Paper short abstract:

This proposal aims to analyze the role of exile politics in UNITA's trajectory before Angola’s Independence (1975). The goal is to understand the biographical pathways of Angolans associated with UNITA in Europe during the 1960s and their experiences of activism abroad.

Paper long abstract:

One of UNITA's foundational narratives states that the movement was conceived in Champex, Switzerland, in October 1964, by Jonas Savimbi and Tony da Costa Fernandes, while the former was finishing his university studies in Lausanne. Besides Jonas Savimbi, other Angolans who would later become key figures in UNITA were also studying or living in exile in European countries, as Jorge Sangumba and Jorge Alicerces Valentim. Despite the relevance of such encounters and experiences, there is an absence of studies on UNITA’s exile politics and the biographical trajectories of Galo Negro’s activists. It is interesting to note that although many UNITA’s activists were forced to live abroad, where they received assistance from institutions and individuals, after UNITA’s official foundation, in 1966, UNITA’s Kwacha-Angola propaganda bulletin criticized the other two Angolan anti-colonial movements (MPLA and FNLA) for their reliance on “exile politics”. To analyze the role of exile politics in UNITA’s foundation this paper will draw the biographical experiences of at least two members of the movement: Jonas Malheiro Savimbi, who was a student in Lausanne and later became UNITA’s President, and Jorge Alicerces Valentim, who as President of UNEA (National Union of Angolan Students), which was located in Leiden, supported and publicized UNITA’s activities among Angolans studying in Europe in the 1960s.