Abstract
Angola’s post-independence instability and political development has its roots deep in history, including Portugal’s failure to prepare its colonies for independence and the ethno-regional divisions among nationalist movements that fought the Portuguese and turned on each other. This led to a violent struggle for supremacy at independence in 1975. The Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA, or People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola) got Soviet and Cuban support, while apartheid-era South Africa and the West supported the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA, or National Union for the Total Independence of Angola). The MPLA was in effect born out of war and had “its history and purpose informed by the political visions moulded by war and survival” (Ingles 2018:46).1 The civil war may have ended with all-out military victory in 2002 over its rival UNITA, but the shadow of decades of conflict is still felt today.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Dominant Parties As Governments In Southern Africa |
| Subtitle of host publication | Their changing nature and its implications for democracy and democratic consolidation |
| Editors | Lesley Blaauw, Dennis Zaire |
| Place of Publication | Windhoek |
| Publisher | Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e. V. |
| Pages | 155-178 |
| Number of pages | 24 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789991639666 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2023 |
