Angola: no protest, less freedom!

After two years trying to go in the street for any pacific protest and never succeding it's finally more then clear that in Angola is forbidden any kind of protest. 

The country is facing what the people here call dittatura eduardiana something that has been going on for 32 years. And a leitmotif during these last few years is became 32 is enough!

As a matter of fact in this democratic country, today more then ever is evident, there's no room for any critic, debate, opinion that looks even slightly against the government.

Saturday morning all over Angola (...not only in Luanda), many people woke up, took a bottle of water, a hat, some of them took also a poster handwritten with the names of two angolan dissidents declared killed few days ago for political reasons, with the aim to join the streets. 

But what happened is that just few of them had the chance to even arrive at the meeting point of the pacific manifestation. 

Most of them once there, probably just wanted to have the chance to walk pacifically through the streets of their towns saying loudly "we deserve respect, we deserve to live in peace, after having won the fight against the colonialist and after having fought a fratricidal war," just in order to say we won't die for political reasons in this country in 2013, after more then 10 years of peace!

Instead of being free of doing it, when they woke up they discovered the manifestation had been forbidden by the government for "security reason"

Then, at least in Luanda, the police dispersed, mostly with the use of tear gas and water jets, the protesters gathered close to the Sant'Anna Cemetery, the start point of the manifestation, and arrested dozens of people. 

According to the "Report on human rights practices in 2012 in Angola" realized by the State Department of the United States,  bureau of democracy, human rights and labor, the three most important violations of human rights in Angola are "corruption, limits on freedom of assembly, association, expression and limits on press freedom".  That's it!  

A very hot angolan summer...

In this Country full of contraddictions it happen to live in the same day many different experiences such us watching an italian movie at the Luanda Film Festival, visiting an Expo on "car accidents", listening to some radio debates on what happened to two dissidents declared killed by the state attorney and read on the very first page of the governmental newspaper Jornal de Angola about the totally unexpected turnover in a top governmental position such as the head of the intelligence department!

So eventhough I've been doing many things in order to keep my mind busy, today, whatever I do, I can't stop seeing the face of the two angolan members of the "Movimento Revolucionário" and of the "Juventude Patriótica de Angola".   They were very active in organizing pacific rallies in town. They  are now declared murdered according to a state attorney's memorandum spread few days ago. 

Cassule and Kamulingue, those the names of these two guys disappeared almost six months ago and now declared both dead, in the picture published on the web, have a sad look and a concerned expression on their faces. 

What happened is slightly alarming most of all if the government pretend to be "democratic, peaceful and legally elected" and the more it looks alarming if you try to compare the news, two young dissidents mysteriously disappeared few months ago, now declared killed and at the same time the head of the governmental body who is in charge of controlling any "different voice", being put aside after a strong campaign held by Cassule and Kamulingue's families and friends in order to discover what is really happened to them!

On the 27 and the 29 of June 2013, first Kamulingue and then Cassule have been kidnapped, while the first one was in a rally of ex-servicemen asking for being affirmed their right to receive a 
pension and the second one went to police station to discover what happened to his friend.

Cassule, who's life is told in many web sites, was a prominent political activist who has been in prison for more than six times, always by political reasons. He left a widow and four young children.

The fact that, according to the news spread by the two movements and by some website (Club-K) other young pacific protesters are in jail, probably ten of them, just like happened to Cassula and Kamulingue, and the fact that there are no news on them, provide a bad feeling on what's going on in this country. 

So, while summer at this latitude is blooming, Angola seems to be on the brink of a large wave of strife. Actually, a huge demonstration called by UNITA, the second largest political party in Angola, is going to be held next saturday 23rd of november in town,  "to perturb" the public peace (says today the Mpla spokesperson), "against governmental repression and to express the deep outrage for the murder of Isaias Kassule and Alves Kamulingui" according to the UNITA organizers. 

ANGOLA: 220 Jaguar per i nuovi deputati

Tutto il mondo è Paese e lo scandalo delle auto blu ha raggiunto anche la rinascente Luanda, la capitale angolana, sede delle principali istituzioni del paese, governo e parlamento in primis. 

La notizia dell'acquisto da parte del nuovo governo di 220 Jaguar nere da distribuire ad altrettanti neo deputati, quelli appena usciti dalla recente tornata elettorale del 31 agosto, ha creato non pochi mal di testa nelle alte sfere del Paese.

Così mentre a Luanda si soffre per la mancanza di acqua e luce e i due terzi della popolazione vivono vendendo prodotti per strada, mentre il restante terzo riceve il salario minimo, di 500 dollari al mese, al porto sono in attesa di essere spacchettate 220 Jaguar nuove fiammanti. 

Ci sono voluti 60 milioni di dollari per questo acquisto di auto di lusso e da quando la notizia è trapelata da una fonte rimasta anonima interna all'Assemblea Nazionale, in città non si parla d'altro. 

Subito parte della popolazione si è lasciata andare a commenti fortemente indignati che sono stati trasmessi dalle radio locali, ma soprattutto, Isaias Samakuva, il segretario del principale partito all'opposizione, l'Unita, ha rilasciato una dichiarazione alla stampa da Benguela, dove si trovava, nella quale ha affermato che i suoi deputati non accetteranno le macchine.  

"Tutti i deputati dovrebbero opporsi a questo regalo avendo presente qual'è la situazione della popolazione" ha sottolineato  Samakuva  piuttosto irritato a Radio Despertar. "Tanto lusso - ha continuato il leader dell'Unita - di fronte a tanta povera gente che vive senza acqua, luce e senza poter contare sui basilari servizi sociali quali quello sanitario e educativo dovrebbero far vergognare ".

Non nuovi a regali generosi di questo tipo i deputari, molti dei quali sono gli stessi usciti nelle elezioni del 2008, avevano già ricevuto, quattro anni fa, una somma considerevole per acquistare delle Bmw di rappresentanza. 

Nulla di nuovo sotto il sole di questa bella città dove al mattino, andando verso il centro, si incontrano sempre più auto blu saettare scortate fra la folla di venditori e il traffico dei poveri mortali.