Alvor Agreement

Alvor Agreement
TypeGrant of independence
Drafted25 April 1974 – 14 January 1975
Signed15 January 1975
LocationAlvor, Portugal
Effective11 November 1975
Parties
LanguagePortuguese

The Alvor Agreement, signed on 15 January 1975 in Alvor, Portugal, granted Angola independence from Portugal on 11 November and formally ended the 13-year-long Angolan War of Independence.

The agreement was signed by the Portuguese government, the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA), National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and it established a transitional government composed of representatives of those four parties. It was not signed by the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) or the Eastern Revolt as the other parties excluded them from negotiations. The transitional government soon fell apart, with each of the nationalist factions, distrustful of the others and unwilling to share power, attempting to take control of the country by force. This initiated the Angolan Civil War.[1][2] The name of the agreement comes from the village of Alvor, in the southern Portuguese region of Algarve, where it was signed.

  1. ^ Rothchild, Donald S. (1997). Managing Ethnic Conflict in Africa: Pressures and Incentives for Cooperation. Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 1997. p. 116. ISBN 978-0815775935.
  2. ^ Tvedten, Inge (1997). Angola: Struggle for Peace and Reconstruction. London. pp. 3. ISBN 9780813333359.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)