Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan Government remains committed to implementing actions aimed at guaranteeing the well-being and dignity of former combatants and veterans of the country, said this Wednesday, the provincial director of this sector, Jorge Sapesse.
According to the official, who was speaking in Baía Farta (Benguela) during the provincial act in reference to the 4th of January, Day of the Martyrs of the Colonial Repression of Baixa de Cassange, the Executive is implementing programs to improve the social conditions of former combatants and facilitate their social and productive integration.
Among these, he highlighted the provision of scholarships for their descendants, support for cooperatives and agricultural associations, delivery of work tools and micro-credits so that they can undertake, as well as medical and medication assistance.
Meanwhile, Jorge Sapesse reminded those present what the date represents, being a milestone in the struggle for freedom and independence in Angola.
According to him, the insurrection, in which peasants refused to receive seeds to plant in January 1961, involved the participation of thousands of workers in the cotton fields of Cotonag.
“The revolt was motivated by the harsh working and living conditions, as well as the constant repression, with the peasants deciding to protest and in response the Portuguese air force launched bombs causing thousands of deaths”, he said.
This criminal and disgusting action against the defenseless population, mostly peasants, on January 4, 1961, he emphasized, became an important date in Angola’s struggle and resistance.
The 4th of January, he said, awakened even more national political awareness and strengthened the various underground groups and cells, above all linked to the MPLA and FNLA.
The official considers that nationalists, former combatants and veterans of the homeland, will always be “the great heroes and the wall that built the country within the context of nations”.
“This handful of heroes did their best in the struggle for national liberation, achieving national independence and establishing a free, sovereign and democratic state,” he concluded.
The provincial act in memory of the martyrs of Baixa de Cassange, held in the municipality of Baía Farta, took place under the motto “January 4, 1961 to January 4, 2023 – We honor the Brave Commanders of the Anti-Colonial Struggle”.
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