Associação de Escuteiros de Angola the Southern Zone of the Africa Region. Although Scouting is growing, the country is plagued by years of civil war and political unrest, and this is hindering development, especially in rural areas. Angolan Scouting was widespread in the colonial years, working closely with Portugal's Catholic Corpo Nacional de Escutas. When Angola gained its independence in 1975 and came under Marxist rule, Scouting was banned by that government. Scouting was officially started again in February 1991. In 1994, the interreligious "Associação Nacional de Escuteiros" and the Catholic "Associação de Escuteiros Católicos de Angola" merged forming the AEA. Today, Scouting includes an
Cuban intervention in Angola Cuban intervention in Angola In November 1975, on the eve of Angola's independence, Cuba launched a large-scale military intervention in support of the leftist People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) against United States-backed interventions by South Africa and Zaire in support of two right-wing independence movements competing for power in the country, the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). By the end of 1975 the Cuban military in Angola numbered more than 25,000 troops. Following the withdrawal of Zaire and South Africa, Cuban forces remained in Angola