NOVEMBER 11, 1975

Angola’s independence was hastened, to a large extent, by the military and political events that took place a year earlier in Portugal, during the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, which overthrew the dictatorial regime of the Estado Novo, in force since 1933, and began a process that would end with the establishment of a constitutional democratic regime, with broad political opening in the then metropole and the then colonies.^[1][2]

At about 12 noon on 10 November 1975, the Portuguese High Commissioner, Admiral Leonel Cardoso, held a solemn ceremony in the main hall of the Governor’s Palace, where he declared the end of Portuguese administration and “handed sovereignty over to the Angolan People”.^[3] The transfer of sovereignty had no named recipient, a fact that even gave room for the continuation of the Angolan Civil War, which was already under way.^[3] The High Commissioner and the members of his cabinet left the Palace for the Fortress of São Miguel in Luanda, where the “last Portuguese flag on Angolan soil” was lowered.^[3] The High Commissioner, his cabinet and the Military Command went to the Luanda Naval Base, where they boarded the ships “Niassa” and “Uíje”, marking the definitive end of Portuguese colonization.^[3]

At the time of the proclamation of independence, control of Angola was divided among the three largest nationalist groups — the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA) and the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) — so independence was proclaimed unilaterally by all three movements.^[4]