Africa-Press – Angola. The nationalist João Luís Neto “Xietu”, first chief of the General Staff of the extinct Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA), declared this Tuesday, in Luanda, that the formation of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), within the scope of the Bicesse agreements, it represented a great challenge for the military personnel who served the Government (FAPLA) and UNITA (FALA), essentially in cementing trust between the parties.
Without going into many details, commander “Xietu”, on TPA’s “Grande Interview” program, admitted that the return to war by the military assigned to the UNITA party, after the 1992 elections, to contest the results of the polls, proves his words and constituted an act of betrayal to the Angolan people, believers in the democratic process.
He added that the return to war caused enormous human and material losses, as well as further delaying the country’s development.
For the retired general, it is always necessary to preserve peace and promote national reconciliation to build a developed country, which guarantees the dignity of its children.
Route
About his journey, he said that he joined the political organization União dos Povos de Angola (UPA) in the Dembos region, north of the country, between March and April 1961, with relatives, when he was fleeing persecution by the Portuguese colonial authorities for his involvement in attack on prisons in Luanda, on February 4, 1961.
Some time later, he said, he underwent military training at the UPA’s Kinkuzu base, but already in Leopoldville, now Kinshasa, where he had been transferred to study medicine, he joined the ranks of the MPLA, under the influence of António Monteiro and Ferreira Diandengue, in 1964, having moved to Brazzaville and was posted at the Center for Revolutionary Instruction (CIR) in Dolise.
When asked why he abandoned the UPA, he said that the aforementioned political organization did not have a vision of national unity and promoted tribalism and racism.
He recalled, already in the MPLA, having been part of the Bomboko squad, led at the time by Commander Ciel da Conceição “Gato”, participating in combative actions against the Portuguese colonial authorities in Cabinda and Moxico.
He was a member of the commission that negotiated the Alvor agreements of January 1975, which provided for a peaceful and multi-party transition in Angola, and was responsible for mobilizing Angolan soldiers leaving the Portuguese colonial troops.
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