Angola’s former long-term ruler, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, died in a hospital within the Spanish metropolis of Barcelona on Friday, the Angolan authorities stated.
The 79-year-old, who dominated the southwestern African nation for nearly 4 many years, died following a protracted sickness.
Angola’s present president, Joao Lourenco, introduced 5 days of mourning which can see public occasions canceled and the flag flown at half-mast.
The federal government’s assertion saying the demise referred to as dos Santos “a statesman of nice historic scale who ruled … the Angolan nation by way of very tough occasions.”
One among his daughters, Tchize, requested the hospital the place he died to carry on to his physique to hold out an post-mortem earlier than it’s returned to Angola. She cited fears of foul play. On Monday, the daughter had filed a authorized grievance towards dos Santos’ present spouse and his private doctor for attemtped
From soldier to president
Dos Santos rose to his place as president simply 4 years after Angola gained its independence from Portugal.
He was a member of the Soviet-backed MPLA (Individuals’s Motion for the Liberation of Angola) that fought a brutal civil battle with the US and South Africa-backed UNITA (Nationwide Union for the Complete Independence of Angola).
He was praised for his work in ending the violence that left half one million individuals useless, in addition to his peaceable withdrawal from energy in 2017 after 38 years of strongman rule.
Nevertheless, his detractors level to the nation’s huge oil wealth that went largely to enriching himself and his household.
His daughter Isabel’s personal fortune is estimated to be round $3.5 billion (€3.45 billion) due to her stints in a number of key industries, together with her time as head of the state oil big Sonangol.
Following dos Santos’ departure from workplace, his hand-picked successor went after the previous presidential household which even led to jail time for dos Santos’ son.
ab/jcg (AP, AFP)