USA

‘The hungry can’t stay silent’

People in some parts of the Angola capital Luanda are afraid to clearly talk about what was in July, when protests bring a part of the city to stop and discomfort shaking other provinces.

What began as a call between taxi drivers, what began to oppose the jump in fuel price, returned to violence for three days and at least 30 people lost their lives and thousands of people were arrested later.

The roads were blocked by burning tires, the shops were looted and the clashes exploded between the demonstrators and the police.

It was one of the most important waves of protest since the end of the Civil War in 2002.

On November 11, he stressed concerns about poverty and inequality in the progress of the oil -rich Angola, who marked 50 years of independence from Portugal.

In neighborhoods where demonstrations are most powerful, very few people are willing to speak clearly, worried about retaliation or persecution in the light of numerous arrests during and after protests.

“Things may have been out of control, but we had to make so much noise to awaken the ruling people.”

After leaving school before completing secondary education, Avenida Pedro de Castro de Castro de Castro de, which is one of the busiest streets of the capital to support his family, sells non-alcoholic beverages along the Loy.

Many Angola has to try to make a living in the informal sector with studies such as street automatics. [AFP via Getty Images]

He’s one of the millions of people struggling to get in the middle of the glittering skyscrapers built by oil money.

For the seller, joining the first day of the protests was a way of showing that it deserves the share of the richness of the country, which was rich for some of us, but miserable for most of us.

Youth unemployment has been an important driving force of protests in this young country, where the average age of an average age is less than 16.

According to official figures, unemployment between the ages of 15 and 24 shows that 54%. Only three million out of 18 million young people of working age have jobs in the official sectors – so they receive regular wages and pay taxes.

In the main cities of Angola, many unemployed young people who are no longer at school emphasize the difficulty of meeting the desires of the state.

“I only sell when I can get enough money to buy non -alcoholic beverages on the street.” He said.

“There are months I don’t sell anything because the business is very slow. Me and many other young people live like this and nobody pays attention to us. So we can’t stay silent.”

Angola sociologist Gilson Lázaro was not surprised by what happened in July. He believes that the people in the heart of the protests are “expropriated”.

“These young people, the majority, nothing more than their lives. So they went to fearless streets,” he said.

A family group mourns while standing behind a coffin wrapped with a red patterned cloth. — The Silvia Mubiala family mourned her death – killed during the protests in July and allegedly shot by the police [AFP via Getty Images]

The protests appeared spontaneously in some of Luanda’s more crowded and poorer neighborhoods, where some residents had no access to the basic sanitation and other basic infrastructure.

Gradually, the demonstrators moved to the main roads of the capital, caused chaos, and said, “For a long time, but the political elite, but raised the curtain with a social problem that the political elite preferred to ignore.”

“Angola has been tending to a crisis of political legitimacy for a while for a while,” Angola has been in a deep social, economic, and above all.

The popular movement of Angola’s liberation is responsible for the country for five years of independence.

In 2017, João Lourenço, who served as president of José Eduardo Dos Santos in 2017, will change things.

Currently, after the 2022 elections, it serves a second semester in a row.

Lourenço promised to overwhelm what he sees as a broken system inherited from his predecessor: the fight against corruption, to diversify the economy and create business.

Eight years later, critics, although the annual inflation rate remains around 18%, although the critics failed to achieve this and fought to manage the cost of life and slightly. According to the 2024 Afrosometer study, 63% of the Angolan say that the economic situation of the country is worsening compared to the previous year.

Young people are carrying out the burden of problems, and in recent years, from corruption and police savagery, they are at the forefront of most anti -government protests on various issues against local elections and hunger and poverty.

Nevertheless, nothing was matched to the scale of the restlessness of July.

Lea Komba, a 20 -year -old political science student, said that the fuel protests were “horrific but a little anticipated,” given the current reality of the country.

“We live in a country where young people are ignored by ruling people. Protests are the only way to show dissatisfaction with the precarious conditions we encounter.” He said.

A man in the baseball hat carries a large screen television while walking on a street in Luanda. There are people who look at him on the sidewalk. — During the protests in Luanda, shops were looted [AFP via Getty Images]

The Angola government received a different opinion.

A government official did not respond to the BBC’s request for demonstrations and then to comment, but on August 1, President Lourenço clarified his feelings at a national address.

Protests “actions committed by irresponsible citizens, actions manipulated by anti-Patriotic national and foreign organizations through social media, mourning, destruction of public and private property, reduced access to basic goods and services” condemned.

Despite the promises of diversifying its economy, Angola remains dependent on oil and gas, the main source of state revenue as well as the country’s main exports.

“Natural resources are good, but the problem lies on how the income is used,” Angola economist Francisco Paulo said. He said.

“If he follows models such as Angola, Norway or Saudi Arabia, if he uses the oil reserve to strengthen and improve non -oil sectors and develop the labor force, this would be a blessing. Unfortunately, the revenues here are wasted on superficial expenses without added value.”

Following the departure of Dos Santos, Angola took five years when the economy shrunk between 2017-2021.

Joao Lourenco holds an ink finger up to the cameras after voting. Surrounded by journalists, wears a shirt with black open -necked. — When João Lourenço came to power after the 2017 elections, the hope will change in the country [AFP via Getty Images]

Growth was largely directed by non -oil sectors in 2022. However, most recent growth had little effect on Angola’s life.

In a report this year, more than one third of the World Bank population estimated that it was less than $ 2,15 per day.

He said that the economy did not keep up with the population growth while the economy was expanding, that is, on average, people are even more weakened.

As the celebration of independence approaches, plans such as music festivals, presidential medal ceremonies and a football match including Argentine Lionel Messi continue in full swing.

However, student female komba questioned the old socialist slogan that emerged during the late 1970s Marxist-Leninist regime, “a human being, a nation”.

“It is not true that we all share the same truth. There is many inequality. Young people in marginal regions condemn over poverty without much work, too much work and even a degree of gaining.” He said.

“These young people think of their stomachs, because hunger does not leave anything to lose them. They fill the streets.”

Komba, “the authorities not only the results, but should look at root causes,” he added.

“Looting was the way of attracting attention from the power of young people.”

He thinks there may be more restlessness.

“From now on, we will probably see more protests until the 2027 elections. Although we like and like it, political awareness in Angola is increasing and the elections are seen as an important moment for real change.”