'RAMBO' AT THE END OF THE WORLD

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706870007-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: July 30, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706870007-0
CU PAG 1
WASHINGTON POST
30 July 1986
`Rambo' at the End of the world
4"Clande,tine Trip Into Tightly
4 JAMBA, Angola
.he path to Jonas Savimbi's domain has become
well worn in this year of renewed U.S. aid to his
guerrilla cause.
The bush pilot who flew a Washington Post reporter
clandestinely to Savimbi's rebel headquarters early this
rdonth said he. is having his busiest year. His American
assent ers have included conservative fund raiser
Howard hilli s, three staff members of the rate
lect Committee on Intelligence an assor urn rs s.
SavF tbj's representatives and public re ations coun-
selors in Washington prefer to use Zaire as the jumping
off point into Savimbi's Angola, as opposed to the route
through South Africa, whose imagery of association
Sav ebi?likes to avoid where he can.
But *1bouthern route is the quickest and safest, a
t air cruise from Windhoek, Namibia, north
over the homelands of the Herero and Bushman peoples
to the final South African military, checkpoint at Amiga
in the Caprivi Strip. From the border it is just 20
minutes to Jamba, and the pilot dives to treetop level
for the last 10 minutes, safer in case someone is down
there in the bush who would like to hasten our return to
earth.
When the Portuguese ruled Angola, this corner of
the cQuntry was a game preserve, which explains why
there'are so many elephants in'residence. Our low-fly-
ing aircraft spooks a herd that has congregated at a
watering hole.
As the plane touches down and taxis to a halt, men
with Kalashnikov automatic rifles step out of the bush.
From this point on, and for the duration of a 10-day
visit, Savimbi's UNITA exercises very tight control
over its visitor.
' Every activity is programmed. There is no opportu-
nity to stroll,around Jamba without an escort. There are
Qlaces. that are off limits, like the antiaircraft towers
Savimbi, is building in the treetops. Visitor compounds
are segregated from the main residential camps and
Also from other visitor compounds.
'4 One. morning, just after dawn, a reporter out for an
dnauthoriied walk saw a white man in Nikes jogging
Town a road, but when the reporter tried to catch up
with the jogger as he passed through the gate to anoth-
fr G mpound, a UNITA guard with a machine gun
stepped forward to block the way.
t''. The Portuguese called this part of Angola the land at
the end-"of the world. The savannahs and lightly for-
ested bush country are seemingly endless and the scale
of the landscape is like that of the American West.
The only way to travel north into the interior is in the
back of a large, Soviet-made truck. Smaller vehicles bog
down too easily in the sandy ruts that serve as roads.
Controlled Rebel Territory
Savimbi sends his visitors north guarded by a heavily
armed special forces platoon. We leave for Mavinga,
the site of last year's offensive, at 2 in the morning on
July 11. There are 29 men packed into the open-bed
truck They are armed with assault rifles, rocket-pro-
pelled grenade launchers and wooden crates of ammu-
nition. We are a rolling, bucking incendiary.
The truck roars northward through the night. Above
us is a moving latticework of treetops set against the
Milky Way. First light comes early, and there is pain in
the faces of the boy guerrillas who have spent the night
sitting upright trying to hold their balance, their weap-
ons and the blankets that serve as a shield against the
40-degree chill of the morning.
At Mavinga, there is little left of the town, just a few
bombed-out shells and the strategically located airstrip.
The Angolan Army would like to capture it to launch
bombers against Jamba.
In the adjoining bush in all directions, Savimbi's guer-
rillas are digging in for the government onslaught they
are sure will come this year, along with the Soviet-sup-
plied MiG fighter-bombers of the Angolan Air Force.
"Yeah, the people they now know what a MiG is,"
says Pedro Baptiste, pointing in the direction where the
bombs fell during weeks of fierce fighting in late 1985.
"That's why the people dig a hole and put their house
in it this year," he said.
After another all-night ride on our bucking transport,
the vista of the Cambambi River valley opens up to the
north. It is hard to believe there is a war going on in
this paradise.
The platoon dismounts to wash in the river and grab
a few hours' sleep under the protection of the trees. A
visitor trying to find his way toward the water is
warned not to walk on the footpaths. "Land mines," says
Baptiste knowingly. He explains that this entire valley
was mined by UNITA forces in the late 1970s to drive
the Angolan Army back to its fortress encampment at
Cuito Cuanavale, 50 miles to the west.
"How long will the mines be there?" a visitor asks.
"Maybe 20 years," Baptiste replies.
Back in Jamba at the grass-walled recreation hall,
"Rambo" has become the summer film favorite. There
are no vacant seats on Saturday, which is movie night.
The recreation program here consists of video tapes,
Sunday soccer and patriotic singing around the camp.
fires. The soccer match this Sunday is between the
"Martyrs for Liberty" and the "Commandante Mon-
teiros," named for a fallen UNITA commander. Here at
the end of the earth, life suddenly seems exceedingly
normal.
But with Monday returns the reality that this has
been a long war, and.there is no end in sight.
- Patrick I L T y l e r
Declassified and Approved For Release 2011/12/19: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706870007-0