Angola–United States relations

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Angola–United States relations
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Angola
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United States
Diplomatic mission
Angolan Embassy, Washington, D.C. United States Embassy, Luanda
Envoy
Ambassador
Joaquim do Espirito Santo
Ambassador
Tulinabo S. Mushingi

Angola and the United States have maintained cordial diplomatic relations since 1993. Before then, antagonism between the countries hinged on Cold War geopolitics, which led the U.S. to support anti-government rebels during the protracted Angolan Civil War.

Contents

Although Angola won independence from Portugal in 1975, the U.S. – alone among its Western peers – never granted diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of Angola, the socialist one-party state under which the country was governed until 1992. Anxious to contain the spread of communism in the region, and to protect American interests in the Angolan oil sector, the U.S. was staunchly opposed to Angola's ruling party, the left-wing, Soviet-aligned Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). When the Angolan Civil War began in 1975, the U.S. extended military aid to both of MPLA's domestic rivals: the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and Jonas Savimbi's National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). The presence of Cuban troops in Angola greatly increased the U.S.'s investment in the outcome of the war. The ensuing conflict became entangled with the South African Border War, and the U.S. government was accused of complicity in – and collaboration with – the invasion of Angola by South Africa's apartheid regime.

Even as MPLA consolidated its control over Angola, U.S. President Gerald Ford – supported by his Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger – continued to deny recognition to its government, a policy maintained by his successors. The Clark Amendment blocked any further U.S. aid to Angolan rebels between 1976 and 1985, but relations between the two countries remained extremely cold. After 1985, President Ronald Reagan announced the resumption of U.S. support to UNITA, in line with the so-called Reagan Doctrine. However, a parallel initiative of the Reagan administration stemmed from the latter's policy of constructive engagement with South Africa on regional issues. In this regard, the U.S. pursued negotiations to ameliorate Southern Africa's various interlocking conflicts, in particular by linking the independence of South West Africa to a Cuban withdrawal from Angola. This policy came to fruition with the Tripartite Accord of 1988, which the U.S. was instrumental in mediating.

Thereafter, with the end of the Cold War imminent, the governments of both countries were increasingly comfortable cooperating to end the Angolan civil conflict through a negotiated settlement, notwithstanding the sticking point presented by ongoing – and indeed augmented – American support to UNITA under President George H. W. Bush. On 19 May 1993, with intra-Angolan peace talks still underway, the government of President Bill Clinton extended formal diplomatic recognition to the MPLA-led Angolan government, which had held multi-party elections the previous year. While UNITA continued to take and hold territory throughout the 1990s, the U.S. government's attention increasingly shifted to supporting the Angolan government's national reconciliation efforts, and to strengthening bilateral economic ties.

The importance of those economic ties persists, although it is diminished: Angolan oil exports are no longer of strategic importance to the U.S., and Angolan trade is increasingly oriented towards China. However, American oil companies retain significant investments in Angola, which remains the U.S.'s third-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. The U.S. is also Angola's primary source of official development assistance. In the 21st century, regional security partnership, especially in the Gulf of Guinea, has been an additional focal point of bilateral relations.

History

1961–1974: Angolan War of Independence

From 1962, [1] during Angola's protracted struggle for independence from Portugal, the U.S. provided covert support to Holden Roberto of the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). [2] The administration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy also barred Portugal from using American weapons in its colonies, although compliance with this ban was imperfect. [3] Like subsequent presidents, Kennedy, in his policy stance, attempted to balance the U.S.'s multiple interests in Angola. Political imperatives arose from Cold War politics and the U.S. containment policy: although some American policymakers viewed Portuguese colonialism as a stabilising force in Africa, American support for FNLA was calculated to avoid an outcome in which the left-wing, Soviet-aligned Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) gained control of an independent Angola. [4] The U.S. also had significant economic interests in Angola: various American companies operated there, including Gulf Oil in Cabinda; and in 1975, the U.S. was Angola's primary export market (ahead even of Portugal) and its third largest import market. [2] The U.S. was also a close partner of President Mobutu Sese Seko in neighbouring Zaire, whose regime closely guarded its security interests in Angola, including by hosting FNLA insurgents in Zaire. [4] However, after Richard Nixon was elected U.S. President and adopted the so-called Tar Baby Option, the U.S. redoubled its support for the Portuguese colonists and remained publicly neutral towards FNLA, as it did towards all liberation movements, [4] [5] [6] while occasionally lobbying privately for reform of the Portuguese regime in Angola. [7]

