"There's no magic, people didn't wake up one day and all become criminals. This is an explosion, and the causes can be summed up as follows: poor governance, persistent arrogance, and ignoring the clear signs of weariness on the part of the people," Luaty Beirão said in an interview with Lusa this Wednesday.
According to the activist, the causes of the protests recorded over the last two days in Luanda, following the taxi drivers' strike, stem from the unsustainable state the country has been led into, adding that civil society has been trying to warn the authorities for years.
"[The causes of the protests] are clear. We, as civil society, have been trying for many years to warn the powers that be, which became power through force, which knows no other language than that of brutality and force, that they are leading and are leading the country into a state of unsustainability," he emphasized.
Luanda experienced relative calm this Wednesday, after experiencing episodes of violence, riots, looting of warehouses and commercial establishments, and destruction of public and private property on Monday and Tuesday, following the taxi drivers' strike, which entered its third and final day.
For Luaty Beirão, the events in Luanda, which also affected some provinces in Angola's interior, are symptomatic of the fact that "the boss" – an allusion to President João Lourenço's recent statements that "my boss is the people" – is upset.
"The boss [the people] are upset, and the boss has been asking for attention for years and hasn't been given it. Now, when the lid is blown, everyone is pointing fingers and placing blame on the weakest party. So, it was a disaster waiting to happen," he said.
He also considered that nothing that is happening "should surprise or greatly shock people who care even slightly about the country," and argued that the authorities should seize the opportunity to promote dialogue with society.
"Now, what should be happening is a certain humility, which also doesn't exist up there, to acknowledge that they took one or several missteps and be able to step down from their pedestal and promote dialogue, opening up to the people who are demonstrating this fury," he declared.
With a provisional death toll of 22, 197 injured, and more than 1200 arrested in two days of riots in the capital during the taxi drivers' strike, Luaty also criticized the actions of the police, who, he said, also "participated in the looting, thinking they were out of sight."
"We know the consequences, and that's what we're seeing now. There's no other language that's been used since the beginning of time by those in power. They send other wretches who also participate in the looting when they think they're out of sight," he said, referring to police officers who allegedly participated in the looting of warehouses, according to images shared on social media.
The activist and board member of the Mudei Civic Movement, an Angolan non-governmental organization, also condemned the actions of "profiteers" in vandalizing establishments and institutions, calling, however, for reflection on the reasons for the food looting.
"Obviously, we're seeing appliance stores and other items being looted by profiteers, but the majority of people are looting food stores, and this should concern the entire society to understand the essence of this situation," concluded Luaty Beirão.
