Africa-Press – Angola. A Russian citizen detained in Luanda since August, following the taxi strike, is in critical condition. The detainee was hospitalized in the hospital wing of São Paulo Prison, but is now under preventive custody, supervised by the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC).
The situation is alarming. The prisoner suffers from chronic bronchial asthma, severe hypertension, heart failure, and serious ophthalmological problems with a risk of retinal detachment. In addition, he was diagnosed with a herniated disc, which has drastically worsened under the conditions of incarceration.
During the last visit by his lawyers, an acute episode of asphyxiation was recorded, requiring immediate intervention by prison guards.
This case reveals what we all know—the conditions in Angolan prisons are unacceptable. Innocent people, Angolan activists, and now foreigners suffer without access to adequate medical care. The case has remained in the investigation phase for months, without formal charges being filed. Because, while the government insists on imprisoning the innocent, people are dying in prisons. Taxi protests in August showed that Angolan society is fragmented.
We can imagine the glorious night, the ecstatic birth of November 11, 1975. It is the greatest achievement of all Angolans. We cherish memories of that dawn. Even today, jubilant, we surrender and give ourselves over, consumed by waves of vivid memories.
Remembrances come and go in resounding bursts in the core of those who witnessed it. Of those who are dazzlingly enraptured in the exedra of their existential consciousness and in the depths of their souls. Even today, as if in a metaphysical oasis, we are swept away. Rescued from the disappointment that constantly plunges us into the abyss along with our hopes.
Everything merges in the delirious reverie of a night that was glorious and full of vivid reverberations. Instantaneous contemplative raptures explode in our hearts. A fervent, carefree fervor revels in the very essence of the soul. Astonished, we fall stiff. We dissolve, one by one, into the national happiness of that day. From a chimerical gap we can still see; we can come face to face with shining faces spread across the faces of every Angolan. In an instant, bam; the screen opens before us: We fall stammering as if discovering a meteor shower through a crack in the window.All around, voices of indescribable joy resound. Trills, coming from I know not where, rhythmically bow to a dazzling star. It reveals itself above our heads – right there in the firmament. Thunderous voices reverberate two words: It has finally arrived! Melifluously, the incandescent sphere beckons and points a path to the future for the infant nation. It anchors two points on the earth and makes its fiery, panting light hover. Ethereal forces converge in the purpose of uniting people in space, in time – in an intangible sociological and patriotic cohesion in the alignment of the identity plumb line. Eyes burn with flames that rise to meet the patenting arc.The ascendant of genuine pride in being Angolan. It wants all of us Angolans, lords and ladies of the land and resources that lie beneath the soles of our feet, to live, act, and behave as guardians of our common roots. Today, and in a perpetual future. On one side of the arc, we see the commandment “Love for the nation, the homeland, and the transcendent institutions.” On the other, the commandment of “Service to the homeland, the Nation, and the children.” There are no interchangeable substitutes for these values. No. At least none that are suitable and prove adequate to ensure the preservation of self-determination and the conservation of identity. So it will be with Angola, as it will be with any nation on the planet.
Thanks to a resolute hope, averse to mortification by violence, we have re-emerged from five centuries of losses. Loss of self-determination, loss of independence, loss of freedoms, loss of dignity. Trevor and times that we should never, ever forget. The passage of time, in the fading memory of the achievements of November 11th, today holds one of the greatest and most serious threats to our country.
It deprives us of preserving intact the inexorably crucial connection to the sources and forces of survival in the redoubts of the subconscious. Hence, some in the conscious mind work exclusively for their own ego. They act in an order so unquantifiable and unqualifiable. As far as one can stretch the idea of an obstinately exacerbated egocentrism. They have completely lost themselves in the idea of conquering comfort – whatever the cost.Consequently, subconsciously, these same individuals work relentlessly on a project to ruin their fellow citizens. However, their labor flows through an ungrateful facet. Blindly, they are driven to toil with a double-edged sword. The unavoidable consequence is that one of the fruits of their toil is the ruin of their own posterity. In the long run, certainly. The first result, impactful on the collective, is not delayed; it materializes as if spontaneously. The other, on its way, is thriving, and seems – only seems – to be delayed.