Geopolitical situation, 1978-79.
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SWAPO allies
South African allies
South West Africa (Namibia)
South Africa NamibianWar1978.PNG
Geopolitical situation, 1978–79.
   SWAPO allies
  South African allies
   South West Africa (Namibia)
  South Africa

1975–2002: Angolan Civil War

Early U.S. involvement

By late 1975, Angola had achieved independence but had become the site of a territorial contest between MPLA (later supported by Cuban troops, with Soviet backing) and its domestic rivals, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and FNLA (later supported by South African troops). The U.S. publicly advocated a negotiated political solution to the conflict. [8] However, as observers suspected at the time, [2] [4] U.S. President Gerald Ford had already authorised government support to UNITA and FNLA, beginning with the 40 Committee's decision in January 1975 to reinforce aid to FNLA, though to still-modest levels. [9] In July 1975, reportedly at the urging of U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, [9] Ford approved the covert Operation IA Feature, which was run by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and coordinated closely (or "colluded", as critics claimed [5] ) with South African and Zairean efforts in Angola. [10] The operation provided for $32 million in financial support to UNITA and FNLA; $16 million in military equipment, to be supplied to the groups through Zaire; and the recruitment of mercenaries, and some CIA experts, to advise the groups' military commands. [9] South African officials and CIA officer John Stockwell also claimed that the US had known in advance of, and had cooperated with, South Africa's planned invasion of Angola in October 1975. [1] [3]

Academic John A. Marcum called the Angolan proxy intervention "the post-Vietnam testing ground of American will and power" in the face of mounting Soviet expansionism. [5] When the operation was exposed publicly, the U.S. Congress passed the Clark Amendment to the Arms Export Control Act, blocking further U.S. support to military or paramilitary groups in Angola. [11] [12] However, Stockwell alleges that, the following week, Kissinger, via U.S. diplomats in Kinshasha, assured UNITA that the U.S. would "continue to support UNITA as long as it demonstrated the capacity for effective resistance to the MPLA". [3]

Non-recognition of MPLA government

Violent conflict in Angola subsided in early 1976, as MPLA consolidated its control over the country. The U.S., however – though it permitted Gulf Oil to resume its Angolan operations (responsible for about 65 per cent of the Angolan government's foreign exchange) [13] – became the single Western power to refuse to recognise the new, socialist, MPLA-ruled People's Republic of Angola. [4] It vetoed Angola's application for United Nations (UN) membership in June 1976, on the basis of the continued Cuban presence in the country. [4] Although the bid to block Angola's entry to the UN failed, successive U.S. administrations succeeded, until September 1990, in blocking its membership of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. [14]

Jimmy Carter was highly critical of the Ford administration's Angolan policy during his presidential campaign, and members of his administration – especially UN Ambassador Andrew Young – publicly supported taking a less hostile posture towards MPLA. However, by 1977, reportedly under the influence of his National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter too had announced that a Cuban drawdown in Angola was a prerequisite for any diplomatic relations between Washington, D.C., and Luanda. [3] [15] Over the next two years, Angolan-backed insurgents invaded Zaire twice, precipitating conflicts known as Shaba I and Shaba II, and, on the latter occasion, provoking U.S. involvement in the Zairean military response.

Reagan Doctrine and constructive engagement

UNITA rebel Jonas Savimbi meets U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the White House, January 1986. Ronald Reagan and Jonas Savimbi.jpg
UNITA rebel Jonas Savimbi meets U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the White House, January 1986.

