Speaking to Lusa, the director of the Maka Angola portal said that "it is a national shame for the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, to go to Portugal, as guest of honor for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the fall of fascism in Portugal, when in Angola the his Government allows the maintenance of the main symbols of fascism and Portuguese colonialism".
"We have streets in various parts of the country named after Salazar and Marcelo Caetano and this is unacceptable", he stressed.
This is the case of Cuíto (central plateau, capital of Bié), "a city that was severely damaged by the war" and where two streets bear the names of former prime ministers, which led to the handover this Tuesday of a request addressed to the provincial governor of Bié, asking for the "change of toponyms referring to Portuguese dictators".
In the application to which Lusa had access, Rafael Marques de Morais criticizes the toponymy associated with the "greatest symbols of colonial repression and Portuguese fascism", noting that it was "Salazar who ordered the Portuguese troops to placate Angola's desire for independence, who ordered bomb, burn and kill" and that Marcelo Caetano, "maintained the war", until he was overthrown by the Portuguese military on April 25, 1974.
"What sense does it make for the Government and the brave people of Bié to maintain the tribute to the two colonial dictators who fought most against Angola's independence and mistreated the Angolan people?", asks the activist in the application, considering that the existence of these streets "has repercussions negative in the interest of Angolans, is ethically incorrect and offends public morals".
"We have so many figures who deserve to be honored, nationalists, artists, men of culture, women of culture, and these people are not celebrated", lamented the activist.
Portugal and Angola have a 500-year history "during which many Portuguese contributed to the good of the Angolans", he stated, and then highlighted: "but we are not going to celebrate those who punished us, who colonized us, who gagged us, who persecuted us".
The activist said that there are many Portuguese, Angolan and international figures who deserve to be celebrated, suggesting that the name of former Portuguese President Mário Soares could be one of these, arguing that he contributed to the decolonization of Angola.
Regarding the existence of toponymy linked to figures from other nationalist movements such as the leader of UNITA, Jonas Savimbi, he said that the previous President, José Eduardo dos Santos, had created a commission to include opposition figures in the national toponymy: "This project was not forward and I think that today we have a Government that only cares about the enrichment of its own members and is not concerned with these issues that are fundamental in affirming Angolan identity and giving some comfort to Angolans about the direction the country is taking", he declared to Lusa.
"It seems that we are sailing adrift and that we have to call a Portuguese navigator again to find a course for us", he joked.
