Luanda - President of the ruling MPLA party João Lourenço Wednesday placed a wreath of flowers on the sarcophagus of the first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto.
At the memorial, erected in honour of the third president of the MPLA, President João Lourenço bowed before the casket where the remains rest and laid down the wreath in the presence of state and MPLA leaders.
Speaking to the press, the vice president of MPLA, Luísa Damião, said it was a tribute in search of inspiration for the VIII congress of the MPLA, to be held from Thursday to Saturday, in Luanda.
She praised the figure of the man who proclaimed Angola's independence before the world, inscribing the country in the concert of nations as a free, sovereign country and as a subject of public international law.
Luísa Damião recalled that Agostinho Neto dedicated himself to the cause of Angola and Angolans, that he always defended the party ideals of freedom, independence and peace, and that he was always concerned with fulfilling the wishes of Angolans.
Born on September 17, 1922, in Kaxicane, Icolo e Bengo, Luanda province, Agostinho Neto died on September 10, 1979, in Moscow, former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
