Human rights in Angola inefficiency; infringements on citizens' privacy rights and forced evictions without compensation; restrictions on nongovernmental organizations; discrimination and violence against women; abuse of children; trafficking in persons; discrimination against persons with disabilities, indigenous people, and persons with HIV/AIDS; limits on workers' rights; and forced labor." A longtime Portuguese colony, Angola waged a war of independence that lasted from 1961 to 1975. Angola received its independence from Portugal in 1975, whereupon it immediately plunged into a brutal, bloody, and destructive civil war between the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), which was supported principally by the Soviet Union and
Angola–Cuba Declaration of 1984 declaration of independence. In response, Cuba intervened in favor of the MPLA, which became a flash point for the Cold War. With Cuban support, the MPLA held Luanda and declared independence on 11 November 1975, with Agostinho Neto becoming the first president, though the civil war continued. At this time, most of the half-million Portuguese who lived in Angola – and who had accounted for the majority of the skilled workers in public administration, agriculture, industries and trade – fled the country, leaving its once prosperous and growing economy in a state of bankruptcy. Cuban intervention in Angola is believed