Angola's Lic Status: A Complex Reality

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in southwestern Africa. It is the second-largest Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) country in both total area and population and is the seventh-largest country in Africa. Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves and is among the fastest-growing economies in the world. Portuguese is the sole official language of Angola, but 46 other languages are spoken in the country, mostly Bantu languages. Angola is a member of the United Nations, African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, and the Southern African Development Community.

Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975

The war ended in 1974 when a peaceful coup in Lisbon overthrew Portugal's Estado Novo dictatorship. The new regime immediately ceased military action in its African colonies, declaring its intention to grant them independence without delay. The conflict formally ended in January 1975 when the Portuguese government, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) signed the Alvor Agreement.

However, the agreement did not bring peace, and an armed conflict broke out among the nationalist movements. By May 1975, street fighting had broken out in Luanda and the surrounding countryside. In July 1975, the MPLA violently forced the FNLA out of Luanda, and UNITA voluntarily withdrew to its stronghold in the south. By August, the MPLA had control of 11 of the 15 provincial capitals, including Cabinda and Luanda.

On November 11, 1975, Portugal granted Angola independence, and the MPLA, backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union, declared the independence of the People's Republic of Angola, with Agostinho Neto as president. UNITA and the FNLA formed a coalition government, the Democratic People's Republic of Angola, based in Huambo, with Holden Roberto and Jonas Savimbi as co-presidents.

The independence of Angola was soon followed by a long and devastating civil war, which lasted until 2002 and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and the internal displacement of over a million.

The Angolan Civil War (1975-2002)

The war was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements: the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the anti-communist National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). A third movement, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), also played a role in the conflict.

The roots of the conflict can be traced back to the politicisation of ethnicity during colonial rule, which combined and placed vastly differing ethnicities under one centrally administered colonial territory. The MPLA, with its support base among the Ambundu people, appealed largely to the urban population, while the FNLA and UNITA, rooted in rural communities, drew support from the Bakongo and Ovimbundu people, respectively.

The MPLA solicited the support of the Cubans, who shared a similar ideological stance, while UNITA secured the backing of the South African government. The United States sided with the increasingly inefficient FNLA, stationed in the north of Angola.

The conflict was characterised by a series of violent events, including the Baixa de Cassanje revolt, the February 1961 attacks on police and military facilities in Luanda, and the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, the second-largest battle in the history of Africa.

The war resulted in a massive refugee crisis, with over one million people internally displaced, and left Angola in economic and social turmoil. The country's infrastructure, public administration, economy, and religious institutions were severely damaged, and landmines continue to cause civilian casualties.

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA)

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is an Angolan social democratic political party. It was founded in 1956 through the merger of two nationalist organisations: the underground Angolan Communist Party (PCA) and the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola (PLUAA). The MPLA fought against the colonial Second Portuguese Republic in the Angolan War of Independence from 1961 to 1974. During this time, it was led by Agostinho Neto, who became Angola's first president upon independence in 1975.

The MPLA was one of three main groups seeking Angola's independence from Portugal, alongside the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA). Although they shared the goal of defeating Portugal, the three groups were also rivals. The MPLA was a Marxist organisation, centred in the capital city of Luanda, with a core base that included the Ambundu ethnic group and the city's intelligentsia.

In 1975, the Portuguese left Angola without transferring power, and the MPLA, FNLA, and UNITA were left to struggle for control. The MPLA, with military support from Cuba and the Soviet Union, took control of the central part of the country, including Luanda. On 11 November 1975, Neto declared Angola's independence as the People's Republic of Angola. However, this declaration was not recognised by all governments. The MPLA established a Marxist-Leninist government, which was opposed by UNITA and FNLA, who had the support of South Africa and the United States.

The conflict between these groups escalated into the Angolan Civil War, which lasted from 1975 to 2002. The MPLA emerged victorious, and it has been the dominant party in Angola since the country's independence. In 1977, the MPLA adopted Marxism-Leninism as its official ideology, but after the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union fell, the party shifted to social democracy. The MPLA has won subsequent elections in 2008, 2012, 2017, and 2022, although opposition parties have sometimes disputed the results.

The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA)

At first, the party had a Maoist stance, but it later adopted an anti-left stance when it began cooperating with Portuguese officials against the Soviet-supported Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). A coup in Portugal in 1974 caused the Portuguese to quickly end their colonial involvement in Angola. The MPLA announced the independent People’s Republic of Angola in November 1975, and Cuban-supported Angolan troops began an offensive against the FNLA and UNITA in 1976.

Although the FNLA quickly dropped out of the ensuing struggle, UNITA continued to battle the MPLA and cast itself as an anti-communist guerrilla movement, receiving support from South Africa and the United States. By 1988, however, South African and Cuban troops had been withdrawn from Angola, and the stage was set to resolve hostilities. The MPLA showed its willingness to negotiate with UNITA by releasing hundreds of UNITA detainees and by accepting UNITA’s demand for a multiparty system. Talks in Lisbon led in May 1991 to an agreement that provided for a ceasefire, demobilization of troops, and democratic elections.

Despite the presence of international observers who declared the September 1992 elections to be generally fair, UNITA claimed widespread fraud and continued the armed struggle. Another agreement, the Lusaka Accord, was signed in 1994, but Savimbi fought on, buoyed by the revenue he received from the smuggling of diamonds. In September 1998, Savimbi faced opposition from within UNITA when a group calling itself UNITA-Renovada (UNITA-Renewal; UNITA-R) suspended him and became the self-declared leadership of the party. Yet another division occurred soon after, and from that point, UNITA was split into three factions, with the government and the Southern African Development Community recognizing UNITA-R as the official representatives of UNITA. Despite professed interest by both the government and Savimbi in resolving the conflict, fighting continued throughout 2001 and into 2002.

After Savimbi was killed by government troops in February 2002, a cautious optimism began to prevail. In April 2002, UNITA officials and the Angolan government signed an agreement to end hostilities, bringing to a close 27 years of civil war. Some UNITA troops were absorbed into the Angolan army, but the majority returned to civilian life. The three factions reunified, and UNITA transformed itself into a political party. Isaias Samakuva was elected president of UNITA in June 2003.

The National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA)

The UPA began as a separatist movement for the Bakongo tribe, who wished to re-establish its 16th-century feudal kingdom and protest against forced labour. By 1958, the organisation's name had been changed to the "União das Populações de Angola" (UPA) and was described as an ethnic political movement. In 1961, the UPA began an uprising in the north, massacring thousands of people. This led to a response from the Portuguese government, who sent soldiers to Angola, resulting in over 50,000 deaths by the end of 1961.

In an attempt to become a national political movement, the UPA merged with the "Partido Democratico de Angola" (PDA) in 1962 to form the "Frente Nacional de Libertação de Angola" (FNLA). The FNLA was recognised by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) as Angola's only freedom movement until 1971. The United States government began aiding the FNLA in 1961 during the Kennedy administration, providing financial and military support.

The FNLA was one of three main military movements fighting for Angolan independence in the 1960s, alongside the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). These groups often conflicted with each other, and the violence worsened after the Portuguese left Angola in 1975. The MPLA declared Angola's independence and formed a government, which was backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union. The FNLA and UNITA fought against this new government, with support from the United States and China. However, the MPLA quickly defeated the FNLA, and UNITA continued the fight until 2002.

The FNLA continued as a political party but lost much of its support. In the 2008 parliamentary election, the FNLA received 1.11% of the vote, winning three out of 220 seats. In 2012, the party won only two seats in Angola's National Assembly.

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