Angola's Communist Past: A Historical Overview

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country in west-central Southern Africa. It is a former Portuguese colony that has been plagued by internal conflicts since the 1960s. After gaining independence in 1975, the country descended into a civil war between three competing movements: the ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), backed by the Soviet Union and Cuba; the insurgent National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, an originally Maoist and later anti-communist group supported by the United States and South Africa; and the militant organization National Liberation Front of Angola, backed by Zaire.

The MPLA, a Marxist-Leninist party, imposed war communism and launched Stalinist-style repressions, killing dissidents and executing thousands of its own members during purges. The country's economy, which had been rather successful until the 1960s, was wrecked by the nationalization of banks and industry, and the creation of state farms on estates confiscated from landowners. The MPLA remained in power and, in 1991, signed a peace agreement with UNITA, allowing for multi-party elections in Angola. The civil war ended in 2002, and Angola has since emerged as a relatively stable constitutional republic.

Angola's independence and civil war

The Angolan War of Independence (1961-1974)

The Angolan War of Independence was a war fought between Angolan nationalist forces and Portugal. It began as an uprising by Angolans against the Portuguese imposition of forced cultivation of cotton as a commodity crop. As the resistance spread, multiple factions developed, including the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA).

The war ended when a peaceful coup in Lisbon in April 1974 overthrew Portugal's Estado Novo dictatorship. The new regime immediately stopped all military action in the African colonies, declaring its intention to grant them independence without delay. The war formally came to an end in January 1975 when the Portuguese government, the MPLA, the FNLA, and UNITA signed the Alvor Agreement.

The Angolan Civil War (1975-2002)

The Angolan Civil War was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist MPLA and the anti-communist UNITA. The MPLA and UNITA had different roots in Angolan society and mutually incompatible leaderships, despite their shared aim of ending colonial rule. A third movement, the FNLA, played almost no role in the Civil War.

The civil war began when the MPLA, in control of the capital city of Luanda, declared itself the government of independent Angola. UNITA and the FNLA set up a rival government in Huambo and called on South African forces to eject the MPLA from Luanda. Cuba poured in troops to defend the MPLA, pushed the internationally isolated South Africans out of Angola, and gained control of all the provincial capitals.

The civil war was one of the bloodiest proxy wars of the Cold War era, with the Soviet Union and the United States, along with their respective allies Cuba and South Africa, assisting the opposing factions. The conflict was also closely intertwined with the Second Congo War in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo and the South African Border War.

The civil war can be divided roughly into three periods of major fighting – from 1975 to 1991, 1992 to 1994, and from 1998 to 2002 – with fragile periods of peace. By the time the MPLA achieved victory in 2002, between 500,000 and 800,000 people had died, and over one million had been internally displaced. The war devastated Angola's infrastructure and severely damaged public administration, the economy, and religious institutions.

The People's Republic of Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-central coast of Southern Africa. It is a unitary multiparty republic with one legislative house, the National Assembly.

The MPLA was Marxist-Leninist and backed by Cuba and the Soviet Union. During the War of Independence (1961-1975), the MPLA and National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), based in neighbouring countries, launched a guerrilla campaign against Portuguese rule in Angola. In 1966, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) joined the struggle for independence against Portugal. UNITA was primarily backed by China.

During the independence war, the three pro-independent groups sometimes fought each other, in addition to the Portuguese. Following the Alvor Accords, which promised Angolan independence and elections for the National Assembly of Angola in October 1975, the relationship between these groups deteriorated further. In July 1975, the MPLA violently forced the FNLA out of Luanda, while UNITA voluntarily withdrew to its stronghold in the south. By August, the MPLA had conquered 11 of the 15 provincial capitals, including the capital city Luanda, and also the oil-rich Cabinda, which was claimed by the separatist FLEC (Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda).

On 11 November 1975, Agostinho Neto, the leader of the MPLA, declared Angola's independence as the People's Republic of Angola, a one-party Marxist-Leninist state. In response, UNITA declared Angolan independence as the Social Democratic Republic of Angola in Huambo, while the FNLA declared the Democratic Republic of Angola based in Ambriz. FLEC declared the independence of the Republic of Cabinda. The FNLA and UNITA forged an alliance, proclaiming their own coalition government, the Democratic People's Republic of Angola, based in Huambo.

The MPLA, with Cuban help, consolidated power over the whole country, capturing all of Angola's provincial capitals, including Huambo. Without South African support, UNITA was weakened and withdrew into the bush to fight a guerrilla war, where they continued to be supplied by South Africa and the United States.

In 1988, the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, where the MPLA and Cuba battled UNITA and South Africa to a stalemate, led to the Tripartite Accord, which secured Namibia's independence and the withdrawal of Cuban and South African forces from Angola. In 1991, the MPLA and UNITA signed the peace agreement known as the Bicesse Accords, which allowed for multiparty elections in Angola. In 1992, the People's Republic of Angola was constitutionally succeeded by the Republic of Angola and elections were held.

Angola has vast mineral and petroleum reserves, and its economy is among the fastest-growing in the world. However, economic growth is highly uneven, with most of the nation's wealth concentrated in a disproportionately small part of the population. Most Angolans have a low standard of living; life expectancy is among the lowest in the world, while infant mortality is among the highest.

