Russia and Angola signed a series of agreements today in areas ranging from aviation, to mining and the telecommunications sectors, which are expected to bolster ties between the former Cold War allies, according to Reuters. In one of the six agreements, signed between ministers of both governments in Luanda, Russia said it would help place in orbit Angola's first satellite, branded Angosat, to improve the southwestern African nation's telecommunications system. Angola marks the final stop of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's four-country trip to Africa, the first visit to the continent as Russian leader. Russia faces tough competition from the United States and China for resources in Africa. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and Cuba backed Angola's ruling MPLA party while the United States and apartheid-South Africa supported rebels from UNITA. Thousands of Soviet military advisers arrived in Angola during the early years of the country's 1975-2002 civil war and Angola's top military brass, including now President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, were trained in the Soviet Union. But when the Cold War ended, links between the two nations weakened. The MPLA dropped its Marxist ideologies and turned to capitalism as the country's oil production soared.