In the 1980s, UNITA – by then the dominant anti-government force in the ongoing Angolan Civil War – became a beneficiary of the so-called Reagan Doctrine, under which U.S. President Ronald Reagan extended American support to insurgents fighting Soviet proxies or allies worldwide. In 1981, the year of his election, Reagan announced his support for UNITA, urged Congress to repeal the Clark Amendment, and established high-level political contact with UNITA. [16] In February 1986, the Reagan administration informed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that, though it remained committed to a diplomatic solution of the ongoing Angolan Civil War, it planned to prevent a MPLA military victory by providing covert military aid to UNITA, beginning with $15 million in military assistance, primarily accounted for by Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. [16] The announcement followed a meeting at the White House the previous month between Reagan and UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi; and it was enabled by the repeal of the Clark Amendment in 1985. [8] Supporters of the U.S. alliance with UNITA linked it to objectives ranging from outright Angolan regime change to the mere provision of a bargaining chip with which to induce the MPLA-led government to negotiate with UNITA. [16] Though the MPLA government had begun to demonstrate an increased willingness to improve relations with the U.S., [16] it said the announcement of U.S. support for UNITA amounted to a declaration of war. [8]

Especially in the first half of the 1980s, another cornerstone of Reagan's foreign policy was constructive engagement, which prescribed a conciliatory posture towards the apartheid regime in South Africa. One of the objectives of constructive engagement was to obtain leverage which could be used to resolve Southern Africa's complex of interlocking conflicts – not only the Angolan Civil War, but also the South African Border War and the ongoing South African occupation of Namibia (South West Africa). The architect of constructive engagement, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker, advocated a principle of "linkage", by which South African withdrawal from Namibia was linked to – that is, made conditional on – Cuban withdrawal from Angola. [17] [18] [19] The Angolan government objected strenuously to this approach, and the announcement of the UNITA aid programme stalled negotiations between 1986 and 1987. [20] However, negotiations resumed, with the U.S. playing a central role, and ultimately resulted in Angola's signature of the Brazzaville Protocol and Tripartite Accord in December 1988. [8] [21]

Continued tensions

Savimbi meets U.S. President George H.W. Bush, October 1990. Bush Contact Sheet P16285 (cropped).jpg
Savimbi meets U.S. President George H.W. Bush, October 1990.

Although the 1988 accords were welcomed as "open[ing] a new phase of American diplomacy", [22] the U.S. failed to capitalise on improved conditions for a thaw in its relations with Angola, partly because of the continued influence of pro-UNITA individuals and groups in Washington. [23] In January 1989, the outgoing Reagan administration proposed to send U.S. diplomats to Luanda, officially to monitor the implementation of the 1988 accords but also to provide a direct channel of communication between the American and Angolan governments. However, the U.S. was unwilling to accommodate an Angolan liaison in Washington, suggesting instead that the Angolans operate through their New York mission to the UN. Unable to secure a reciprocal offer, Angola rejected the proposal. [20] [23] An anti-American faction within MPLA argued that the U.S. was "moving the goalposts", failing to follow through on Reagan's implicit promise that a negotiated settlement – and the impending Cuban withdrawal from Angola – would be rewarded by improved relations. [20]

The plausibility of this view was further strengthened by subsequent U.S. policy moves. First, also in January 1989, U.S. President-Elect George H.W. Bush wrote to Savimbi, promising UNITA "all appropriate and effective assistance" from his administration. [24] Second, Bush's appointee as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Herman J. Cohen, expressed "a vigorously pro-UNITA position" during his confirmation hearings. [20] And, third, it transpired that the American budget for aid to UNITA had increased from an estimated $30–45 million in 1988 to $50–60 million in 1989. [23] By 1990, it amounted to up to $90 million; [14] in total, it is estimated that the U.S. provided UNITA with $250 million in weapons assistance between 1986 and 1992. [13] Given that South Africa's disengagement was a condition of the 1988 accords, this made the U.S. UNITA's primary external patron. [20] Although American support for UNITA was weakened somewhat by the fall of the Berlin Wall, and by revelations about atrocities committed by Savimbi, a campaign to step away from the relationship failed to muster sufficient votes in Congress. [23]

Bush's administration avoided a high-profile role in the ongoing intra-Angolan peace process, preferring instead to support a mediation led by Mobutu in Gbadolite. [20] The mediation failed and, amid a resurgence of the Angolan civil war, Angolan President José Eduardo Dos Santos cancelled a planned trip to Washington in February 1990, which the Bush administration did not want to occur until a ceasefire had been attained in Angola. [20] However, the U.S. remained supportive of peace efforts, including those which led to the 1991 Bicesse Accords. When, in September 1992, Savimbi refused to accept the results of Angola's first multi-party elections and launched an offensive against MPLA forces, the Bush administration said that both parties were responsible for the resulting violence, and supported a new round of negotiations to assuage UNITA's "security concerns". [13]

1993–present: Formal diplomatic relations

Presidents George W. Bush and Jose Eduardo dos Santos meet in the Oval Office, May 2004. Dos Santos et Bush.jpg
Presidents George W. Bush and José Eduardo dos Santos meet in the Oval Office, May 2004.