In the context of the captivating turmoil of contemporary times, as we witness in the dynamics of international relations, we know what we shouldn’t expect from our politicians. Even more so from those who govern us today. No woman or man (politician), permeable to the wise influence of universal history and their people, would be expected to shy away from the chaos to sit exotically in front of “hors d’oeuvres.” Politicians who are clearly aware of the impactful driving force of their actions would not dare to stoop to the level of the opportunist. Such a view represents a nihilistic abstraction, positively avoiding inexorable and timeless considerations. For, such a conception exempts itself from ensuring that its privileges, including at the table, will be replicated and perpetuated in its own family tree. In football terms, it is said: “He who plays for a draw, loses!” Now, politically, playing for a draw is the very obsession with not dedicating oneself to the mission of distributing wealth (a little) to everyone.Whoever does this risks, it is certain, at some point in time losing everything they have amassed. They will lose to many of those they deprived of their share while unjustly enriching themselves. When they least expect it, they may even lose their name and honor – and even their dignity! Men and women pass away! Others take their place in institutions, in the territory, in property. Everything is transmutable in a more or less direct way. Everything can end, it is ephemeral and, indeed, twilight is the end of all things. It can pass into the hands of the next-door neighbor, or it can fall into the palm of the lord who traveled leagues of seas and oceans in search of what belongs to others. For five centuries we lost self-determination and freedom. “We recovered them.” Fifty years have passed are not enough to convince the most jealous minds that the immediate present and the immediate future are irreversibly acquired. That’s how it is for us, and that’s exactly how it is for anyone who wants to be, or considers themselves, secure and in control of themselves. Anyone who thinks of themselves in unassailable terms, who sees themselves as self-sufficient and eternally free because of their obscene individualism, puts everything in danger.It throws everything away; your possessions and ambitions take precedence in the horde of potential losses. Without diminishing the depth of thought, we paraphrase: “The future is built for yesterday, now, already.”
Here (in this time and place) we arrive, having endured long days of privation and humiliation; moral, mental, spiritual, and above all physical and/or carnal. In our own bodies. We have resurrected, we have risen to the surface! We have survived and recovered from vexation in the most hidden and intimate reliquaries of human dignity. We have traversed successive centuries of table-breaking.We traversed the landscape of time, traversing space standing barefoot, bound by the shackles of tyranny. There was little or nothing to cast upon the naked body, or upon the semi-naked torso. Ask history if you are tempted to rummage through and catalog here a delirious hallucination! The memory of collective reminiscence underlies the deeds of wise men. The recognized greats of this world – distinctly wise personalities and figures, as well as the most powerful nations – are infinitely indebted to the multifaceted legacy of history. That of their own people, and the universal one. Therefore, we who traversed a long desert shivering from night to night were, in effect, saved by a fatal necessity of a collective design. The challenge of a goal shared by all and for all. We did not indulge in the frivolity of measuring each other – impressing ourselves and boasting about successive zeros to the right of the positive balance of the bank account. Before launching the first fruits of the struggle for independence, we averted our eyes from the platform of arrogance. We turned our backs on the sight of the stage of anguish and greed. Altruistic ideals saved each one of us, and saved the nation as a whole.
We based our existential foundations on the counterpoint of hysterical egoism, of the obstinate oligarchy that undermines and compromises the future of the nation and our country. Today’s selfish drift incites disloyal impulses and ends up suffocating every living soul – corner after corner. We abhor it. Any wicked and lustful way of life is pure betrayal of the spirit of November 11th. To achieve November 11th, it was necessary not to succumb to the traps and threats of slipping into a strange and erratic mission. Collectively, we understood that the end, the scope of those – of the ill-fated deceptions that we had to overcome hand in hand – was to undermine our struggle for self-determination. The slightest wavering would have induced the death throes of our supreme hope.
