Corruption in Angola they really are. Angola's colonial era ended with the Angolan War of Independence against Portugal occurred between 1970 and 1975. Independence did not produce a unified Angola, however; the country plunged into years of civil war between the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the governing Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). 30 years of war would produce historical legacies that combine to allow for the persistence of a highly corrupt government system. The Angolan civil war was fought between the pro-western UNITA and the communist MPLA and had the characteristics typical of a
Cuban intervention in Angola fighting was taken up throughout the whole country. The independence movements attempted to seize key strategic points, most importantly the capital on the day of independence. In a meeting of the United States National Security Council (NSC) on 27 June 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford said that, in spite of planned elections, it was important to get "his man" in first, referring to then UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi being in control of Luanda before the elections. Arthur Schlesinger pointed out at the same meeting that the U.S. "might wish to encourage the disintegration of Angola. Cabinda in the clutches of