Political biography of Viriato da Cruz, poet and founder of the PCA (Angolan Communist Party) and first general secretary of the MPLA (Popular movement for the Liberation of Angola). Disillusioned with the different nationalist movements in Angola he emerged in Beijing at the Afro-Asian Writers' Meeting. After playing an important role at the beginning of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, denouncing the Soviets, he then fell into disgrace with Mao Zedong's regime due to his opinion that a Chinese-style revolution in Africa was not feasible.