It is urgent to revitalize the lost and abandoned ideal! Fifty years have passed, yet we still lack the will, the solidarity, the fraternity, and the altruism. Stubbornly, we lack the courage to move beyond this agonizing period – one that threatens the viability of maintaining our independence in a challenging, long-term future. While our feet remain free from the most violent external domination, we need to spur ourselves on and enter a new era. An era of tolerance, of genuine reconciliation, of consensus, of building harmony, and of constructing a rule of law, replacing semantic eccentricities.
It wasn’t just the country’s political circadian rhythm that shifted on November 11, 1975. An epiphenomenon of pendular mass mobility erupted throughout the country. With or without the silhouette of the foreign oppressor’s flag, they embodied Angolan pride in grateful raptures of a free man, master of his own destiny. Everything erupted around them.
The celebration was, and continues to be, indescribable. A gigantic wave of almost eschatological hope rose, adorned with survival, from the abyss of 500 years: The end of suffering and limitless privations was, more than in sight, it was consummated. The flag of national independence had been raised, and the world witnessed it. For the first time, the fist of the Angolan man hoisted pride and freedom in the heart of every Angolan.What was expected from then on was progress and prosperity; together, embraced, and seated at the table of peace, concord, and mutual respect – for the good of the country. There were reasons and political agreement regarding mechanisms for sharing power. A democratic sharing among all Angolans who, in their pleasure, were willing to contribute and participate in the governance of the country. No lesser desire was even considered by the most enthusiastic, the most proactive citizens. It was obvious. Otherwise, they would be waving with histrionic servility the still fresh, and clearly vibrant, experience of the collective history of the last 500 years. Especially when the echoes of a foreign government imposed through the use of oppressive brutality still resounded.
The point we’ve reached today!!! The country lies amidst the gasps of a disjointed, raft-like economy burdened with corruption, and the (uncontrollable) spasms of a non-existent welfare state. The overwhelming majority of Angolans experience the anniversary of November 11th in a state of contemplation. Forced. Witnessing the celebratory effusiveness of the regime is even (mentally) comparable to the sensory experience of seeing a loved one slide on a hospital stretcher into the ICU (*). Any doubt that that place is one of the worst in the world – for those who have a relative or friend there, a visceral friend – that it is a sorrowfully distressing space, is pure coincidence. Not only that. In general, the hours of November 11th are spent crossing the cross, hoping some kind of food will fall on the table. Especially for the youngest members of the family. There is no way to improve the country’s governance. There is no reason to believe in a reasonably promising future for the country.
Anything to prevent even the most insignificant bubble of hope from completely deflating. Ridiculous as it may seem. We hear the propaganda machine selling achievements it refrained from realizing. It never even desired to! They entertain themselves by selling fabrications and appearances to our eyes and ears. At the end of the day, we are left wondering if we are witnessing the comedy of a drama, or the drama of comedy. The comedy of an anachronistic way of doing and being in politics.
