Africa-Press – Angola. We can no longer ignore this cry of the Angolan people, who want to be free from poverty, inequality, and dictatorship. Fifty years after the 25th of April, the Portuguese have known freedom, but the Angolans have not yet.
A SUDDEN rise in fuel prices led to a three-day strike by candongueiros (a popular passenger transport vehicle) and taxis and motorcycle taxis that paralyzed the streets of Luanda last week.
Since then, protests and riots have erupted across Angola, with reports of looting, vandalism, and extreme police violence. As of this writing, 29 people have been killed—including women and children—hundreds have been injured, and more than 1,200 have been arbitrarily detained in Luanda, Huambo, Benguela, and Huíla.
Hitler Samussuku, an Angolan activist and political scientist, recently wrote a beautiful opinion piece in the newspaper Público titled: “Who called this demonstration?” In it, the author reframes the explanation of what has been happening in recent days as a collective cry against the chronic poverty and hunger of the Angolan people, which transcends any ideology or circumstantial economic factor. It’s not difficult to conclude that he’s right: in 2024, Angola produced 1.14 million barrels of oil per day, generating approximately $31.4 billion in exports. However, for decades, this wealth has been channeled to enrich a small elite who live in great luxuries at the expense of the people’s misery.
Currently, approximately 53% of the population lives in extreme poverty. Infant mortality is extremely high, and child malnutrition is among the most critical in the world, with approximately 40% of children under the age of 5 suffering from chronic malnutrition. Meanwhile, the super-rich live in magnificent condominiums on the Luanda peninsula and dine in restaurants where a burger costs €50 and bottles of Cristal champagne cost over €1,000 each.
These are the kleptocrats with whom Portugal has fostered political and financial collusion. Their connivance with corruption and authoritarianism is total, cynically masked as respect for Angola’s national sovereignty.
“In an authoritarian state, repression is like water in a river,” Olívio Nkilumbo, an Angolan UNITA member of parliament, recently wrote. The elite that runs the Angolan state represses its people in every way: denying them a democratic regime, imposing decades of extreme poverty, and punishing every expression of revolt with brutal police violence.
In photo reports from this week’s demonstrations, children and young people can be seen in the streets holding signs with slogans such as “FREEDOM NOW,” “TELL THE MPLA THAT THE REVOLUTION IS HERE! VOTE OR BULLET,” and “JLO [João Lourenço] TAKE OUR MONEY OUT OF YOUR POCKET.” Videos circulate on social media of police shooting unarmed citizens and visibly malnourished people being humiliated for stealing basic necessities.
We can no longer ignore this cry from the Angolan people, who want to be free from poverty, inequality, and dictatorship. It is clear that Portugal must respect the sovereignty of the nations that gained independence after the 25th of April. However, this modesty (which is understandable to some extent) has allowed silences that become increasingly unbearable.
Fifty years after the 25th of April, the Portuguese have known freedom, but the Angolans have not yet. Angola will make its own way, but the least Portugal owes the Angolan people is to cool diplomatic relations with the kleptocratic regime that so oppresses them. Encouraging a peaceful democratic transition with truly free elections is a priority, in addition to the serious condemnation of the fully documented human rights violations.
ANGOLA24
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