Africa-Press – Angola. The Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Paulo Rangel, thanked, on Saturday, in Luanda, the efforts of the Angolan Government to rehabilitate the plots of the Santa Ana and Alto das Cruzes cemeteries, where the remains of more of 450 Portuguese soldiers, who fell in Angola during the colonial war.
Speaking to the press, after visiting the project to requalify the Santa Ana cemetery plot, Paulo Rangel, who was accompanied by a delegation from the Portuguese Embassy in the country, said that Angola’s action demonstrates “a true spirit of reconciliation” for with those who died in the service of Portugal, “regardless of whether they were in an unjust war, as he later recognized”.
“Obviously, the soldiers fulfilled their moral duty and also gave their lives for their country. What we see represents the capacity, will, generosity and dignified treatment of the Portuguese who are buried in the Santa Ana cemetery, for example. It is a fact of great delicacy, very sensitive”, said Paulo Rangel, recognized.
The Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Affairs reaffirmed that “it is no coincidence that Angola is today considered, by the international community, a great promoter of peace”.
“These are gestures of this magnitude that, obviously, this peace mediation is credible in so many conflicts that are now, as in the past, afflicting the world and in particular the African continent”, applauded Paulo Rangel.
The diplomat also highlighted that the visit to the Portuguese soldiers’ plots marks the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April 1974 and, in addition, the years of independence of the Republic of Angola.
“It is a sensitive and moving moment for everyone involved. It is moving, above all, for the soldiers of the Armed Forces of both countries, because the combatants, better than anyone else, are always those who, even in the face of someone they fought against, have that dignity and that sense of respecting those who were on the battlefield or on the war fronts. There is, in fact, an act of enormous dignity”, he highlighted.
In view of this, he reiterated that there is an obligation to pay tribute to all those who contributed to the two countries having “excellent” and “mutual respect” relations today, without any type of complex in sharing friendship and fraternity.
“Angola and Portugal rightly respect each other as independent states on equal terms”, he stressed.
For Paulo Rangel, this sign of reconciliation reinforces the bilateral relationship, as equals, and, in this case, being a link between both States, “it is clear that these gestures multiply”.
“We are accumulating two very important dates. We must not forget that the 25th of April was not just the cause of independence. There was a fight for emancipation, which was also the driving force behind the 25th of April in Portugal”, he said.
Making a brief foray into the past, Paulo Rangel recalled that democracy and freedom in Portugal were also achieved because there were people in Africa, particularly in Angola, who fought for their freedom and that this allowed there to be liberation in Portugal as well.
Finally, Paulo Rangel thanked the Portuguese community and the company in charge of requalifying Portuguese military plots.
Paulo Rangel, who returned to Portugal yesterday, after a three-day working visit to the Angolan capital, left a word of gratitude to the Angolans, who “demonstrate a generosity that is an example to the world”.
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