In Cuando Cubango, the official thanked the contribution of patriots for the preservation of independence, peace and national reconciliation, as well as the multi-party democracy in force in the southern region of the continent, says Angop.
Speaking at the central act of the March 23 celebrations, the minister also highlighted the importance of knowledge and appreciation of this ephemeris by the new generations.
Affirming that the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was a "life or death", changing the course of the South African racist forces, he also highlighted that the battle, which took place between 15 November 1987 and 23 March 1988, was the biggest and most protracted military confrontation of the war in Angola and on the continent after the second world war. This conflict pitted the Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (Former FAPLA) supported by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba against the South African Army, which had invaded the country in support of UNITA forces.
The official also stated that "wars are always phenomena that we remember with the feeling that we could have avoided them, due to the consequences in terms of loss of human lives and the destruction of infrastructures that cost many resources to the public purse".
But he added that "there are wars whose raison d'être, especially when they aim to defend principles and values underlying sovereignty and national interest, are non-negotiable, as they are essential to our existence in the context of nations", stating that "it is this context in that fits the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale".
This year the celebrations of the Liberation of Southern Africa Day take place under the motto "Honor and Glory to the Memory of the Brave Liberators of Southern Africa".
