"The biggest terrorists in Angola are those in government, in transportation, and in ministerial positions who are responsible for the current socioeconomic crisis, starting with the President of the Republic [João Lourenço] himself. This is state terrorism, distorting the nation, undermining the sovereignty of the people in the country," he stated, when asked about the recent arrests of citizens accused of terrorism and other crimes.
In an interview with Lusa, Marques said that the latest arrests in Angola "are symptomatic of the President of the Republic wanting to resolve the country's economic and social crisis with repression."
"But we must understand that bullets will not feed the population," he added.
Regarding the consequences of the riots at the end of July, following a taxi drivers' strike, which resulted in 30 deaths and more than 200 injuries, Rafael Marques considered that the authorities' stance further exacerbates the population's hatred.
The government "can kill hundreds or thousands of citizens; it will only deepen the divide and hatred between the population and the government, specifically in this case, the President of the Republic," he noted.
"Because so far we haven't heard of the arrest of police officers who indiscriminately and cowardly fired at citizens running in the opposite direction and were shot in the back, this is a crime, and we haven't heard of it," he criticized.
According to the activist, the government needs serious measures, reforms, a need to reduce public spending, and "put an end to the promotion of incompetence and theft."
"There's hunger driving more and more people to search for garbage to survive," he noted, but also "we must recognize that the President (...) has already stopped governing (...), what we have here is the maintenance of power, and that is very sad."
Most of the leaders of taxi associations, taxi cooperatives, motorcycle taxi associations, and taxi driver associations were arrested in recent weeks by the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) on suspicion of criminal association, incitement to violence, violation of transport safety, and terrorism, "substantiated by strong evidence of their involvement in promoting acts of vandalism and disorder against public and private property and services," committed between July 28th and 30th.
Two Russian citizens and two Angolans, including a journalist, were also arrested in Luanda on suspicion of criminal association, document forgery, terrorism, and terrorist financing.
For the director of the news portal Makaangola, only by uniting will Angolans be able to find peaceful and effective solutions to "remove the individuals who are leading Angola to the abyss," lamenting the lack of a clear defense, especially within the taxi industry, following the latest arrests.
According to Rafael Marques, there are even people within the MPLA who believe it is necessary to "make changes, to generate pressure so that (...) there is a common cause that allows Angolans to come together not to cause trouble, but to defend their sovereignty." He also reiterated that sovereignty, according to the Constitution, resides in the people.
"These arrests are meant to further fragment the people, but this should not instill fear, and it is extraordinary that, now, taxi drivers are not coming to the defense of their leaders because there is a lack of leadership. That is why this country is eliminating intelligence so that mediocrity always reigns supreme, in the institutions of power, in civil society, in the opposition, and mediocrity controls the maintenance of the people in obscurantism," he concluded.
