The 1940s in Angola saw the emergence of the first separatist agitation in the province of Cabinda. By the 1950s Angolan Communists actively campaigned against the Salazar government's control over Angola. Cabindans rallied for independence from Portugal in 1946. The Portuguese colonial authorities responded by deporting separatists to Baía dos Tigres where they held and tortured them. Viriato da Cruz and others formed the Movement of Young Intellectuals, an organization that promoted Angolan culture, in 1948. Nationalists sent a letter to the United Nations calling for Angola to be given protectorate status under UN supervision.