The EPL was one of the principal groups that pushed for a peace accord with the Colombian government in the early 1980s.  With the signing of the peace accord in 1984, the EPL attempted to join mainstream Colombian politics.  Their efforts were blocked, however, by the newly formed right-wing paramilitary groups, such as the ACCU.  In an effort to derail the efforts to grant the politicization of the EPL, the right-wing paramilitary groups attacked political representatives of the EPL.  The peace accord soon unraveled as other leftist groups, the paramilitaries, and the Colombian Army continued their attacks on one another.                                                                                                                        <p>Following the failure of the peace accord, the EPL attempted to rejoin the violent fray involving the guerillas and Colombian security forces, but this attempt proved futile.  The EPL essentially disbanded in 1991, when it signed a truce with the Colombian government, although a breakaway faction operating under the same name refused to accept the truce.  This breakaway faction continues to operate today, despite the arrest of its co-founder and principal leader, Francisco Caraballo, in 1994.

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola

National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA) -- Rival
UNITA -- Rival

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Party of Labor

The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) is the ruling political party in Angola.  It was founded in 1956 by a student movement led by Agostino Neto.  MPLA was one of three major independence movements to arise in response to Portuguese rule.  Initially influenced by Marxism, MPLA enlisted the aid of the Cuban government and used Cuban military assistance to take over the capital city of Luanda in 1975.  In 1983 MPLA became the MPLA-PT (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Party of Labor). <p><br /><br />In November 1975, Agostino Neto became the first president of Angola.  Over the next fourteen years, MPLA fought a protracted civil war with the other two independence movements that vied for power during the days of Portuguese rule-the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) and the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA).  1989 peace talks helped bring about elections in 1992 which MPLA-PT won.  Another period of fighting emerged which came to an end with the death of UNTIA's leader, Jonas Savimbi, in 2002.<br /><p><br />MPLA has traditionally used conventional weapons and military means against its rivals UNITA and FNLA.  On one occasion the group kidnapped two Americans, teacher Patricia Thornton and cattle rancher Jose Diaz.  However, MPLA has not shown a pattern of terrorist action throughout its history.<br />