Détente and economic diplomacy

Under President Bill Clinton – whose inauguration was attended by an MPLA representative [25] – the U.S. appeared increasingly impatient with UNITA's intransigence, while MPLA increasingly sought Western partners. On 19 May 1993, the U.S. extended formal diplomatic recognition to the MPLA-led government of Angola, a move viewed as calculated to pressure Savimbi into cooperation with ongoing peace talks. [13] [26] Clinton's administration subsequently expressed support for UN sanctions against UNITA, and publicly disavowed any prospect of Angolan regime change by UNITA-led coup. [13] Following the Lusaka Protocol of 1994, Clinton secured congressional support for a UN peacekeeping mission in Angola, arguing that it "represented the last piece in a regional settlement in which the United States had significant economic and diplomatic investment". [13] Between 1995 and 1997, the U.S. funded 30 per cent of the mission's expenditures, amounting to about $100 million in aid. [13] In December 1995, Clinton received Angolan President Dos Santos at the White House, where they discussed bilateral economic relations and Angola's ongoing national reconciliation. On the latter point, a Clinton aide said that "the president put the screws to him [Dos Santos] and we got what we wanted". [27]

UNITA, meanwhile, did not comply with U.S. urging to demobilise, and, into Clinton's second term, the civil war continued in parts of Angola. However, in 1998, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs said, while visiting Angola, that the U.S. government "believes it is time to move our economic relations forward with Angola despite the current political-military problems in Angola". [13] Initiatives included a state-endorsed trade mission to Angola in 1997, the formation of a Bilateral Consultative Commission in 1998, and a $350 million Export-Import Bank loan to U.S. oil equipment exporters in Angola. [13] By the late 1990s, Angola was the U.S.'s third-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa: the U.S. was consistently among its top three import markets and its primary export market. This trade relationship was centred on Angola's large oil industry: the U.S. received 90 per cent of Angolan oil exports, accounting in turn for seven per cent of U.S. oil imports. [13] By 1999, Angola was the second-largest destination for American investment in sub-Saharan Africa, also concentrated in the oil sector. [13]

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Angolan President Joao Lourenco in Luanda, February 2020 Secretary Pompeo Meets with Angolan President Lourenco (49557071277).jpg
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Angolan President João Lourenço in Luanda, February 2020

Post-civil war relations

Angola held a temporary seat on the UN Security Council in 2003, and the U.S. and other Western countries reportedly lobbied the Angolan government heavily for its support for a draft resolution which would authorise the use of force against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. [28] [29] [30]

In 2009, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama declared Angola one of the U.S.'s three key strategic partners in Africa, along with Nigeria and South Africa. [31] Both Obama and his successor, Donald Trump, advanced the bilateral security partnership – including through a 2010 U.S.–Angola Strategic Partnership Dialogue and a 2017 Memorandum of Understanding – with a particular focus on security in the Gulf of Guinea. [31] However, the U.S. and China have sometimes been viewed as competing for influence in Angola. [32]

Economic relations

The countries signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in 2009, and Angola is eligible for preferential trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. In 2019, total bilateral trade was worth $1.5 billion, with a $420 million trade imbalance in Angola's favour. [33] Angolan oil exports to the U.S. have declined since 2008 and accounted for less than 0.5% of total U.S. oil imports in 2021; [34] but Angola remained the U.S.'s third-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. [35] Moreover, American oil companies, including Chevron and ExxonMobil, maintain major operations in Angolan oil fields. The oil sector has also fostered cultural links between the countries, including sister city partnerships (between Lafayette, Louisiana and Cabinda; and between Houston, Texas and Luanda) and corporate programmes which educate Angolan oil professionals in U.S. universities. [36]

The U.S. delivers Coronavirus vaccines to Angola as part of the COVAX program in 2021. The United States Delivers COVID-19 Vaccine Doses to Angola (51527379421).jpg
The U.S. delivers Coronavirus vaccines to Angola as part of the COVAX program in 2021.

