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Philippe Borel, the operations director for the U.N. World Food Program in Angola, has put his career on the line by discreetly underwriting aid flights chartered by private relief groups. "I don't want to criticize anybody," he says, "but we feel our mandate to help people is more important than politics." Borel says three times more food could be delivered if the U.N. ban were lifted.
But even if a truce comes and humanitarian aid resumes unhindered, the help will be too late for those trapped in the ravaged hinterland. At the Malanje hospital, Ernesto Antonio, 15, lies on tattered sheets stained with blood and urine. His legs have been amputated above the knee. "I stepped on a mine while I was looking for firewood in the fields," he explains. "My neighbor brought me here." Now Ernesto owns only the T shirt he received during last year's electoral campaign. It is emblazoned with the words O FUTURO CERTO, or "The Certain Future."