Nito Alves | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Interior Minister of Angola | |
| In office 11 November 1975 – 29 October 1976 | |
| President | Agostinho Neto |
| Prime Minister | Lopo do Nascimento |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished (1976–1978) Alexandre Kito (1978–1979) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alves Bernardo Baptista 23 July 1945 Piri, Dembos, Portuguese Angola |
| Died | 14 July 1977 (aged 31) Luanda, Angola |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Political party |  MPLA |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Angola |
| Branch/service | People's Army for the Liberation of Angola |
| Years of service | 1966–1977 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Commands | First Region |
| Battles/wars | Angolan War of Independence 1977 Angolan coup attempt |
Nito Alves (1945–1977) was an Angolan revolutionary and politician who served as the first interior minister of Angola. A hardline member of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Alves is best known for his failed 1977 coup attempt against the government of Agostinho Neto.
During the Angolan War of Independence, Alves fought for the MPLA as a guerrilla in the forests of Dembos, rising through the ranks to become regional commander in the country's north. He developed a reputation as an intransigent Marxist-Leninist, gaining the support of Neto and the MPLA leadership after he vocally denounced Daniel Chipenda's' Eastern Revolt.
With the independence of Angola in 1975, Alves was appointed to head the Ministry of Interior. He used the position to place his loyal followers - known as Nitistas - into positions of power in the new state. But the Nitistas ended up causing a supply chain crisis after stockpiling food, prompting the government to dissolve Alves' ministry. Alves supported fractionism, opposing Neto's foreign policy of nonalignment, evolutionary socialism, and multiracialism.
In May 1977, the MPLA expelled him from the party. He and his supporters broke into a prison, freeing other supporters, and took control of the radio station in Luanda in an attempted coup. Forces loyal to Neto took back the radio and arrested those involved in the coup attempt, with Cuban soldiers actively helping Neto put down the coup. After the failed coup the MPLA undertook a purge designed to eliminate factionalism, during which Alves and several of his supporters were killed.