Africa-Press – Angola. At least 3,997 national and international tourists have visited since January this year the Memorial to the Victory of the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, in Cuando Cubango province, an imposing infrastructure that reflects the bloody fighting between the Popular Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and the invading South African troops of the former racist apartheid regime.
The director of the Memorial, Lieutenant Colonel António Chilulu, informed that of the total of visitors 1,600 are international tourists of South African and Namibian nationalities, and many were involved in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, which took place between 15 November 1987 and 23 March 1988.
António Chilulu said that among the national tourists who visit the Memorial, which opened in 2017, stand out those from the Central, South and North regions of the country, namely the provinces of Bié, Huambo, Benguela, Namibe, Huíla, Cunene, Cuanza- Sul, Luanda, Uíge and Cabinda, mostly academics and historians.
The main attractions of the Memorial include the Monumento da Bandeira, a prominent piece of the 55-meter high development that features the National Flag, embracing an AKM-type war weapon. Mirroring the victory of the battle of Cuito Cuanavale, the combatants did justice to the defense of the National Flag, symbol of sovereignty, Independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of Angola.
The Monumento da Bandeira also has an elevated viewpoint, positioned precisely at the point of sight of the weapon, a place where you can contemplate not only the field of operations of the heroic battle, but also the deeper horizon of the scenic beauty of the municipal seat of Cuito Cuanavale.
António Chilulu underlined that for the visit to the Memorial to the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale each tourist pays 350 kwanzas. He added that this amount has been used to defray the maintenance of the enterprise and some temporary workers who are dedicated to cleaning the space, as the project is not yet an autonomous budgetary unit.
He made it known that the municipality does not have hotels and other leisure areas, a situation that makes it difficult for tourists to stay overnight in that location and end up returning the same day to the city of Menongue, which provides better accommodation conditions.
António Chilulu defended the need to build hotel infrastructure and restaurant services so that it can attract more national and foreign tourists to the historic municipality of Cuito Cuanavale.
According to the lieutenant colonel, many tourists and others regret the fact that a municipality like Cuito Cuanavale does not even have a hotel or similar services to decently accommodate tourists or visitors from various parts of the country and the world.
The director of the Memorial also recalled that the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale has so far been a historic milestone for the southern region of the African continent, as it allowed for the abolition of the apartheid regime in South Africa, the Independence of Namibia and the release of Nelson. Mandela, after many years in prison.
“Therefore, we have to value this legacy that FAPLA conquered with a lot of sacrifice and that made many Angolans give their lives to defend the country’s territorial integrity”, he said.
António Chilulu stressed that the social infrastructure that the municipality has gained since the conquest of peace, with emphasis on the rehabilitation of the road to the city of Menongue, the installation of a 7.5 megawatt thermal power station, a and distribution of drinking water, an airport that allows large planes to land, can serve as a driving force to attract investors to invest in the tourism sector.
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