The Angolan President apologized “publicly apologized for the great harm that was carried out” during the massacre of 27 May 1977, which, according to several sources, may have caused some 30,000 victims. For the first time, an Angolan President also apologizes and says he expects other actors to do the same for his actions.
“It is not the time for us to point the finger at the culprits. It is important that each one assumes his responsibilities on his part. That is how imbued with this spirit, we came to the victims of conflicts and Angolans, in general, to humbly ask, on behalf of the Angolan State, for our public apologies for the great harm that summary executions were at that time and under those circumstances ”, said João Lourenço in a message to the nation transmitted by Public Television of Angola, this Wednesday, 26, the eve of the 44th anniversary of the incidents that, according to analysts and survivors, were a purge within the regime of the then President Agostinho Neto.
For the President, “the public apology and forgiveness is not limited to simple words and reflects a sincere regret and a desire to end the anguish that these families carry due to the lack of information about their loved ones”.
Speaking on a “new page in our history”, João Lourenço encouraged all other actors and participants in political conflicts to do so as well.
“History does not fade, the truth of the facts must be assumed so that societies take the necessary preventive measures, to prevent identical tragedies from recurring,” he added.
Other conflicts
The Angolan Head of State also referred to other victims of the conflicts that marked the country between 11 November 1975 and 4 April 2002, without, however, indicating their authors, in the same way, that he did not refer to the MPLA when he approached the 1977 incidents.
“These heroic and generous people, who have already proven their ability to forgive, also deserve to hear, from those who have the responsibility to do so, a public apology and forgiveness for the souls of Tito Chingungi, Wilson dos Santos and their families, of the brave women of the Jamba fires, of the passengers on the Zenza do Itombe train, of the martyrs of the cities of Cuíto Bié and Huambo, and of others not mentioned here ”.
The ceremony, which took place during the Presidency and in the presence of the country’s main authorities, João Lourenço considered “this turning of the page” should lead to genuine reconciliation of Angolans regardless of party colors ”.
“I urge all Angolan citizens to dedicate all our knowledge, all our energies, to the cause of the construction of our Nation project, of economic and social development, for the prosperity and well-being of Angolans”, he concluded.
This is the first time that a President of the Republic has spoken on the subject, assuming the responsibility of the State with an apology to the victims of the repression at that time.
In his speech, the Angolan President announced the tributes to the victims of the internal conflicts scheduled for tomorrow, with the delivery of death certificates to the families of the victims, and said that work will begin to find the bones of many of those killed on 27 May, between them Alves Bernardo Baptista (Nito Alves).
44 years ago
On May 27, 1977, an alleged coup attempt, allegedly led by Nito Alves, removed six days before the post of Minister of Internal Administration, was violently repressed by the Government of Agostinho Neto.
With the help of Cuban troops, then present in Angola, the regime arrested and killed thousands of people, the total of which is still unknown.
There are those who estimate that some 30,000 people may have been murdered in what was considered a purge within the ruling MPLA.
Two years ago, the Angolan President created the Commission for the Implementation of the Victims’ Memory Reconciliation Plan with the mission of drawing up a general plan to honor the victims of political conflicts since National Independence, on November 11, 1975, until the signing of the Peace Agreement on 4 April 2002.
