José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos (; 28 August 1942 – 8 July 2022) was an Angolan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the party that has ruled Angola since it won independence in 1975. By the time he stepped down in 2017, he was the second-longest-serving president in Africa, surpassed only by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea.

Dos Santos joined the MPLA, then an anti-colonial movement, while still in school, and earned degrees in petroleum engineering and radar communications while studying in the Soviet Union. Following the Angolan War of Independence, Angola was constituted in 1975 as a Marxist–Leninist one-party state led by the MPLA. Dos Santos held several positions, including Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of independent Angola's first president, Agostinho Neto.

After Neto's death in 1979, dos Santos was elected by the MPLA as the country's new president, supported by the Soviet Union and inheriting a civil war against Western-backed anti-communist rebels, most notably UNITA. By 1991, his government agreed with rebels to introduce a multi-party system, while changing the MPLA's ideology from communism to social democracy. He was elected president in the 1992 Angolan general election over UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, and presided over free-market economic liberalisation and the development of Angola's oil sector. In 1997, he contributed to a rebel invasion of neighboring Zaire during the First Congo War, leading to the overthrow of Congolese UNITA ally Mobutu Sese Seko and the installation of Laurent-Désiré Kabila as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo later that year. During the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003, he supported Kabila's government and later that of his son Joseph against several rebel groups loosely allied with UNITA. The MPLA achieved victory in the civil war by 2002 following Savimbi's death. After winning a second presidential term in the 2012 election, he retired from the presidency in 2017, succeeded by party-mate João Lourenço as president.

A controversial figure, dos Santos received many international awards for his commitment to anti-colonialism and promotion of peace negotiations with rebels to end wars, and was praised for attracting significant foreign investment to Angola's economy. He was criticised as having been a dictator and was accused of creating one of the most corrupt regimes in Africa, with a deeply-entrenched patronage network.

Early life and education José Eduardo Van-Dúnem dos Santos was born on 28 August 1942 in what is today the district of Sambizanga in Luanda,W. Martin James and Susan Herlin Broadhead, Historical Dictionary of Angola (2004), Scarecrow Press, page 145. His parents, Avelino Eduardo dos Santos and Jacinta José Paulino, had moved to Portuguese Angola from the then-colony of Portuguese São Tomé and Príncipe.Biography at MPLA website His mother was a maid, while his father was a builder and construction worker. His eldest sister, Isabel Eduardo dos Santos raised Manuel Vicente, under Dos Santos later Vice President of Angola. Dos Santos' cousin Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos was prime minister of Angola from 2002 to 2008.

He attended primary school in Luanda, and received his secondary education at the Liceu Salvador Correia,The Embassy of the Republic of Angola in Abu Dhabi. Adangola.ae. Retrieved on 9 January 2011.Notícias do Brasil | Noticias do Brasil, Portugal e países de língua portuguesa e comunidades portuguesas. Noticiaslusofonas.com (23 February 2006). Retrieved on 9 January 2011. today called Mutu ya Kevela.

While in school, dos Santos joined the MPLA, which marked the beginning of his political career. Due to repression by the colonial government, dos Santos went into exile in neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville in 1961. From there, he collaborated with the MPLA and soon became an official member of the party.

To continue with his education he moved to Azerbaijan, which was Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union, where, by 1969, he received degrees in petroleum engineering and radar communications from the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute in Baku.Biography on the Angolan Embassy Hellenic website

Career In 1970, dos Santos returned to Angola, which was still a Portuguese territory known as the Overseas Province of Angola. He served for three years in the MPLA's EPLA guerrilla force (Exército Para a Libertação de Angola), later known as the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), the military wing of the MPLA, becoming a radio transmitter in the second political-military region of the MPLA in Cabinda Province. In 1974, he was promoted to sub-commander of the telecoms service of the second region. He was the MPLA representative to Yugoslavia, Zaire, and the People's Republic of China before he was elected to the Central Committee and Politburo of the MPLA in Moxico in September 1974.

Early political positions, 1975-1979

In June 1975, dos Santos became coordinator of the MPLA's Department of Foreign Affairs and of the MPLA's Department of Health. Upon Angolan independence in November 1975, the MPLA held power in Luanda, but the new MPLA government faced a civil war with the other political formations, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). The same year, dos Santos was appointed as Angola's first Minister of Foreign Affairs upon independence, and in this capacity he played a key role in obtaining diplomatic recognition for the MPLA government in 1975–1976. At the MPLA's First Congress in December 1977, dos Santos was re-elected to the Central Committee and Politburo. In December 1978, he was moved from the post of First Deputy Prime Minister in the government to that of Minister of Planning.

