Vidal, Nuno2026-02-272026-02-272023http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/21564Despite the so-called transition in Angola from a single-party Socialist regime to a multiparty liberal democracy in the 1990s, alongside several formal organizational, legal, and institutional changes, this article argues that the Angolan security/intelligence services have been able to maintain their primary purpose since their creation in 1975 up to the present day – to support and protect the hegemony of the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) party, its elites and, above all, its President. The article outlines the evolution of the Angolan security/intelligence services in terms of their long-term continuity, exposing how changes in Angola’s political system in response to domestic and international challenges were circumvented by the security services without altering their main foundational objective, or making them more accountable to democratic civilian control.engAngolaState securityIntelligence servicesPoliticsHistoryjournal article10.1080/16161262.2023.2191068