The Formation of the New Angolan Armed Forces

Abstract

The formation of the new Angolan armed forces (the FAA) was inextricably linked with the of cantonment, demobilisation and disbandment of the two armies. In retrospect it seems absurd that the UN was left out of the whole issue under the Bicesse Accords, and mandated only to observe and verify cantonment and demobilisation. While it was perfectly sensible to give the British, French and Portuguese the task of training the new force, the enterprise constituted such a critical element in the process that UNAVEM should at least have been given a role of verification and a seat in the CCFA (the Joint Commission for the Formation of the Angolan Armed Forces, under the CCPM). In practice UNAVEM was drawn willy-nilly further and further into the issue.