"The protest in Angola for your dignity is just. The protest in Angola for the situation of demanding your right to a share of this immense wealth that Angola possesses is rightful. The strike, the demonstration, carrying signs, shouting against injustice—that's the most basic thing a human being can do," said Venâncio Mondlane, speaking live on his Facebook account.
The politician, a former presidential candidate in the Mozambican general elections on October 9th, who does not recognize the official results and led the protests in Mozambique, recalled that both countries are "strong" in oil and natural gas, but "on the other hand," they have "high" levels of poverty, corruption, and impunity.
"And Angolans, naturally, have expectations regarding this wealth, which is their wealth, not the wealth of a handful, not the wealth of a handful of Angolans. This wealth belongs to the approximately 36 million Angolans," he said, referring to the recent protests in Luanda, comparing them to Mozambique.
"This is fundamental. The human being who doesn't complain, doesn't protest, when he's being massacred, enslaved, that human being, let's say, is more of a masochist than a good citizen," he said, acknowledging that Mozambicans and Angolans feel "frustrated" with the situation in their respective countries.
The national taxi drivers' strike, called by the National Association of Taxi Drivers of Angola (ANATA), took place between July 28th and 30th in protest against the increase in diesel prices. It resulted in violent clashes, acts of vandalism, and looting in several areas of the capital and other provinces, resulting in 30 deaths, 277 injuries, and 1,515 arrests.
In Mozambique, the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) formally charged Venâncio Mondlane with calling for a "revolution" during the post-election protests, causing "panic" and "terror" among the population, holding him responsible for the deaths and for plunging the country into "chaos."
In the indictment, dated July 22, the Public Prosecutor's Office cites, as a large part of its evidence, calls for protests, strikes, work stoppages, and mobilization for protests made on Venâncio Mondlane's social media livestreams throughout the various phases of the challenge to the 2024 electoral process in Mozambique.
According to non-governmental organizations monitoring the electoral process in Mozambique, approximately 400 people died as a result of clashes with the police, in addition to the destruction of public and private property, looting, and violence.
"Look at the potential and tell me if there aren't reasons for people to have expectations and feel frustrated in that country. Regarding human rights, both Mozambique and Angola, the existing reports, the Amnesty International reports, show the same scenario. We don't have freedom of expression. There is no freedom of expression in Mozambique or Angola. Persecution of those who express themselves freely. Arbitrary detentions, both in Mozambique and Angola," Mondlane accused.
"They are not vandals," he added, regarding the protesters in Angola and Mozambique, stating that they are "people thrown into misery" and "poverty that even takes away human dignity": "This is what drives our people to demand. This is what drives our people to protest. And in a normal country and normal people in a full democracy, they have the right, yes, to protest. They have the right, yes, to say no."
"People who have been marginalized throughout this time, these people who have been thrown into misery, into poverty that strips them of their human dignity, are now being treated like vandals. They're being treated like troublemakers. They're being treated, and now, soon, they'll start being treated like terrorists too. It's the same scenario they played out in Mozambique," he concluded.
