Liberty Chiaca told Lusa that the cars were traveling on the Longa-Cuito Cuanavale section and came across a barrier at 10:30 am from which armed people emerged, firing shots and throwing sticks and stones at the caravan where the leaders of the National Union for Independence were following. Total for Angola (UNITA).
Among these were three deputies, an advisor and the provincial secretary of UNITA in Cuando Cubango, and the identity of the person who died was not revealed.
Liberty Chiaca lamented the "acts of political intolerance" that have occurred in Cuando Cubango and highlighted that the National Police, which usually accompanies parliamentarians' caravans, "has not been present".
The leader blamed "MPLA militants", the ruling party, for the attack and added that UNITA had already received threats.
"Two days ago threats were made, they made it very clear that in the city of Cuito Cuanavale UNITA could only enter, it could not leave. (...) It is the MPLA in the province of Cuando Cubango that always seeks to take these radical positions that put in causes peace and national reconciliation", he accused.
Cuito Cuanavale, which would be the last municipality to be visited as part of the municipal days in which these leaders participated, was the scene of violent clashes during the civil war between UNITA forces, supported by the South African army, and the MPLA, with support from the Cubans, between August 1987 and March 1988.
The leader also criticized the fact that, in previous situations, which resulted in deaths, injuries and destruction of homes in Cuando Cubango, the national police and justice bodies in that province did not bring the moral and material perpetrators of the crimes to justice.
On the other hand, he also said that there is an "underlying strategy of making parliamentary activities unfeasible", when provincial governors refuse to receive UNITA deputies, as was the case in Cuando Cubango.
"The only thing we demand is that justice is done, there is accountability, situations like this cannot be allowed to happen again", he stressed, remembering that the country has just celebrated 22 years of peace.
"If there are leaders, there are MPLA cadres who cannot live in an environment of peace and national reconciliation, the best thing is to put them in their proper places. A murderer's place is in jail", concluded the leader of the "galo negro" party.
The deputies are returning to the city of Menongue, capital of Cuando Cubango, where a press conference is scheduled this afternoon to provide further clarification.
A source from the National Police contacted by Lusa said that there is still no concrete information about what happened, and the authorities are currently investigating what happened and collecting data from the province of Cuando Cubango, sending details for later.
MPLA spokesperson, Esteves Hilário, told Lusa he had no information about the incident, promising that he would investigate what happened.
