighting Soviet-backed communist regimes and the Brezhnev Doctrine's insistence on the irreversibility of communist gains. But since 1982, even as it has trumpeted the virtues of the Reagan' Doctrine, the Reagan Administration has been working actively ' against it. A high' Administration official now confirms that for more than five years, the United States secretly has been providing military assistance to the communist Front for the Liberation of . Mozambique (FRELIMO) regime in Mozamljique in its battle against the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) freedom fighters. Just last week, senior U.S. representatives, including Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci in Lisbon and Chief of Command of U.S. Forces in Europe Lt. General Howard Crow1 in Maputo, possibly discussed further U.S. military assistance to FRELIMO. Washington also has been reluctant to press Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano to live up to his promises to Ronald Reagan to open negotiations with RENAMO by last January 1. The reason for this violation of the Reagan . .'. Doctrine apparently is that the State Department believes, without offering any evidence, that Chissano and his FRELIMO regime can be "weaned away" from Moscow. Diluting U.S. Position. In Angola, meanwhile, the State Department appears to have allowed the U.S. negotiating position to erode. For years, the U.S. correctly has insisted that no solution was possible for Angola until all of the more than 40,000 Cuban combat forces are withdrawn.
    [Show full text]