LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Angola: Marxist Mpla
built 658 days ago
After a 14 year independence guerrilla war, Angola became independent in 1975. The Portuguese transferred power to the Marxist-inspired MPLA, which received support from the Soviet Union. Shortly after, a civil war broke out between MPLA, UNITA and FNLA. The latter would retire from the conflict, leaving the Marxist MPLA and the western-backed UNITA to fight for power. In 1991, both factions agreed to turn Angola into a multiparty state, but after the current president Jos� Eduardo dos Santos of MPLA won UN supervised elections, UNITA claimed there was fraud and fighting broke out again.
Source:
In 1975, the collapse of the Portuguese empire left its African colony of Angola with three groups struggling for power. Each had at various times flirted with both capitalism and Marxism, and each had taken aid from both East and West. Zaire (a US ally) backed one faction, the Soviets backed another (the MPLA) and the CIA ended up backing the third, Jonas Savimbi's UNITA.
Source:
The United States established formal diplomatic relations with the Government of Angola in 1993. Before 1989, U.S.-Angolan relations were defined by the Cold War. The United States initially supported Holden Roberto's FNLA and later Jonas Savimbi's UNITA against the pro-Soviet and pro-Cuban MPLA government in Luanda. Since 1992, the bilateral relationship has steadily improved. In May 2004, President dos Santos met with President Bush during an official visit to Washington.
Source:
In 1962 a group of refugees in the Congo, led by Holden Roberto, organized the Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA). It maintained supply and training bases in the Congo, waged guerrilla warfare in Angola, and, while developing contacts with both Western and Communist nations, obtained its chief support from the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Angola's liberation movement comprised two other guerrilla groups as well. The Marxist-influenced Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA), founded in 1956, had its headquarters in Zambia and was most active among educated Angolan Africans and mestiços living abroad. The MPLA led the struggle for Angolan independence. The third rival group was the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA), which was established in 1966 under the leadership of Jonas Savimbi.
Source:
Peace lasted in Angola until September 1992, when the MPLA candidate Eduardo Dos Santos won 49 % of the presidential vote. Jonas Savimbi, the UNITA presidential candidate received only 40% of the presidential vote. In a show of protest and an accusation that the MPLA committed election fraud, Savimbi resumed his guerrilla war against the Angolan government in October of 1992 (Dept. Of State 4). UNITA controlled more than half of Angola's national territory by 1993 (Dept. Of State 4).
Source:
José Eduardo dos Santos was born on August 28, 1942 in Angola's capital of Luanda. His political career began at an early age when he founded the youth organization within the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) in 1961 to help further Angola's struggle for independence. He was awarded a scholarship in 1963 to study in the Soviet Union where he received a degree in petroleum engineering. [more]
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Marxist Mpla