Fractionism

Fractionism (Angolan Portuguese: fraccionismo), also called Nito's Group or Nitism (Angolan Portuguese: nitismo), and self-called MPLA Action Committee — FAPLA-People Unit, was an Angolan political movement with an orthodox communist nature, led by Nito Alves, former leader of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).

Fractionism was a movement of dissent from the MPLA, organized after Angola's independence, in opposition to President Agostinho Neto. He launched an attempted coup d'état in Luanda on May 27, 1977. The movement failed due to poor planning of the actions to take power, the lack of a clear objective in front of the popular masses and the military support to the State apparatus provided by the troops of the Cuban Armed Forces, who had been carrying out Operation Carlota in Angolan territory since 1975.

Despite the failure of the Factionist movement, the attempted coup d'état of May 27, 1977 promoted profound structural changes in the MPLA party and the Angolan State, such as the official adoption, by both, of the Marxist-Leninist ideology until 1990.