December 1998
Surrounded by his office bodyguards a western diamond dealer knows what works for his trade: "The business is better when there is war...we have our security so it is easier for us." But for those who do not live by the gun, subsistence is impossible. "We make a garden, and we come to harvest, but there are always armed men to shoot us and take the food." Added to the fact that Angola's fields are full of mines, choosing farming over warmongering is a perversely hazardous choice. Surviving on erratic food aid the 15,000 internally disPlaced refugees are malnourished and desperate. Now, in the past week UNITA has shot down 2 UN planes forcing them UN to recall its peackeepers. The future for Angolans is looking bleaker everyday.
