MPLA
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| “ | Victory is certain! | „ |
| ~ The MPLA's motto. |
The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (Portuguese: Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola – Partido do Trabalho, MPLA), is a left-wing political party that has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975. The MPLA fought against the Portuguese army in the Angolan War of Independence from 1961 to 1974, and defeated the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), two other anti-colonial movements, in the Angolan Civil War of 1975–2002.
Background edit
History edit
The MPLA, founded in 1956, merged two nationalist organizations and was centred in the country’s capital city of Luanda. From 1962 it was led by Agostinho Neto, who eventually became Angola’s first president. It fought the Portuguese for the independence of Angola in cooperation, but often in conflict, with the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) lead by Jonas Savimbi. The MPLA declared the People’s Republic of Angola in November 1975, which was not recognized by all governments. The MPLA, supported by Cuba and the Soviet Union, and UNITA, supported by South Africa and the United States, continued to fight for control of the country; the FNLA pulled out of the struggle in the late 1970s.
At a national congress in 1977, the MPLA refashioned itself as a Marxist-Leninist party and added the words Party of Labour (PT) to its name. Neto died in Moscow in 1979 and was succeeded by José dos Santos, who gradually shifted the party from its Marxist-Leninist stance to one more conducive to establishing relations with Western countries.
The MPLA was the only legal party of Angola until multiparty elections were held in 1992. UNITA continued to battle Angolan government forces until early in 2002. An agreement to end the hostilities was signed in April 2002. The MPLA was victorious in the multiparty parliamentary elections held on September 5–6, 2008, the first since 1992, winning about 82 percent of the vote. Although there were some reports of fraud and intimidation, the elections were deemed valid by international observers. It continued to dominate in subsequent elections, albeit by diminishing margins, winning 72 percent in 2012 and 61 percent in 2017.
Human rights violations edit
The MPLA government of Angola has been accused of human rights violations such as arbitrary arrest and detention and torture by international organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. In response, the MPLA government hired Samuels International Associates Inc in 2008 to help improve Angola's global image.
Human rights observers have accused the MPLA of "genocidal atrocities," "systematic extermination," "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity during the civil war." Political scientist Rudolph Rummel estimated that the MPLA were responsible for between 100,000 and 200,000 deaths in democide from 1975 to 1987.
Since 1975, Freedom House has rated the country "Not Free" with the sole exception of 1991, when it was named "Partly Free".
A 2012 report by the U.S. Department of State said, "The three most important human rights abuses [in 2012] were official corruption and impunity; limits on the freedoms of assembly, association, speech, and press; and cruel and excessive punishment, including reported cases of torture and beatings as well as unlawful killings by police and other security personnel. Other human rights abuses included: harsh and potentially life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention; lengthy pretrial detention; impunity for human rights abusers; lack of judicial process and judicial inefficiency; infringements on citizens' privacy rights and forced evictions without compensation; restrictions on nongovernmental organizations; discrimination and violence against women; abuse of children; trafficking in persons; discrimination against persons with disabilities, indigenous people, and persons with HIV/AIDS; limits on workers' rights; and forced labor."