"We distance ourselves from those who, by themselves at the service of the ruling party [MPLA] and under the leadership and command of the state intelligence services, intend to convey the idea that we intend to promote violence," reads a statement by the organization of the demonstration, which this Friday was represented at a press conference in Luanda by three of its six promoters: Benedito (Dito) Dalí, Laura Macedo and João dos Santos (Mwanangola).
The response of the organizers, the same ones who called on 24 October a demonstration that was strongly repressed by the police in Luanda, and ended with a hundred detainees, follows videos posted on social networks that incite verbal and physical violence, using insults and death threats.
The promoters of the demonstration say they don't review themselves in the posture and behavior of the authors of the videos, defending that their initiative is "peaceful" and fulfills the legally foreseen purposes, leaving in the air the intention to, with the cooperation of the police, "prevent and expel (...) any people who are not aligned with pacifism, urbanity, civility, respect for the person of the other and for fair laws".
The organizers stress, on the other hand, that it is "strange" that people who appear in the videos are not held responsible, while campaigns are promoted in social networks and public media against the march organizers, to whom they attribute "responsibility of third parties who can be identified".
In the communiqué, they also criticize the "ruling party" for calling "troublemakers, enemies of peace, vandals and frustrated" all those who publicly demonstrate "against disrespect for human rights, good governance, corruption and a state media that respects freedom of the press.
Asked about the statements of João Lourenço who, as president of the MPLA, advised young people not to let themselves be manipulated, accusing UNITA, the main opposition force of creating instability, Dito Dalí rejected what he called "a cheap insult.
"We don't need a political force to remind us that we need work, that we don't have food, that we don't have water in our houses, that we need reforms," he stressed.
For the activist, the "new era of unrest" that Angola is experiencing at the moment is "the fruit of citizens' awareness," reaffirming that the struggle of those who demonstrate "is for citizenship.
About the possible adhesion of opposition forces to the protest he said it would be a welcome support, since nothing prohibits participants of political parties from joining demonstrations organized by civil society.
Laura Macedo, who participated in the previous demonstration and was detained for a week, leaving on Sunday convicted of disobedience, responded to accusations of manipulation by the President, saying that "it is not a mirror" of the Chief Executive.
"We only want a better Angola," she said.
Asked if they will take to the streets if a state of emergency is declared, Dito Dalí stressed that "the government cannot create circumstantial laws" that serve as a "strategy to prevent the demonstration from taking place", stating: "We continue with the commitment to take to the streets, nothing is stopping us until now".
About an eventual repetition of the scenes of violence and vandalism in the previous march, Dito Dali attributed the disturbances to "infiltrators" that the promoters of the protest will try to identify, considering that, if it happens again, "João Lourenço wants to create confusion.
Laura Macedo, on the other hand, condemned the police for making a "counter-manifestation" instead of protecting the youth.
Dito Dalí also addressed the alleged disappearance of 300 people during the previous demonstration, stating that they were located and returned to their homes.
Regarding the two alleged deaths, a man and a woman, he said that they are still trying to gather, without much success, more information, especially from family members and neighbors in the neighborhoods, accusing the government of "managing the situation so as not to allow society to know what happened.
The objectives of the November 11 demonstration are, according to the organizers, to demand the scheduling of local elections in 2021, the improvement of living conditions and the resignation of the President's chief of staff, Edeltrudes da Costa, allegedly involved in a case of illicit enrichment.
The demonstration, which takes place on Wednesday, the day marking 45 years of Angola's Independence, was reported to the Luanda Provincial Government on 4 November, with a concentration planned for 11 a.m. at the Santa Ana cemetery, which will then follow towards the Largo da Independência in Luanda.
