Angola–Cuba Declaration of 1984 on 11 November 1975, with Agostinho Neto becoming the first president, though the civil war continued. José Eduardo Dos Santos became the first elected President of Angola from the MPLA-LT and continued to get the support of Cuba. Angola was a colony of Portugal for more than 400 years from the 15th century. The demand for independence in Angola picked up momentum during the early 1950s. The Portuguese régime, refused to accede to the demands for independence, provoking an armed conflict that started in 1961 when freedom fighters attacked both white and black civilians in cross-border operations in northeastern Angola,
Angola–Vietnam relations Angola–Vietnam relations Angola–Vietnam relations were established in August 1971, four years before Angola gained its independence, when future President of Angola Agostinho Neto visited Vietnam. Angola and Vietnam have steadfast partners as both transitioned from Cold War-era foreign policies of international communism to pro-Western pragmatism following the fall of the Soviet Union. In February 1974, the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLFSV) commended the 1961 attack on Cassanje, the first battle of Angola’s war of independence. In January 1975, Nguyễn Hữu Thọ, the leader of NLFSV, gave his "warmest greetings" to the leaders of the (People's Movement for the