Angola: The Invisible Russian Hand in our Military Class

By Serafim de Oliveira

Washington D.C —Concerns are growing across the sectors of civil society, Angolan religious culture, national and foreign opinion and decision-makers, and even local politicians concerning the post-election period.

However, regardless of intentions, most current governmental actions, unilateral or multilateral, often produce results that, while positive or adverse, depend on the preconceived objectives.

Incredibly, Angola remains subordinate to the subtle influences of the military class. We need only notice the ostentatious and extravagant displays of the “tyrant oligarchs” and “spendthrifts” to understand the pervasive and fixating power of military influence across social and political spheres.

Notably, this influential Angolan military “class ” is a sector with a well-established distant and partisan relationship between the Angolan MPLA and the former Soviet t Party (PCUS). Using a somewhat hand,Russia plays the role of a moral debt collector in Angolan affairs.

Without knowledge of the political dividends the Russians reap from influencing our internal military “comrades, it appears that even the “demons” cannot reveal their full power over us. Nonetheless, media exposure of these problems and strong civilian protests regarding the mismanagement of public resources, are pressuring the passive and active corruption to force the military to withdraw from public office and societal affairs. 

These military’s decisions to recede from public influence have resulted partly from the public knowledge of the many high-ranking officials who have used illicit assets; therefore, they become risky to the ruling party. It stems from these individuals,, for example, those who belong to a politically exposed group.

Internal  corruption and the influence of Russia have created severe disagreements within the Angolan ruling party, where military sectors have political influence.

The full effects of how the military’s actions and Russian encouragement of corruption have affected the internal cohesion of the MPLA and state structures, thus, impeding the fight against corruption and fostering an open and honest business environment, remain unknown.

The Russian-military axis now has the strategy to rule behind the scenes through a political imposition of women candidates, exempt from criminal records, under the guise of promoting women to top government positions.

However, the national parliament could likely continue to serve as a haven for the military class not only for immunity benefits but also actively promote the passage of laws of their interests.

Moreover, a great danger to post-election instability lies with the President of the Republic, who has called upon senior military personnel with questionable social conduct to participate in his re-election campaign. Several notable military officials have contributed significantly to fraud and other election irregularities.

Serafim de Oliveira

Washington D.C

Prof.kiluangenyc@yahoo.com

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