Constitution of Angola to remain president until 2022. Angola was a colony of Portugal for more than 400 years from the 15th century. Demands for independence picked up momentum during the early 1950s. The principal protagonists included the MPLA, founded in 1956, the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), which appeared in 1961, and the UNITA, founded in 1966. After many years of conflict that weakened all of the insurgent parties, Angola gained independence on 11 November 1975, after the Carnation Revolution in Portugal overthrew the Portuguese regime headed by Marcelo Caetano. A fight for dominance broke out immediately between the
Cuban intervention in Angola first country to send troops to Angola in March 1975 and to engage in fighting against the MPLA by the summer of that year. In the summer of 1974 China was first to act after the Portuguese Revolution and posted 200 military instructors to Zaire where they trained FNLA troops and supplied military assistance. Chinese involvement was a measure against Soviet influence rather than that from western countries. On 27 October 1975, they were also the first to withdraw their military instructors. UNITA, which split away from FNLA in 1965/66 was initially Maoist and received some support from China. North