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.