Angola's Woes - Part IV

Continued from Part III

Civil War in Angola

The Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA), which was in control of the capital Luanda proclaimed the People's Republic of Angola and Agostinho Neto became the first president of Angola. Immediately, Portuguese businesses were nationalized. The president wanted to create a homogeneous, disciplined party along the lines of the Soviet model. The party's size was reduced and members were organized in cells and reported to a pyramid of committee members.

In January 1976, the MPLA decisively defeated the FNLA. In February 1976, UNITA was expelled by the MPLA from Huambo and on the same day, the OAU (Organization of African Unity) recognized Angola as a member state. However, Cuban forces remained in the country. South Africa withdrew its troops from Angola in March 1976 when it became clear that the United States was not going to militarily oppose the Cuban presence in Angola. This allowed the MPLA to extend its control throughout Angola. Nevertheless, it faced resistance from the defeated movements, which reverted to guerrilla warfare.

UNITA was able to build support and attract foreign assistance. UNITA's leader, Dr Jonas Savimbi with South African support established a base at Jamba in the southeast corner of the country. South Africa supplied arms, fuel and food to UNITA and its air and ground forces intervened on behalf of the guerrilla forces during major battles. South Africa backed UNITA to weaken the South West African People's Organization (SWAPO), which was fighting for the independence of Namibia from bases in southern Angola.

Though the MPLA government had military successes, it was faced with other problems. They were:
a) Rebuilding the infrastructure which was damaged by war.
b) Dearth of skilled and semi-skilled work force since the Portuguese left the country.
c) Large numbers of refugees requiring support.

During 1976, the MPLA tried to quell all internal opposition to its government. It refused to contemplate sharing power with the FNIA and UNITA. After successfully purging the armed forces, trade unions and provincial administrations in December 1977, the MPLA embraced communism, introduced a rigorous Marxist-Leninist program and changed its name to the MPLA-Workers' Party (MPLA-PT).

To be continued...