Speaking to Lusa, José Raul, 73, who served in the Portuguese army between 1972 and 1974, said that he has been fighting for several years to benefit from the pension for veterans, but without success.
"We are here going up and down and we are only receiving papers, no one solves our problem. We ask for help to see if they can solve our problem", said José Raul.
According to the former soldier, he has already sent several emails to social security, but they have responded that his name is not registered.
"There are many of us, others no longer come because they are tired, others have already died, we do not know who we will have to help us, to give us an answer", he reinforced.
With a certificate from 2022 in hand, which states that he served in the Portuguese army for five years and 132 days, Manuel Salvador questions the reason for having this document sent by Portugal without the money to which he is entitled.
"I enlisted on January 30, 1970, we have the certificates of time counted, but to this day we have no answer", he lamented.
Manuel Salvador stressed that in other former Portuguese colonies, such as Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau, ex-combatants benefited from this right.
"And even here in our country, there are generals who receive the money, so why don't we, the lower classes, receive it?" he asked, highlighting that they did their compulsory service at that time and today they are not taken into account.
Some tried to seek help from the Angolan authorities, but were told that this matter is a matter for Portugal.
Francisco Mamessa, the son of a former combatant who has since died and who is claiming his mother's right to receive her pension as a widow, said that the people who traveled to Portugal have already been able to receive the compensation.
"On the website they give us, they say that the data is not available here, the units did not release [the data], but we have documents that prove it, now who is going to resolve this? The Angolan government threw us out, we don't know what to do", he lamented.
In turn, Pedro Pombal, who was a soldier from 1963 to 1967, frequently goes to the embassy to ask about the situation, but to this day he has not received an answer. He recalled that his older brother, who was also a soldier, has already died and was never entitled to anything.
Mateus Mbinza, first corporal of the Dragões cavalry, in Silva Porto, the current city of Cuito, capital of the province of Bié, who became available in 1974, said that his case has been dragging on since 2004.
"For 20 years, still no response. Portugal sent my military card and certificate of time count, this whole case has been going on since 2004, with no response. I am here at 75 years old, waiting for my pension reform and they have not said anything. They gave us some forms to fill out, they sent them there and, there, they are saying that we are not registered, how are we going to deal with this situation", he asked.
Two representatives of the group were received at the embassy. Lusa tried to speak to a representative of the Portuguese Embassy in Angola, but without success.