As of 2022, the U.S. was Angola's primary source of official development assistance, just ahead of the European Union. U.S. aid disbursements to Angola amounted to $35.4 million in 2020, representing a substantial decrease from $64.4 million in 2001, and were concentrated in the health sector. [37] During the Covid-19 pandemic, some of this assistance was provided under the COVAX programme; the U.S. government was the largest donor of Covid-19 vaccines to Angola. [38] The Angolan military has also been a beneficiary of the U.S. International Military Education and Training programme. [35]

Diplomatic relations

The U.S. Embassy to Angola is located in Miramar, Luanda. It was established in July 1994 under Ambassador Edmund DeJarnette, and replaced a liaison office that had operated in Luanda since January 1992. [39] The Angolan Embassy to the U.S. is located on 16th Street Northwest in Washington, D.C.; it also operates consulates-general in New York City and, since 2001, in the petroleum hub of Houston. [40] [41] António Franca was the first Angolan ambassador to the U.S.

Both countries are members of the UN, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization; and Angola is an observer to the Organization of American States. [35]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Angola</span> Aspect of history


Angola was first settled by San hunter-gatherer societies before the northern domains came under the rule of Bantu states such as Kongo and Ndongo. In the 15th century, Portuguese colonists began trading, and a settlement was established at Luanda during the 16th century. Portugal annexed territories in the region which were ruled as a colony from 1655, and Angola was incorporated as an overseas province of Portugal in 1951. After the Angolan War of Independence, which ended in 1974 with an army mutiny and leftist coup in Lisbon, Angola achieved independence in 1975 through the Alvor Agreement. After independence, Angola entered a long period of civil war that lasted until 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reagan Doctrine</span> Doctrine proposed by the Reagan administration

The Reagan Doctrine was stated by United States President Ronald Reagan in his State of the Union address on February 6, 1985: "We must not break faith with those who are risking their lives—on every continent from Afghanistan to Nicaragua—to defy Soviet-supported aggression and secure rights which have been ours from birth." It was a strategy implemented by the Reagan Administration to overwhelm the global influence of the Soviet Union in the late Cold War. The doctrine was a centerpiece of United States foreign policy from the early 1980s until the end of the Cold War in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UNITA</span> Angolan political party

The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the Angolan War for Independence (1961–1975) and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war (1975–2002). The war was one of the most prominent Cold War proxy wars, with UNITA receiving military aid initially from the People's Republic of China from 1966 until October 1975 and later from the United States and apartheid South Africa while the MPLA received support from the Soviet Union and its allies, especially Cuba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonas Savimbi</span> Angolan politician and rebel leader (1934–2002)

Jonas Malheiro Savimbi was an Angolan revolutionary, politician, and rebel military leader who founded and led the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). UNITA waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule from 1966 to 1974, then confronted the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) during the Angolan Civil War. Savimbi was killed in a clash with government troops in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MPLA</span> Political party in Angola

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party, is an Angolan social democratic political party. The MPLA fought against the Portuguese Army in the Angolan War of Independence from 1961 to 1974, and defeated the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) in the Angolan Civil War. The party has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975, being the de facto government throughout the civil war and continuing to rule afterwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Eduardo dos Santos</span> President of Angola from 1979 to 2017

José Eduardo dos Santos was the president of Angola from 1979 to 2017. As president, dos Santos was also the commander-in-chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and president of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the party that has ruled Angola since it won independence in 1975. By the time he stepped down in 2017, he was the second-longest-serving president in Africa, surpassed only by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Liberation Front of Angola</span> Political party in Angola

The National Front for the Liberation of Angola is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence, under the leadership of Holden Roberto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holden Roberto</span> Angolan politician

Álvaro Holden Roberto was an Angolan politician who founded and led the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) from 1962 to 1999. His memoirs are unfinished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angolan Civil War</span> Armed conflict in Angola between 1975 and 2002

The Angolan Civil War was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements, the communist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the anti-communist National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of Angola</span> National Constitution of the Republic of Angola

Since its independence from Portugal in 1975, Angola has had three constitutions. The first came into force in 1975 as an "interim" measure; the second was approved in a 1992 referendum, and the third one was instituted in 2010.

