1942- . Angolan left-wing politician,
president from 1979, a member of the People's
Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
Dos Santos joined the MPLA in 1961 and went
into exile the same year during the struggle
for independence and the civil war between
nationalist movements - the MPLA and the
National Union for the Total Independence of
Angola (UNITA) - backed by foreign powers. He
returned to Angola in 1970 and rejoined the
war, which continued after independence in
1975. He held key positions under President
Agostinho Neto, and succeeded him on his
death. By 1989, he had negotiated the
withdrawal of South African and Cuban forces,
and a ceasefire between MPLA and UNITA.