MPLA

Socialist organization founded in the early 1950s that sought to free Angola from Portuguese rule 1961–75 before being involved in the civil war against its former allies UNITA and FNLA 1975–76. The MPLA gained control of the country in 1976 and in 1977 renamed itself the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Workers' Party (MPLA-PT). It won the first multiparty elections in 1992, but UNITA disputed the result and guerrilla activity continued, escalating into full-scale civil war in 1993. A peace agreement was signed with UNITA in 1994.