In the aura of collective hope for the country, on November 11, 1975, even if they were nothing more than dreamlike ramblings, there were: Democracy, justice, and prosperity. Today, in this ephemeral reality of November 11th, we live in a country shackled to the binary of corruption and nepotism. Both creatures generated by a blatantly unconcerned authoritarianism. Injustice is widespread and poverty is extreme. A poverty that is strikingly ostentatious among the most impoverished populations on the planet. In 1975, in the early hours of November 11th, the country belonged to everyone and was for everyone. The state would be at the service of the citizens.In the preamble, an inclusive, tolerant, fraternal, and harmonious society was proclaimed. “The most important thing is… Solving the people’s problems!!!” That was the soundbite that (spiritually) couldn’t be missing from every door frame. A few days after that glorious dawn, another soundbite! Contradictory to the first. Trying to exercise a right with the administration became a privilege. There was no way around it except by bribing an official. The older generation can attest to that. From then on, the phrase that resonated most in the ears of those who sought the administration’s services changed: “This isn’t for those who want it. It’s for those who deserve it!”A famous quote by Karl Marx states: “History repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.” Extraordinarily, invaluable historical references have been inconveniently lost within the ruling clique. Yet, not immemorial, though. Several experiences of domination by colonial empires began with the prior establishment of friendly relations. Supposedly peaceful, these relations of domination, based on the consent and voluntary submission (of the dominated), did not foresee the pervasive idea of domination by force downstream. In many cases, the “visitors” arrived and landed as illustrious potential friends of the host. They disembarked with empathetic bows. They offered gifts and generous smiles and embraces. Here, some parallel can be drawn with the MPLA’s presumed first love for the people. Curiously, this too effectively hid its face beneath the mask of the monster.What he then did to the people—that is, subjecting them (persistently) to what was then unexpected, an experience of horrors upon horrors—will continue from now on, and this will not be exclusive to the old regime. The true strength of power, or the lack thereof, comes from the people. Therein lies the enthusiasm to defend the regime, or the animosity to curse it and do everything to get rid of it. Bashar al-Assad doesn’t know if he will ever set foot on his native soil again. Power was taken from us once. Only five hundred years later has it returned to our control. Wise men and regimes, those who are guided by prudence and common sense, are the last in the world to boast. They speak as if they are untouchable, but they don’t feel like it. Fifty years of independence and Angola lives immersed and lost in the unfolding tragedy.
The farce can and must be avoided for the good of all. We still have the resources to develop and finance a true human development project. To give wings to imagination and creativity and to outline the prosperity of the country. For the country and for its human resources. There is no need to give in to the slightest hesitation to take a step back, take a deep breath, summon synergies. We must establish idiosyncratic ecosystems in order to leverage a social contract worthy of the national identity ideal. Let us trust in ourselves, as a whole, without discrimination or prejudice of any kind. Once and for all, let us place the country above and ahead of any selfish interests. Angola can only be built honorably by using its substrate, its uterine receptacle: Angolan men and women. For the love of posterity, but also for contemporary generations.Fifty lost years should never be confused with 50 days. The hope of the generations of the 1970s has been exhausted. That is, those born around the time of independence crossed the threshold of average life expectancy. They endured successive phases, periods, stages, and/or eras of unnecessary and unjustified suffering and frustration. They lived continuously forgotten, abandoned, and helpless in the valley of broken expectations. Even today, the valley of those prostrate by the rod grows. Impotent and exhausted, they fail to save their most cherished hopes from this shameful position. It is necessary to raise our eyes to see and, with ears to hear, change course. It is no longer the time, nor is it opportune, to randomize policies and take shortcuts on intractable ground. It is necessary, indeed, to change the mental archetype. To push aside all the dystopian hedonistic apathy implanted in the culture of established power.It is indeed necessary to work towards a serious and effective democracy. To establish a de facto rule of law. With all the necessary attributes, therefore, in contrast to the current semantic rule of law. To establish a Second Republic, founded on the primacy of human dignity, in fact. Only a Second Republic, based on the effective decentralization of power – beginning with the institution of local government, financially, administratively, and politically autonomous; only a New Republic, founded and anchored in the independence of the courts, in independent electoral bodies – functionally and operationally – supported by regular electoral cycles [supported by general, periodic, free, fair and transparent elections], can constitute a compass for the country’s development. A development based on realism and seriousness, in order to establish social mobility. A functional system sustained by the rigor of legality in the management of public affairs, and by the transparency of the mechanisms for the redistribution of national wealth!Angola’s Human Development Index (HDI) is in no way commensurate with its status as an energy powerhouse in Africa. Let’s look at data from current UNDP reports (**). We will compare Angola’s Human Development Index with that of other African energy powerhouses.
Scientific/official data (source: UNDP):
Angola – (HDI = 0.581 [Population in 2024 – 37.89 million inhabitants])
South Africa – (HDI = 0.709 [Population in 2024 – 64.01 million inhabitants])
Algeria – (HDI = 0.748 [Population in 2024 – 46.81 million inhabitants])
Nigeria – (HDI = 0.539 [Population in 2024 – 232.7 million inhabitants])
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