"On behalf of the leadership of the MPLA [Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola], of all the militants, sympathizers and friends of our party, I come to offer you a flower. Goodbye our president emeritus, goodbye comrade president José Eduardo dos Santos, goodbye architect of peace, goodbye Zedu, peace to your soul", summarized Luísa Damião, vice-president of the party that governs Angola.
Representing the José Eduardo dos Santos Foundation, João de Deus recalled that the people spoke of the former president as 'Zedu', "given his humble nature and simple trajectory".
At the age of 37, José Eduardo dos Santos "sacrificed his youth", to assume, in 1979, a "necessary replacement to continue the premature physical passing of the immortal leader of the revolution", in a reference to Agostinho Neto, stated João de Deus, who fainted during the speech, having been assisted by the medical services.
For his part, the head of the Civil House of the President of Angola, Adão de Almeida, said that the country says goodbye to José Eduardo dos Santos, "a good patriot" who "brought peace" and guaranteed "territorial unity" throughout 40 years of government.
On the day that José Eduardo dos Santos would have celebrated his 80th birthday, the Government organized an official funeral ceremony which was attended by 24 foreign delegations, including the Portuguese President, the coordinator of the ceremonies explained that the executive is in "tuning in" with the family.
In his speech, Adão de Almeida praised the historical legacy of José Eduardo dos Santos and his role in Angola's "transition" to a democratic regime, market economy and in the construction of a set of "citizens' rights, freedoms and guarantees". , of which he highlighted the abolition of the death penalty.
But, in particular, the minister praised the "unusual sagacity" of the former president who, after the victory in the civil war, promoted national reconciliation, "whose fruits Angola has enjoyed for 20 years".
Roberto Almeida, former president of the Assembly and close to the former president, spoke of his friend as "an architect of peace" who "definitely put an end to decades of fratricidal war", in a "reunion of the great Angolan nation".
The funeral ceremonies for former president José Eduardo dos Santos ended this Sunday, the date on which he would have turned 80, with a state funeral in the presence of several presidents, including Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and representatives of diplomacy from several countries.
The former head of state died on July 8, aged 79, in Barcelona, Spain, where he has spent most of his time for the past five years, but the funeral has only now taken place due to a dispute over custody of the body between two factions. of the family of José Eduardo dos Santos - the widow and three youngest children, supported by the Angolan regime, against the five oldest children.
The ceremonies were attended by Ana Paula dos Santos and the three children she had in common with the former head of state, as well as another son, José Filomeno dos Santos "Zenu", who was sentenced by the courts to prison for his involvement in a corruption case and awaits, in freedom, a decision on the appeal he has filed.
The funeral is also marked by the absence of the former president's mediatic eldest daughters, the businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, who faces several lawsuits in national justice and in other countries, and the former MPLA deputy, Tchizé dos Santos, who declared her support for the UNITA candidate for the presidency, Adalberto da Costa Júnior, against the MPLA candidate and successor to his father in the presidency, João Lourenço.
Present at the funeral were also the president of UNITA, who arrived at the place at 9:30 am, as well as leaders of other opposition parties, Catholic bishops, members of the executive and other individuals.
It was only near the beginning of the ceremonies, two hours late, that the organization managed to fill the auditorium dedicated to the general population, but the stands of the Agostinho Neto Memorial remained very bare of people.
The Praça da República, where the funeral monument of the first Angolan President is located, in the António Agostinho Neto Memorial, was again chosen for the funeral ceremonies, after having hosted a public wake without a body shortly after the death of José Eduardo dos Santos, during a seven-day national mourning.
This Sunday was marked by military honors in a program that included lyrical music, reading of messages from the Angolan State and the family, from the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), from the José Eduardo Santos Foundation and reading of the funeral eulogy, as well as a worship ecumenical, accompanied by choral groups.
