General Secretary of the MPLA during the Angolan War of Independence and Angolan Civil War. Lara, a founding member of the MPLA, led the first MPLA members into Luanda on November 8, 1974. He swore in Agostinho Neto as the first president of the country. Lara taught math and physics before he was elected Secretary for Organization and Cadres at the MPLA's first national conference in December 1962.