How accurate do you think it is to describe Angola as 'a victim of the Cold War' during the years 1975 to 2002?

Angola was indeed one of the biggest victims of cold war. After the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975, three liberation movements began to fight against each other.

• The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola- This was a Marxist style party which tried to appeal across tribal divisions to all Angolans.
• National Union for the Total Independence of Angola- This was the second competing party deriving much of its support from the Ovimbundu tribe in the south of Angola.
• National Front for the Liberation of Angola- This is another party which drew support from the Bakongo tribve in the north-west.

This led to a problem as the political stance of MPLA drew the attention of USA which feared any spread of communism across the world. So, USA interfered in the civil war and started backing FNLA and pushed it to launch an attack against the MPLA. This action was followed by UNITA also. Cuba also sent troops for supporting the MPLA while the South African troops were sent to support the other groups and was used as a means to invade Angola via Namibia. Troops were also sent by General Mobutu of Zaire to the north-east of Angola. Thus, what arose as a civil war in the country was aggravated to huge bloodshed. The starting point of this was the extension of the Cold War feelings to Angola, making the conflict worse.