Angolan Former President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos is dead.
Dos Santos, who led Angola through its brutal post-independence civil war, has died. He was key in opening up the country’s vast oil wealth to foreign investment after the Cold War.
Angola’s former long-term ruler, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, died in a hospital in the Spanish city of Barcelona on Friday, July 8, 2022, the Angolan government said.
The 79-year-old, who ruled the southwestern African country for almost four decades, died following a long illness.
Angola’s current president, Joao Lourenco, announced five days of mourning which will see public events canceled and the flag flown at half-mast.
The government’s statement announcing the death called dos Santos “a statesman of great historical scale who governed … the Angolan nation through very difficult times.”
One of his daughters, Tchize, asked the hospital where he died to hold on to his body to carry out an autopsy before it is returned to Angola. She cited fears of foul play.
Source: Independent
