Former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Africa’s second largest oil producer for nearly four decades, died at the age of 79 this Friday (8), the country’s presidential office said.
Dos Santos died at a clinic in Barcelona, Spain, where he was being treated for a long-standing illness, according to the statement.
One of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, Dos Santos resigned five years ago. His rule was marred by a nearly three-decade civil war against the US-backed Unita rebels, which he eventually won in 2002, and an oil-fueled boom that followed.
His successor, President João Lourenço, declared five days of national mourning and described Dos Santos as a “unique character of the Angolan homeland”.
Despite being handpicked by Dos Santos to succeed him, Lourenço quickly began investigating allegations of corruption in the billions of dollars during the former president’s era.
Angolan journalist and human rights activist Rafael Marques de Morais, an outspoken critic of Dos Santos, wrote earlier this week on an anti-corruption website that Dos Santos’ political legacy “will not be missed, but it will leave suffering.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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