NEW YORK -- It is a sad paradox that one of the potentially richest developing countries in the world is going through one of its worst crises in history. It is a humanitarian crisis that is, to a large extent, the result of that country's corrupt leadership. While the threat of starvation rages throughout the country, billions of dollars in state revenues have gone missing. Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos cannot avoid responsibility for this situation. Since its independence from the Portuguese, Angola has extensively exploited its natural resources, particularly its huge oil reserves, estimated to be among the largest in Africa. Angola supplies more oil to the United States than Kuwait.
It is estimated that oil represents close to 90 percent of the $3 billion to $5 billion total of Angola's state budget, of which more than $1 billion goes unaccounted for every year. The Angolan government has been strenuously trying to keep payments from oil exploitation secret.
Although the decades-long war against UNITA ended last April, one-third of Angola's people are living as refugees in their own country and face a serious crisis from the lack of food. People have resorted to eating rats and leaves, camping without basic shelter and drinking contaminated water. As a result, malnutrition and infectious diseases have become rampant among large segments of the population.