Angola–Cuba relations that Angola's large oil reserves would serve well to make it a rich and strong backer of a Marxist expansion, Cuba focused on primarily supporting Angolan Marxist rebel movements over the liberation movements of other Portuguese colonies, thus beginning the special relationship between Cuba and Angola. Portugal set Angola's independence date for 11 November 1975. Three prominent liberation movements contended for the role of leading the newly formed independent country, namely: UNITA, FNLA and the MPLA. Each of the three movements received foreign assistance, UNITA from western countries, FNLA from China (and later from the West) and MPLA from the
Museum of the Armed Forces (Angola) Museum of the Armed Forces (Angola) The Museum of the Armed Forces (Portuguese: Museu das Forças Armadas) is located in Fortaleza de São Miguel de Luanda, in Luanda, Angola. Founded in 1975, following the independence of Angola, the museum includes bi-motor airplanes, combat vehicles, and diverse arms and artifacts used during the Angolan War of Independence (1961–1974), the South African Border War (1966-1991), and the Angolan Civil War (1975–2002). The museum also contains statuary which ornamented the avenues and plazas of colonial Luanda, which were removed after independence. These include the statue of Diogo Cão, the first European to set