The MPLA's rule

The MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) has been the dominant political party in Angola since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

The MPLA's core base includes the Ambundu ethnic group and the educated intelligentsia of the capital city, Luanda. The party was formed in 1956 when the underground Angolan Communist Party (PCA) merged with the Party of the United Struggle for Africans in Angola (PLUAA). Other groups later merged into the MPLA, including the Movement for the National Independence of Angola (MINA) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Angola (FDLA).

The MPLA fought against the Portuguese Army in the Angolan War of Independence from 1961 to 1974, and against UNITA and the FNLA in the Angolan Civil War.

In 1977, the MPLA refashioned itself as a Marxist-Leninist party and added the words Party of Labour (PT) to its name. It ruled Angola as a one-party Marxist-Leninist state from 1975 until 1992, during which time it imposed war communism and launched Stalinist-style repressions, killing dissidents and executing thousands of MPLA members during purges.

In 1991, the MPLA and UNITA signed the Bicesse Accords, a peace agreement that allowed for multiparty elections in Angola. The MPLA emerged victorious in the 1992 general election, but eight opposition parties rejected the election as rigged. UNITA sent negotiators to Luanda, where they were killed, and hostilities resumed. The civil war continued until 2002 when UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi was killed. The two parties then agreed to a ceasefire, and a plan was laid out for UNITA to demobilize and become a political party.

The MPLA abandoned its Marxist-Leninist ideology in 1990, declaring social democracy to be its new platform. It has continued to dominate in subsequent elections, albeit by diminishing margins, winning 72% in 2012, 61% in 2017, and 51% in 2022.

The MPLA government of Angola has been accused of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest, detention, and torture, by international organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

The role of foreign powers in Angola's civil war

The Angolan Civil War, which lasted from 1975 to 2002, was a conflict between three former anti-colonial guerrilla movements: the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA). The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975, and it was characterised by the involvement of foreign powers, becoming a Cold War proxy conflict.

The MPLA, with its roots in urban Luanda, was supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba. Cuba sent significant combat and support personnel to Angola, and the Soviet Union provided military training and equipment. The MPLA also received financial and military support from Yugoslavia, East Germany, and other Eastern Bloc countries.

The UNITA, with its base among the Ovimbundu people of central Angola, was initially supported by the United States and South Africa. The United States provided covert aid to UNITA through Operation IA Feature, despite opposition from officials in the State Department and the CIA. The apartheid regime of South Africa also provided military reinforcement to UNITA, with the aim of ending Angola's use as a base for rebels fighting for the independence of South Africa-occupied Namibia.

The FNLA, rooted among the Bakongo people of Northern Angola, was supported by Mobutu Sese Seko's government in Zaire, the People's Republic of China, and the United States. China sent military instructors to train the FNLA, and the United States provided aid and training.

The involvement of these foreign powers in the Angolan Civil War was driven by strategic interests and ideological alignments during the Cold War. The conflict reflected the global tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, with their respective allies, Cuba and South Africa, assisting the opposing factions in Angola. The war also intersected with broader regional dynamics, such as South Africa's occupation of Namibia and the Second Congo War in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Angola's transition to democracy

The Colonial Era and the Struggle for Independence:

• Angola gained independence from Portugal in 1975 after a protracted anti-colonial struggle that began in 1961.
• During this period, several anti-colonial militias emerged, including the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).
• These groups had differing ideological leanings, with the MPLA espousing Marxist-Leninist ideals, UNITA initially adopting Maoist principles, and the FNLA receiving support from Zaire and Congo.

The Angolan Civil War (1975-2002):

• The power struggle and ideological differences among these groups led to the outbreak of the Angolan Civil War in 1975.
• The MPLA, backed by the Soviet Union, Cuba, and Warsaw Pact countries, emerged as the dominant force and established a one-party Marxist-Leninist state known as the People's Republic of Angola.
• UNITA, led by Jonas Savimbi, received support from the United States, South Africa, and initially China, while the FNLA was supported by Zaire.
• The civil war resulted in massive loss of life, with an estimated 1.4-1.5 million deaths and the internal displacement of approximately 4.28 million people.
• The conflict also devastated the country's economy, which had been relatively successful until the 1960s, due to the nationalization of banks and industries, as well as the creation of state farms on confiscated land.

Steps Toward Democracy:

• In 1991, the MPLA and UNITA signed the Bicesse Accords, a peace agreement that paved the way for multiparty elections in Angola.
• The People's Republic of Angola was constitutionally succeeded by the Republic of Angola in 1992, marking a significant step toward democracy.
• However, the 1992 elections were disputed, with allegations of fraud and irregularities. José Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA won the presidential election, but UNITA objected to the results and returned to war.
• The civil war continued until 2002 when government troops killed Savimbi, leading to UNITA agreeing to give up its armed wing.

Recent Developments:

• Since the end of the civil war, Angola has emerged as a relatively stable constitutional republic, with a multi-party system in place.
• In 2017, dos Santos stepped down after 38 years as president, and João Lourenço, his chosen successor from the MPLA, took office.
• Lourenço has made fighting corruption a key focus of his administration, targeting individuals from the previous regime, including members of the dos Santos family.
• However, critics argue that these efforts are politically motivated, and Angola continues to face challenges in establishing a fully democratic and transparent political system.
• The 2022 elections, which resulted in a narrow victory for Lourenço and the MPLA, were marked by allegations of fraud and an uneven playing field, highlighting the ongoing struggles in Angola's democratic transition.

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