Situation Report: War, Peace and Diamonds in Angola: Popular Perceptions of the Diamond Industry in the Lundas, Justin Pearce

Ten years ago, the diamond fields of north-eastern Angola were synonymous with civil war, and more specifically with Jonas Savimbi’s União para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA). UNITA’s return to war after the Angolan elections of 1992 alienated its former Western patrons from the Cold War era; without access to the diamond trade, the rebel movement would never have continued to engage the Forças Armadas Angolanas (FAA/Angolan Armed Forces) and to control substantial tracts of Angolan territory during the decade that followed.