Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, Angola’s Ex-President Dies In Spain
According to the authorities, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who ruled Angola with an iron grip for 38 years, passed away on Friday in a hospital in Barcelona after experiencing cardiac arrest.
At 11:10 am, the Luanda administration announced the death of the Dos Santos on Facebook with “deep sadness and dismay” (1010 GMT). He was 79.
The former leader was referred to as a “statesman of immense historical stature” who guided the nation through extremely trying times in the statement, which read, “(The government) expresses its deepest thoughts of grief to the deceased family).”
The five days of national mourning began on Saturday, and Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who is running for re-election in August, established a government commission to handle burial arrangements.
Flags were to be flown at half-staff, and “all shows and political demonstrations” were to be canceled, according to a presidential proclamation.
However, one of Jose Eduardo Dos Santos‘ daughters insisted on having the body autopsied because she suspected foul play.
Tchize Dos Santos filed a lawsuit against the Catalan regional police earlier this week while the former president was in the hospital, alleging that her father’s illness was caused by an attempted murder.
According to the lawsuit, she thought that Ana Paula, her father’s wife, and his personal doctor were to blame for the decline in his health, one of her attorneys claimed.
Dos Santos left his position as president of the oil-rich, Portuguese-speaking country of Angola in September 2017 after 38 years in office.
After experiencing a heart attack on June 23, he was taken to a hospital in Spain and placed in intensive care.
He was one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders and a native of the slums of Luanda. He used the oil wealth of his country to make one of his children a millionaire while leaving his people among the world’s poorest.
He used clandestine and dictatorial techniques he learnt in the Soviet era instead of the personality cult so frequently favored by tyrants during his rule.
Even though he had complete control over all facets of Angolan society, he handled his own departure from power so poorly that he found himself in a short-term self-imposed exile, his daughter was being sued internationally, and his son was in jail.
Billions Embezzled
Jose Eduardo Dos Santos appointed Lourenco, a former defense minister, to succeed him when he resigned.
However, Lourenco soon turned against his former patron and launched an anti-corruption campaign to recover the billions he believed had been stolen under dos Santos.
Isabel, the eldest daughter of Dos Santos, was previously listed by Forbes as the richest woman in Africa, with a net worth of $3 billion (2.55 billion euros). She is currently under investigation for a number of her international business transactions.
