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
Trade unions in Angola Trade unions in Angola Before 1975, while under Portuguese rule, Trade unions in Angola existed primarily as "occupational syndicates" - operating welfare services, but banned from collective bargaining and strike action. Independent African trade unions were illegal, however, some underground or exiled unions existed, and were involved in the struggle for Angolan independence. When the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) came to power in 1975 the National Union of Angolan Workers (UNTA) became the sole national trade union centre. There is now an independent trade union centre as well, the General Centre of Independent and Free Unions of