Speaking to Lusa, Arão Bula Tempo, lawyer and human rights defender, lamented that, "unfortunately, the international community, with its economic interests, is unable to have an adequate position to intervene in the Cabinda problem".
The activist stated that the situation "is increasingly deteriorating" and criticized the "concentration of everything and nothing in the executive", which does not benefit the population, which "is considered to be in the opposition".
He denounced persecution and arbitrary arrests "and other cruel behavior", adding that authorities treat Cabinda as their "private property".
Bula Tempo predicted that the activists who will meet with Adalberto da Costa Júnior, president of UNITA, who arrived in Cabinda this Friday to launch, on Saturday, the political agenda of the largest opposition party, will be the target of reprisals.
"Angolan intelligence is, from top to bottom, in the presence of the president of UNITA and this creates a climate of terror and intimidation (...) Those who will meet with the president of UNITA will face reprisals", stated the lawyer, warning that these happen after the leaders of the opposition parties return to Luanda, as there are currently no activists detained.
For Arão Bula Tempo, the problems of Cabinda, a province in the north of Angola geographically separated from the country, are also due to its history and geography, since the agreements with Portugal and the way in which decolonization was carried out, "did not take into account the territory".
He declared himself an independentist, because this is "the spirit of all Cabinda" and considered that the "ideal would be to obtain the liberation of the people of Cabinda", stressing that it is not just the members of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC ) who are considered terrorists, "but all those who have contrary ideas are called terrorists".
He considered that the new Administrative Political Division, which foresees the increase from the current 18 to 20 provinces, "is a way for the MPLA [Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola] to delay the development of Angola" and noted that the local authorities will not solve the problems from Cabinda.
"The way the Cabindas live, from 1975 until now, the independence spirit has increased (...) and if the international community does not take care of the Cabinda problem, I believe that, in the future, there could be a surprise, people are determined to live or die to rescue our sovereignty", he highlighted.
Alexandre Kuanga, leader of the Association for the Development of Human Rights, also said that these are constantly violated in the face of the Government's toughness, "which does not accept dialogue".
"We, activists, are considered as opposition and we become people who are not grateful", he lamented.
Alexandre Kuanga said that the events they try to promote are stopped, because the Government sees them as adversaries, with consequences for human rights, freedom of expression, demonstration and association and even restrictions on movement.
According to the activist, every time they try to organize events, the Government orders the police to prevent them from taking place, even in private homes: "They think we will encourage people to better understand their rights to claim."
He argued, on the other hand, that the international community should have more representatives in that region, including diplomatic and non-governmental organizations.
"We inform, but they remain silent, and of course the Government has seen that we have no one to support us and repression always increases, our homes are watched, our steps are monitored", he told Lusa.
