The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola: Communism or Contradiction?

By the 1950s, the world’s most dominant colonial powers were crumbling. The impacts of the second world war were too much to overcome, and, with ascension of two new anti-imperialist superpowers, Britain, France and the Netherlands lost their grip on their colonies. Whether it was largely peaceful resistance, like that of India or Ghana, or violent anti-colonial insurgencies, like that of Kenya and Algeria, it was certainly clear that the people wanted out. There was, however, one exception to this capitulation of empires: Portugal. Until the 1970s the Portuguese desperately held onto their ‘overseas provinces’, fighting brutal and economically draining anti-guerrilla campaigns in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. The Angolan case was perhaps the most violent and complicated decolonisation in both the continent and in the world. Violence in Angola began in 1961 and lasted until 2002 when a final ceasefire was agreed. What rose from the ashes was the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the Marxist-Leninist political party that have remained in government in Angola since 1975.

The MPLA emerged as one of three anti-colonial resistance movements against the Portuguese in the 1960s, the others being the FNLA and UNITA, all with distinct international backing, doctrines and identities. The politics between these groups were complicated from the beginning, with all three groups attempting to prove their own legitimacy, while discrediting the others. The MPLA’s doctrines focused on social revolution, with heavy inspiration from European Marxist thought rather than Chinese or Soviet models. Their leader, Agostinho Neto, took on both a political and inspirational role in the liberation, using poetry to mobilise the masses. The movement drew ideological inspiration from Guinea-Bissau’s Amílcar Cabral, a fellow communist who advocated Soviet-style communism in the Lusophone African world. The movement also differed from the other guerrilla movements in Angola by consisting of African, European and Mestizo members.

International politics would come to shape the success of the MPLA’s liberation movement. Growing co-operation between Portugal and the white-minority governments of Rhodesia and South Africa through Operation ALCORA curtailed much of the early success the insurgency groups had across the country. This economic, military and intelligence bloc became significant from 1970, and used South African technology and funds to maintain white minority rule across Portuguese Africa. This was compounded by improving relations between this white-minority block and the USA. It was only the collapse of the Caetano Dictatorship in 1974, that finally allowed the independence of Angola from the Portuguese.

The following three decades were rooted in a constant internal struggle for power between the MPLA and UNITA, after the FNLA was quickly defeated following independence. The MPLA held Luanda and established an official government. As during the struggle against the Portuguese, international politics shaped this civil war. South Africa and the United States, acting as an anti-communist bulwark in Southern Africa, provided substantial support to UNITA and its leader, Joseph Savimbi. South Africa invaded in 1975 but was only thwarted by an emergency communist airlift of Cuban and Soviet troops and aid. Even after the collapse of Apartheid South Africa, Savimbi continued to receive international backing in Angola until his death in 2002, which ultimately paved the way for a ceasefire and a return to electoral politics.

The success of the MPLA’s liberation movement is, to say the least, mixed. Its insurgency campaigns gradually wore down the dwindling Portuguese war machine and undermined the morale of the 200,000 conscripts in Africa. Although the MPLA did not directly cause the military overthrow, it played a substantial role. Furthermore, since independence, the MPLA has ruled Angola continuously since 1975, underscoring its success as a movement. Yet many of the doctrines upon which the liberation struggle was built have been abandoned. The dictatorship of the proletariat and the one-party system, adopted by many Marxist-Leninists, were replaced in 1992 with multi-party elections. While this change can be seen as positive or negative, it represents a clear departure from the ethos of the revolution.

Despite initial widespread support from a multi-ethnic base, ideological commitment waned as the civil war progressed, while violence against civilians escalated. The abandonment of socialist policies in the 1990s also ushered in a market-oriented economy focused on the oil industry, contributing to a catastrophic rise in wealth inequality, with 52.9% of the population living in poverty by 2018. This marked a sharp contrast to the equity promised by the MPLA at independence. Political stability too leaves much to be desired, with the government currently under scrutiny for its treatment of political protestors following recent national elections. In the 1960s and 70s, Neto called for his ‘people’s army’ to ‘shatter the passivity’ and overthrow the Portuguese; yet the modern state of Angola punishes its citizens for following his doctrines.

While the MPLA achieved independence in 1975, it abandoned the principles that had underpinned its rise to power. This is not unique—many post-colonial communist governments have followed similar trajectories. International pressures and the destabilising effects of civil war contributed to these shifts, yet even the memory of the post-independence years is being actively suppressed. Do Marxist-Leninist doctrines simply fail in the post-Cold War context, or have Angola’s people been sacrificed to benefit a small political elite?

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