The greatest victory of the Angolan people − Nov. 11, 1975

By Carlos Lopes Pereira
November 7, 2025

Angola’s independence, proclaimed on November 11, 1975, by the MPLA in Luanda, culminated centuries of resistance to foreign domination and exploitation and decades of struggle against colonialism and for national liberation and constituted a major victory for the Angolan people in their long history.

The birth of the People’s Republic of Angola opened the doors to a new era for the Angolan people, who took back control of their own destiny, and was a decisive contribution to the progressive changes that took place in Southern Africa in the last quarter of the 20th century.

In the early hours of Nov. 11, 1975, in Luanda, the capital, in Largo 1º de Maio, before thousands of patriots, through the voice of Agostinho Neto, leader of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the Central Committee of the movement solemnly proclaimed, on behalf of the Angolan people, “before Africa and the world,” the independence of Angola [from Portugal, the former colonial power]. Hours later, Neto, a doctor, poet and central figure of Angolan patriotism, was sworn in as president of the People’s Republic of Angola.

During those days, representatives from countries around the world participated in Angola’s independence ceremonies in Luanda. The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), the only Portuguese political party present, was represented by Sérgio Vilarigues, from the Secretariat and Political Commission of the Central Committee, and Francisco Miguel, from the Central Committee, who were warmly welcomed and participated in all the commemorative events.

Although the long-awaited independence had been hard-won after a long political and armed struggle for national liberation lasting 19 years, between 1956 and 1975 (the armed struggle for national liberation began in 1961), led by the MPLA, peace had not yet been achieved. The enemies and traitors of the Angolan people, armed by imperialism, embarked on the path of war, with the aim of crushing the young People’s Republic of Angola at birth.

Even before Independence Day, the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), puppet movements in the pay of Zaire [currently the Democratic Republic of Congo], South Africa and the United States of America, attempted to prevent the proclamation and force their way into Luanda, from where MPLA forces had previously expelled them. The MPLA was widely supported by the Angolan people.

In the south, military columns of the South African apartheid regime, including former PIDE [Portuguese political police] agents, Portuguese mercenaries and UNITA forces, formed one of the invading armies on their way to Luanda. In the north, Zairean troops armed by the U.S. and reinforced with CIA “advisers,” former Portuguese officers and other mercenaries sought to take the capital.

Their efforts were in vain: The People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), strengthened by Cuban internationalist fighters, achieved decisive military victories. As part of Operation Carlota, the first contingents from Cuba landed on Nov. 5 and went directly to the battlefronts. One victory was in Kifangondo, a few kilometers from Luanda, in Cabinda, and another in Ebo. These victories halted and defeated the invaders and thus enabled the proclamation of independence on Nov. 11, 1975.

In the “second war of liberation” of Angola, which lasted 27 years (1975-2002), the FAPLA, and until 1991, the Cuban internationalist combatants fought South African invaders and puppet movements (UNITA and FNLA) throughout the country. Their actions guaranteed the independence, national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, from Cabinda to Cunene.

Victory in Cuito Cuanavale, 1988

In this context, the most significant event for the achievement of peace in Angola and the subsequent major political transformations that took place in Southern Africa was the battle of Cuito Cuanavale, fought between December 1987 and March 1988 in the province of Cuando-Cubango, in southeastern Angola. On one side were the invading South African troops and their local puppets, with the connivance of the U.S.

On the other, with the important and invaluable support of the Soviet Union and other progressive forces in Africa and around the world, were the FAPLA, Cuban internationalists and guerrilla fighters from SWAPO [(South West Africa People’s Organization], Namibia’s national liberation movement, and South Africa’s African National Congress.

After months of fighting, which included the use of aircraft, tanks and heavy artillery by both sides, the “invincible” army of apartheid South Africa was broken and defeated.

The historic Angolan-Cuban victory at Cuito Cuanavale marked a turning point in Southern Africa: it accelerated the march towards peace in Angola; it was decisive for SWAPO’s victory in its struggle against South African rule and for Namibia’s independence, achieved in 1990; and, above all, it contributed to the release of Nelson Mandela that year and to the dismantling of the South African apartheid regime, which collapsed with the democratic elections of 1994, won with a large majority by the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies in the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the COSATU trade union.

Victories for the people, defeats for imperialism

In the last quarter of the 20th century, profound progressive political transformations took place in Southern Africa, resulting from the victories achieved by the peoples who freed themselves from the yoke of colonialism or from the oppression and exploitation of racist regimes.

The independence of Mozambique and Angola, in July and November 1975 respectively, were fundamental to the overthrow of Ian Smith’s racist regime in Rhodesia and the independence of Zimbabwe (1980). Later, the victory of Angola and Cuba in the battle of Cuito Cuanavale in March 1988 made a decisive contribution to the independence of Namibia (1990) and the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa (1994).

Today, the national liberation movements that led the victorious emancipation struggles in Southern Africa remain in power, such as the MPLA in Angola; FRELIMO in Mozambique; ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe; SWAPO in Namibia; the ANC in South Africa; and Chama Cha Mapinduzi in Tanzania.

Before 1975, the imperialist powers — in particular the U.S. and Britain — never ceased to maintain political, economic and military ties with the racist regimes of South Africa and Rhodesia and with countries with colonies in the region, such as the fascist dictatorship in Portugal. Hence, despite the passing of decades, these imperialist powers have not given up on regaining the positions of dominance they lost 50 years ago in Southern Africa, continuing to exploit the peoples and plunder their wealth.

* Carlos Lopes Pereira, a former member of the Secretariat of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC), writes about African events for Avante!, the newspaper of the Portuguese Communist Party. This article was published Nov. 6, 2025, in Avante! Translation: John Catalinotto