Africa-Press – Angola. The martyrs of the colonial repression were honored, Wednesday, in Luanda, with the laying of a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier, erected in the Santa Ana cemetery.
It was up to the provincial deputy governor of Luanda for the Economic sector, Gilson Carmelino, in the presence of former combatants and veterans of the country, as well as representatives of associations from Baixa de Cassanje and former FAPLA soldiers.
Gilson Carmelino said it was a moment of reflection and that young people should remember the determination of the nationalists, which culminated in the liberation of the people from the colonial yoke.
The vice-governor stated that support and policies for valuing veterans of the homeland and better social integration were guaranteed.
Gilson Carmelinho informed that negotiations are taking place with a ticketing company, to benefit former combatants.
For the member of process 50, Diogo Ventura, there is no present without a past. He highlighted the fact that the 4th of January culminated in the proclamation of National Independence, on the 11th of November 1975.
He believes that more could be done, guaranteeing privileges to the oldest, despite not having gone, as he said, to fight to obtain benefits.
He considers it one of the secrets of his longevity to stop bad addictions at the right time.
The secretary for information of Baixa de Cassanje, Alberto Quiar, defended a revision of the law so that the 4th of January becomes a national holiday and not a mere date of national commemoration.
He considered it essential to build the monument cemetery in memory of the victims of the Cassanje massacre.
Caetano Marcolino, president of the associations of former FAPLA soldiers, defended greater appreciation and dignity of those who fought for the liberation of the country from the colonial yoke and in defense of the homeland.
He considered it important to create conditions for a greater insertion in the social life of demobilized war soldiers.
Caetano Marcolino challenges the provincial governments to integrate demobilized soldiers from the armed forces in development projects, including the construction of infrastructures, within the scope of the Integrated Plan of Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM).
Angola marks, January 4th, the Day of the Martyrs of the Colonial Repression.
The event was instituted in honor of the victims of the massacre in Baixa de Cassanje, in Malanje, where in 1961 peasants in the cotton fields were murdered by the army of the Portuguese colonial regime, for demanding better conditions.
The uprising was repressed with the use of colonial military aviation and the dropping of bombs on Baixa de Cassanje, causing thousands of victims.
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