By Francisca Augusto
Africa-Press – Angola. Angola marks this Sunday, 4th January, the 65th anniversary of the Baixa de Cassanje Massacre uprising against the abuse and exploitation of local peasants by Portuguese farmers, which caused the deaths of thousands of Angolans in the early sixties.
The 1961 revolt by peasants in the Cassanje Massacre region against the former Portuguese-Belgian company Cotonang, in Malanje Province, is also one of the milestones in the struggle for national independence on 11th November, 1975.
Through protests, which quickly spread throughout the region, the peasants refused to pay taxes, destroyed cotton seeds and burned their colonial identity cards.
The revolt was driven due to the Portuguese colonial regime’s imposition of compulsory cotton production in the territory of Baixa de Cassanje, in the former Imbangala Kingdom of Cassanje.
For their production, peasants received very low payments, set by the colonial authorities, and were subject to several abuses.
In addition to handing over a large part of their cotton harvest to the colonial authorities through the company Cotonang, Angolan peasants were forced to pay a tax on their harvest.
To quell the revolt and as a way to show their force, incendiary bombs were dropped on villages in the region by Portuguese air force planes.
It is estimated that around 10,000 Angolans, including children, women and the elderly, were killed in the repression by the colonial authorities.
For this reason, the Angolan authorities established 4th January as a Day of National Reflection, in memory of the Martyrs of Colonial Repression.
Brief history
During the colonial era, the province of Malanje was the country’s main cotton producer.
The Cassanje Lowlands are a region covering the municipalities of Caombo, Marimba, Kunda-dya-Base, Quela and Massango, which gained notoriety due to the quantity and quality of cotton it supplied to the international market.
Until 1961, the region was inhabited by around 150,000 people and the cotton fields employed almost 85,000 farmers and their families, some of whom came from other areas and were forced to grow and sell cotton to Portuguese traders.
According to historians, the massacre began in October 1960, when the peasants refused to receive seeds to plant in January.
On 4th January, the Cassanje Massacre took place, with the participation of thousands of cotton field workers.
About the company cotonang
It was founded in 1926 to organise cotton production and received exclusive concessions in several areas, especially in the Cassanje Lowlands region.
In March 1947, through a decree, the Portuguese colonial regime reinforced the company’s power by instituting compulsory cotton cultivation.
This forced some 35,000 families (approximately 150,000 people) to work exclusively for Cotonang, which had the exclusive right to purchase all production in the region.
The peasants were not allowed to sell to anyone else, which allowed Cotonang to set very low prices.
The harsh working and living conditions, as well as constant repression were the main factors that led to the uprising. Taking into account that, the workers decided to go on strike using machetes and other handcrafted shotguns.
Source: ANGOP
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