Progress in Angola

Secretary of State George P. Shultz is urging a delay to American intervention in Angola, and so he should. He has based his recommendation on indications of diplomatic progress ascertained by Chester A. Crocker, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, in his talks last week with Angolan officials.

There has been a broad effort in the White House and in Congress to convert the delicate and complex issues of Angola into some sort of test of American manhood.

President Reagan has designated Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA rebel forces in Angola “freedom fighters,” equating them with the Afghans resisting the Soviet invasion of their nation and with contras fighting the Sandinista regime in Nicaragua. Shultz has told reporters that the United States supports Savimbi--a curiously broad endorsement of one whose intentions are clouded by his dependence on South Africa and his willingness to be Pretoria’s faithful ally.

Nevertheless, Crocker has been able to report progress of two sorts: Angola is now moving toward an agreement to get rid of the Cuban forces that have sustained its government since independence came to the former Portuguese colony 10 years ago. And the Angolan government now seems prepared to enter negotiations with Savimbi to end the guerrilla war. No agreement is likely, however, if Savimbi is encouraged to maintain the attacks that have justified the continued presence of the Cubans.

Lest an impression be left that Angola has abandoned its doctrinaire commitment to Marxism, the ruling MPLA party reaffirmed on Tuesday its commitment to maintain close relations with both Moscow and Havana. But it would be a mistake to interpret that declaration as terminating the peace process. There has been a continuous improvement in relations between Angola and the West in recent years, and at no time has the Marxist regime in Luanda allowed its ideological commitments to interfere with its capitalist contracts with American oil companies for the development and production of Angola’s substantial petroleum reserves--which flow West, not East.