Luanda - A bust of the first President of Angola António Agostinho Neto was unveiled on Tuesday at the garden near the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, in Rome, as tribute to all Italians who contributed to the fight against colonialism on the African continent.
The garden were the statue is mounted is the place where a young Italian, identified as Piero Bruno, was murdered in 1975 when he was demonstrating in favour of Angola's independence.
The bust unveiling ceremony was presided over by Maria Eugenia Neto, chairperson of Agostinho Neto Foundation.
On the occasion, Maria Eugénia Neto said that for President Neto “relations with Italy were of particular importance, both in terms of political and cultural rapprochement.”
According to the president of FAN, “Italy was one of the European countries where African liberation movements found human affinities and the solidarity of people from all social and political strata”, which deepened friendship with this nation.
Maria Eugénia Neto who is also the widow of Agostinho Neto recalled that in June of 1970 Italy hosted in Rome the Conference of Solidarity with the Peoples of the Portuguese Colonies, which gave the opportunity to the leaders of Angola, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau and Mozambique meet the Pope Paul.
Such historic meeting had tremendous diplomatic impact which resulted in and a greater international support to the liberation movements in Africa.
In turn, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Filipe Zau, who represented the Angolan Government at the ceremony, said that the city of Rome, in the early 1970s, expressed its full support for “just rights to the dignity and self-determination of African peoples”.
Taking a historical look at Agostinho Neto, the minister expressed his “deep satisfaction at being able to attend this important and significant ceremony which will strengthen the existing friendship and cooperation between the two countries and peoples”.
The Angolan ambassador to Italy, Maria de Fátima Jardim, thanked the Italian authorities for making this moment possible after long negotiations involving the municipality of Rome, the University of International Studies (UNINT) of Rome and other institutions.
The president of the VIII municipality of Rome, Amadeo Ciaccheri, and the cultural adviser to the municipal government of Rome, Andrea Catarci considered that the placement of Agostinho Neto bust in Rome is a reinforcement act of the already solid friendship and brotherhood between Italians and Angolans.
The ceremony was attended by the ambassadors of Cape Verde and Mozambique, as well as representatives of the Portugal embassy, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Roma Tre University, UNINT, diplomats, the Angolan community in Rome and Italian friends of Angola. FMA/SC/DOJ
