Another Day of Life

1975, and with independence declared for Angola by the Portuguese, Angola prepares. How does Angola prepare? With a further chapter of civil war.

The MPLA (Popular Movement for Liberation of Angola) led by Agostinho Neho, and backed by Russia and Cuba) is defending Luanda, the capital, against the FNLA (National Front for Liberation) led by Holden Roberto, backed by Zaire and UNITA (National Union for Total Independence of Angola) led by Jonas Savimbi, backed by South Africa.

The front is constantly moving, all sides are Confusão.P118

Confusão is a good word, a synthesis word, and everything word. In Angola it has its own specific sense and is literally untranslatable. To simplify things: Confusão means confusion, a mess, a state of anarchy and disorder. Confusão is a situation created by people, but in the course of creating it they lose control and direction, becoming victims of confusão themselves. There is a sort of fatalism in confusão.

“In Europe,” he said, “they taught me that a front is trenches and barbed wire, which form a distinct and visible line. A front on a river, along a road or from village to village. You can trace it on a map with a pencil or point to it on the terrain. But here the front is everywhere or nowhere. There is too much land and too few people for a front line to exist... This is a war of ambushes. On any road, at any place, there can be a front. You can travel the whole country and come back alive, or you can die a metre from where you're standing. There are no principles, no methods. Everything comes down to luck and happenstance. This war is a real mess. Nobody knows just where they stand.”

A fantastic first-hand report from Angola during its first steps into independence and perpetual internal conflict which lasted until very recently. The biggest strength of this coverage is how personal it is. Every situation and person described have deep emotional meaning for the author and you can easily feel it in his words. Starting in besieged Luanda and its claustrophobic environment of resignation coupled with panic the story moved to the military front and its constant chaos, lack of information and danger. The book is not only a great conflict coverage but also a deeply humanistic story about war, slavery and exploitation of one group of people by another. A definite must read!