Angola–Cuba Declaration of 1984 which was called the Colonial War. The principal protagonists included the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), founded in 1956, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), which appeared in 1961, and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), founded in 1966. After many years of conflict that weakened all of the insurgent parties, Angola gained its independence on 11 November 1975, after the 1974 coup d'état in Lisbon, Portugal, which overthrew the Portuguese régime headed by Marcelo Caetano. Portugal's new revolutionary leaders began in 1974 a process of political change at home
Angola–Namibia relations the fighting in Namibia would eventually drive at least 43,000 Namibian refugees into exile in Angola, many of whom joined PLAN. Following Angolan independence in 1975, SWAPO established a formal alliance with Angola's new ruling party, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). After being expelled from Zambia between 1976 and 1979, PLAN was permitted by the MPLA to establish its regional headquarters inside Angola. Access to bases inside Angola provided PLAN with opportunities to train its forces in secure sanctuaries and infiltrate insurgents and supplies across Namibia's northern border. The MPLA government also permitted shipments of arms