After the natural death of Angola's first president, Agostinho Neto, on 10 September 1979, dos Santos was elected president of the MPLA on 20 September 1979, and took office as President of Angola and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces on 21 September. In the first Angolan parliamentary election on 9 November 1980, he was elected President of the People's Assembly of Angola as a one-party state.

Peace process, 1980-2002

The biggest issue dos Santos had to cope with was the ongoing conflict with the main rival liberation movement, the National Union for the Total Integration of Angola (UNITA). UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi and supported by South Africa and the United States, never fully recognized the legitimacy of MPLA as the ruling government of Angola and triggered several armed conflicts over the years to express its opposition. The war was also marked by intense foreign intervention, since the Soviet Union and Cuba backed the MPLA government and the U.S. and South Africa supported UNITA as a way to limit the expansion of Soviet influence in Africa."Angola country profile – Overview", BBC News, Angola country profile, 2015 From 1989 until 1991, the United Nations Angola Verification Mission I and from 1991 until 1995, the United Nations Angola Verification Mission II took place.

On 29 and 30 September 1992, after 16 years of fighting that killed up to 300,000 people, general elections were held in Angola, under United Nations supervision.United Nations Angola Verification Mission II, United Nations, May 1991 – February 1995 Dos Santos led the field in the first round with 49%; his main rival, Jonas Savimbi, won 40%.Parliamentary Chamber: Assembleia nacional- Elections held in 1992, IPU Under a constitution adopted earlier that year, since dos Santos finished just short of an outright majority, he would need to win a runoff election against Savimbi to become Angola's first constitutional president. This second round never took place, as UNITA declared it did not recognize the election.

A three-day war ensued, during which the Halloween Massacre occurred, when MPLA forces killed tens of thousands of UNITA protestors nationwide. Savimbi then decided to give up on the elections, alleging voting fraud, and immediately resumed the civil war. Meanwhile, dos Santos remained in office.

In 1993, while Savimbi and UNITA refused to give up territory won through battle, the United States, involved in settling peace talks between the two rival parties and leaders in order to work out a power sharing arrangement, decided to withdraw its support from UNITA and officially recognize dos Santos and the MPLA government as the official ruling body in Angola.

The death of UNITA's leader, Jonas Savimbi, in February 2002 enabled the resumption of the peace process. On 4 April 2002, the Angolan Army and the rebels agreed to a ceasefire and peace was officially declared on 2 August 2002.Angolan (1992–2002). Civil Wars of the World: Major Conflicts Since World War II, Volume 1, published by Karld Derouen Jr and Uk Heo, p.140. While recognized as an official political party by the Angolan government, UNITA agreed to demobilize its armed forces, made up of 50,000 fighters, and agreed for them to be integrated into the national security forces."Unita signs peace treaty with Angolan army to end 27-year civil war", The Telegraph, 5 April 2002. Following that decision, the UN Security Council reopened United Nations offices in Angola and established the United Nations Mission in Angola (UNMA), aimed at consolidating peace in the country."Security Council authorizes establishment of United Nations Mssion in Angola", United Nations, 15 August 2002.

Governance issues after end of civil war 2001-2016

In 2001, dos Santos announced that he would step down at the next presidential election."Dos Santos to bow out", IRIN, 24 August 2001. In December 2003, he was reelected as head of the MPLA"Dos Santos at the helm", IRIN, 17 December 2003. and no further presidential election took place, despite their announcements for 2006,"Uncertainty increases over election date", IRIN, 16 February 2006. then 2007, and finally 2009."New delay for Angolan elections", BBC News, 21 December 2006. In August 2006, he obtained a MoU with the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda.

After the 2008 Angolan parliamentary election, the ruling MPLA won a landslide victory, and it started working on a new constitution, which was introduced early in 2010. Under the terms of the new constitution, the president is elected by first-past-the-post double simultaneous vote for the same term as the assembly, and may serve a maximum of two terms. Each participating party nominates a presidential candidate as top of its list, who must be clearly identified on the ballot paper. The top candidate of the party receiving the most votes is elected president.

Dos Santos reportedly escaped an assassination attempt on 24 October 2010, when a vehicle tried to intercept his car as he was returning from the beach with his family. His escort opened fire, killing two passengers in the vehicle, and weapons were found on board.ANGOLA – Zedu targeted retrieved on 9 January 2011 This incident has not been confirmed by any other source. In February–March 2011, and then again in September 2011, demonstrations against dos Santos were organized in Luanda by young Angolans, mostly via the Internet."Manifestação contra Presidente de Angola travada violentamente pela polícia" (manifestation against President of Angola violently repressed by police) Público (Lisbon), retrieved 4 September 2011.

In the 2012 legislative election, his party, the MPLA, won more than two-thirds of the vote. As dos Santos had been the top candidate of the party, he automatically became president, in line with the constitution adopted in 2010.