Portugal and Angola: The Difficult Reunion. Political and Diplomatic Relations in the Post-Independence Period, 1976–1985

Between the mistrust inherited from decolonisation and the unavoidable need to rebuild bridges, Portugal and Angola experienced, between 1976 and 1985, one of the most sensitive decades in their shared history. In this book, Salomão Arão Chipeco traces, with documentary rigour and narrative clarity, the difficult course of political and diplomatic relations between Lisbon and Luanda: the recognition of the People’s Republic of Angola, the suspension and normalisation of diplomatic relations, the role of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic, the General Cooperation Agreement, the Portuguese–Angolan Joint Commission, and the advances, setbacks, and tensions generated by the Cold War, colonial memory, and the political and economic interests of both states.

In the preface, Luís Nuno Rodrigues emphasises the significance of this research, highlighting its solid archival foundations and the contribution it makes to understanding a still underexplored period in contemporary Portuguese–Angolan history. An essential work for anyone seeking to understand how, following the imperial rupture, Portugal and Angola began to build a viable relationship.