Last week the United Nations said peace talks would soon begin between the formerly pro-Soviet government and UNITA, which was backed by the United States during a previous phase of the 17-year-old war. An earlier peace agreement brokered by Washington and Moscow in 1991 fell apart after UNITA lost an election. At least 50,000 people have died since rebel leader Jonas Savimbi restarted the war, and as many as 2 million others now face severe food shortages. in Cuito, there is almost nothing left to fight over.
