[1][2] The government of the Soviet Union, well aware of the SADFs activity in southern Angola, one week before November 11, 1975, the date on which Angolan nationalists had agreed to declare independence.

In contrast, Cuba was ready to help, as explained by Fidel Castro: "When the invasion of Angola by regular SADF troops started 23 October, we could not sit idle.

[4] The Russians had to go along as under no circumstances did they want to endanger relations with their most important outpost in close proximity to the US, but tried to keep a lid on the extent of the Cuban giant military presence in Angola.

This troop force worked in conjunction with the Zairian army and the FNLA[7] of Angola with air cover from Egyptian pilots flying French Mirage fighter aircraft to beat back the FNLC.

[16] The government arrested tens of thousands of suspected Nitistas from May to November and tried them in secret courts overseen by Defense Minister Iko Carreira.

Those who were found guilty, including Van-Dunem, Jacobo "Immortal Monster" Caetano, the head of the 8th Brigade, and political commissar Eduardo Evaristo, were then shot and buried in secret graves.

Alves had opposed Neto's foreign policy of non-alignment, evolutionary socialism, and multiracialism, favoring stronger relations with the Soviet Union, which he wanted to grant military bases in Angola.

Davis correctly predicted the Soviet Union would respond by increasing involvement in the Angolan conflict, leading to more violence and negative publicity for the United States.

Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and Premier Alexei Kosygin led a faction favoring less support for the MPLA and greater emphasis on preserving détente with the West.

Neto allies like Defense Minister Iko Carreira and MPLA General Secretary Lúcio Lara also irked the Soviet leadership through both for their policies and personalities.

With Alves out of the picture, the Soviet Union promoted Prime Minister Lopo do Nascimento, another "internationalist", against Neto, a "careerist", for the MPLA's leadership.

Paving the way for dos Santos, Neto increased the ethnic composition of the MPLA-PT's political bureau as he replaced the hardline old guard with new blood.

The South African government responded by sending troops back into Angola, intervening in the war from 1981 to 1987,[27] prompting the Soviet Union to deliver massive amounts of military aid from 1981 to 1986.

[28][29] On June 2, 1985, American conservative activists held the Democratic International, a symbolic meeting of anti-communist militants, at UNITA's headquarters in Jamba, Angola.

American journalist Karl Maier wrote, "In the New Angola ideology is being replaced by the bottom line, as security and selling expertise in weaponry have become a very profitable business.