LUANDA/BARCELONA, July 8 (Reuters) – Former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Africa’s second-largest oil producer for nearly four decades, died on Friday, the presidency said.
The 79-year-old died at the Teknon Clinic in Barcelona, Spain, where he was being treated after a long illness, according to the statement. Read more
One of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, dos Santos stepped down five years ago. His rule was marked by a nearly three-decade civil war against the US-backed UNITA rebels, which he won in 2002, and a subsequent oil-fueled boom. Read more
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His successor, President Joao Lourenco, declared five days of national mourning and described dos Santos as “a unique figure in the Angolan homeland”.
Despite being hand-picked by dos Santos as his successor, Lourenco quickly began investigating allegations of billions of dollars in corruption during the former president’s era.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa welcomed the good relations maintained by dos Santos between the two countries.
Former Angolan president and MPLA leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos attends a meeting of the party’s central committee in Luanda, Angola December 2, 2016. REUTERS/Herculano Coroado/File photo
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said dos Santos helped fight against white minority rule during apartheid.
Dos Santos’ daughter Chise dos Santos said in a post on Instagram that “fathers never die because they are the truest love that children know throughout their lives. They live forever in us.”
Her lawyer, Carmen Varela, said she had asked the clinic where he died to keep his body in Spain for a full autopsy, rather than having it returned directly to Angola. The clinic declined to comment.
Angolan journalist and rights activist Rafael Márquez de Morais, an outspoken critic of dos Santos, wrote earlier this week on an anti-corruption website that dos Santos’ political legacy “will not be missed, but leaves suffering.”
Tributes and criticisms also came from ordinary citizens. Julia Joao, a 44-year-old domestic worker in Luanda, said dos Santos led the peaceful transition after the war well, but wasted the chance to transform Angola.
“It was a missed opportunity for Angola,” she said.
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Reporting by Miguel Gomez in Luanda, Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru, Joan Faus in Barcelona, Patricia Rua and Catriona Demoni in Lisbon, Nellie Peyton in Dakar and Anait Miridjanian in Gdansk; Written by James Macharia Chege Editing by Andrew Havens and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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