Adalberto Costa Júnior, speaking in the province of Icolo e Bengo, where the party's provincial committee was inaugurated, shared his interpretation of the events between July 28th and 30th in several provinces, most notably in Luanda, the country's capital, following a strike led by taxi drivers protesting the rise in fuel prices and, consequently, public transportation fares.
The president of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) emphasized that Angola has a constitutional right to protest, which "is not questionable under any circumstances." However, what always occurs are "difficulties and impediments" when a party in power doesn't announce its intention to protest.
"And it is often these impediments and difficulties that cause the problem that follows. We cannot continue to witness a country where, when the party in power demonstrates, it receives protection and follows the normal procedures. When others do, there are always changes, prohibitions, violence, and protests. This is unacceptable," he said.
According to Adalberto Costa Júnior, preparations for the removal of fuel subsidies, which have been ongoing since 2023, "are never done adequately," accusing the government of poor communication and failing to "adequately prepare the country for these realities."
Recently, the UNITA leader presented some solutions, such as the need to break the monopoly on fuel decisions in Angola, at an economic conference he attended.
"A single operator dominates everything regarding fuel issues, prices, there is no competition, and today we have already discovered that a centralized economy will not lead us to development. A centralized economy is characteristic of communist countries. Angola is moving closer to America, to other Western markets, but it does not abandon its old theories, the old schools," the politician emphasized.
Adalberto Costa Júnior then criticized the government, which "does not like to listen, to sit down with others, to share, one of the reasons for the problems."
The leader also accused the public media of being the cause of misinformation surrounding the taxi drivers' strike, which urged people to stay home during the three-day planned strike.
The UNITA leader also said that it was "not normal" for defense and security forces, which in Angola "are completely professional and well-trained," to not know how to manage situations like the one that occurred that week.
"Knowing how to manage isn't about the easy shot, it's not about having your finger on the trigger as the first issue, it's not that. A defense and security force has training, it has a school, to know how to approach, in risky circumstances, citizens, mothers, children, young people, even those who "have violated the rules, the law, and order," he emphasized, criticizing the Interior Minister's position, because "the use of the easy bullet cannot be legitimized under any circumstances."
"The toll is violent, it's sad, and the toll isn't fully known. They speak of 30 dead in Luanda, but what we're receiving, the numbers are much higher, and we fear that those images we've been seeing, circulating on the internet today, leave us with the strong suspicion of crimes committed during searches at night, people taken from their homes without the slightest respect for what the law requires, for what the Constitution requires. We can't build a country this way," he added.
Adalberto Costa Júnior said he "indisputably" condemned the acts of looting, but he could not "ignore the hunger, the huge difference in living standards between the very rich and the very poor" in Angola.
"Behind many of those people who witnessed the attacks, there were very deep social reasons. There was much suffering, much exclusion, lack of jobs, lack of hope. We cannot fail to call on those who have the right, those who sit in the seats of power, who must accept sitting with those who are different, to deeply reflect on the real country," he emphasized.
Official figures indicate 30 deaths, more than two hundred injured, and more than 1500 arrests.