The 1970s in Angola, a time of political and military turbulence, saw the end of Angola's War of Independence (1961–1975) and the outbreak of civil war (1975–2002). Agostinho Neto, the leader of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), declared the independence of the People's Republic of Angola on November 11, 1975, in accordance with the Alvor Accords. UNITA and the FNLA also declared Angolan independence as the Social Democratic Republic of Angola based in Huambo and the Democratic Republic of Angola based in Ambriz. FLEC, armed and backed by the French government, declared the independence of the Republic of Cabinda from Paris. The National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) forged an alliance on November 23, proclaiming their own coalition government based in Huambo with Holden Roberto and Jonas Savimbi as co-presidents and José Ndelé and Johnny Pinnock Eduardo as co-Prime Ministers.

In the 1980s in Angola, fighting spread outward from the southeast, where most of the fighting had taken place in the 1970s, as the African National Congress (ANC) and SWAPO increased their activity. The South African government responded by sending troops back into Angola, intervening in the war from 1981 to 1987, prompting the Soviet Union to deliver massive amounts of military aid from 1981 to 1986. The USSR gave the Angolan government over US$2 billion in aid in 1984. In 1981, newly elected United States President Ronald Reagan's U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Chester Crocker, developed a linkage policy, tying Namibian independence to Cuban withdrawal and peace in Angola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola–South Africa relations</span> Bilateral relations

Relations between Angola and South Africa in the post-apartheid era are quite strong as the ruling parties in both states, the African National Congress in South Africa and the MPLA in Angola, fought together during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War. They fought against UNITA rebels, based in Angola, and the apartheid-era government in South Africa which supported them. Nelson Mandela mediated between the MPLA and UNITA during the final years of the Angolan Civil War. Although South Africa was preponderant in terms of relative capabilities during the late twentieth century, the recent growth of Angola has led to a more balanced relation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola–China relations</span> Bilateral relations

Relations between Angola and China predate the former's independence. Today, they are based on an emerging trade relationship. As of 2021, Angola was China's third-largest trading partner in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cuban intervention in Angola</span> Cuban operation in southwestern Africa

The Cuban intervention in Angola began on 5 November 1975, when Cuba sent combat troops in support of the communist-aligned People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) against the pro-western National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). The intervention came after the outbreak of the Angolan Civil War, which occurred after the former Portuguese colony was granted independence after the Angolan War of Independence. The civil war quickly became a proxy war between the Eastern Bloc led by the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc led by the United States. South Africa and the United States backed UNITA and the FNLA, while communist nations backed the MPLA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola–Cuba relations</span> Bilateral relations

During Angola's civil war, Cuban forces fought alongside the Marxist–Leninist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government; against the Western-backed National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) guerrillas who were aided by the South-African army. The present day outcome of the war resulted in the MPLA changing from a Marxist–Leninist party to a multi-party democratic system based on neoliberal principles. From an economic standpoint, Cuba has lost its preferred status among Angolans and South Africa has become the biggest single investor and trading partner with Angola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angola–Soviet Union relations</span> Bilateral relations

Soviet–Angolan relations were close until the Angolan government renounced Marxist-Leninism in 1990 and adopted a pro-Western foreign policy. The close, personal relationship between President Agostinho Neto and Cuban leader Fidel Castro complicated the Soviet Union's involvement in the Angolan Civil War and foiled several assassination attempts against Neto.

In the 1990s in Angola, the last decade of the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002), the Angolan government transitioned from a nominally communist state to a nominally democratic one, a move made possible by political changes abroad and military victories at home. Namibia's declaration of independence, internationally recognized on April 1, eliminated the southwestern front of combat as South African forces withdrew to the east. The MPLA abolished the one-party system in June and rejected Marxist-Leninism at the MPLA's third Congress in December, formally changing the party's name from the MPLA-PT to the MPLA. The National Assembly passed law 12/91 in May 1991, coinciding with the withdrawal of the last Cuban troops, defining Angola as a "democratic state based on the rule of law" with a multi-party system.

This article deals with the activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Angola. The list of activities may be incomplete due to the clandestine nature of the subject matter.

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Further reading