Angola?

[Archpremier]

Who knows anything about Angolan socialism? I only recently realized that it was socialist, and now I want to know how their government operates. Plus, I love their flag. :)

http://flagspot.net/images/a/ao_75.gif

[Comrade Latino]

Yeah, it is a pretty cool flag.

[Guerrilla22]

They recently signed a peace accord with the opposition group, UNITA.

[LuZhiming]

Angola's about as Socialist as Mobutu's Zaire. The government is insanely corrupt, and its still one of the poorest countries in the world. Just to take a few examples, according to the last figures I found from UNICEF, Angola's under-5 mortality rate is 260 and under-1 mortality rate is 154, that's high even by African standards. Life expectancy is 40. The net primary school enrolment is about 37%. Now there's something odd about that, Angola's GDI per capita is U.S. $660 and GDP per capita is $1,900, that's actually higher than the economies of Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d' Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, and Uganda in either measure, although every single one of those countries has better statistics in all of the examples (some far greater, others not much better but still there) I mentioned for Angola. That's a sign of massive corruption, since none of those governments are ones any sensible person would admire, nor are any of the statistics of those countries impressive in the least. Angola's government is also notorious for torture and massive forced evictions. And there is nothing resembling meaningful Democracy, decent healthcare, worker's organization, or even political organization, so that alone destroys any idea that Angola could be Socialist. Don't get me wrong, UNITA is a detestable terrorist force, and it has done a lot to destroy Angola, as did the South African Apartheid, Mobutu, FNLA, and others, but plenty of the countries I mentioned above have had civil wars and foreign interventions damaging like those of Angola, it's obvious the government has a lot to be blamed for in making Angola possibly the worst place to live in the world.

[dopediana]

since when do child armies factor into socialism?

[Archpremier]

Calm down. I was just asking what it what like. I didn't say anything in its defense, and now that you have answered, I know. But am I still allowed to like their flag? (Which the government is planning to abandon in 2005. :( :angry:

[Guerrilla22]

I like the flag too. Interesting story: One of my proffesors was serving in the peace corps in Lesotho and he decided to visit Angola. While he was in a village a child soldier, carrying an AK walked up to him and asked him to buy him a beer. Needless to say, my Proffesor bought him a beer.

[bayano]

u cant talk about angola without talking about the context with other concp countries (guinea-bissau, mozambique, cape verde) and the decades long war by externally-supported rebels and apartheid south africa. the angolan case was of revolution, which failed in a different way than the nicaraguan one but for much similar reasons.

[bolshevik butcher]

Yes, I think that it's wort mentioning the working class solidarity the Cubans showed towards Angola, however it is I agree in a sad state of affairs.