Mbanza Kongo - The literature of the first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, awoke, in the decades of 60 to 70, the revolutionary conscience of Africans and cultivated the patriotic feeling and belonging to the peoples of the continent cradle of humanity.
This was stated by the provincial secretary of the JMPLA in Zaire province, Agostinho Dias Zantoto, when he spoke to ANGOP this Friday about the figure of Agostinho Neto, as part of the National Hero's Day.
He recalled that Agostinho Neto, while a student in Portugal, relied on literature to exercise his political influence on many young Africans for the liberation of the continent from colonial rule.
He also said that this role played by Neto at the time was crucial in uniting those who were considered assimilated and non-assimilated, emphasising that Angolans, in particular, and Africans, in general, were living through a time when their habits and customs were being rejected to make way for Western customs.
‘Through his mystical poetry, Agostinho Neto inspired young people to fight for national liberation from colonial rule, which culminated in the conquest of national independence on 11 November 1975,’ he said.
He emphasised that Neto's ideals continue to inspire Angolan youth and leaders for national stability and the stability of the southern African sub-region.
For the young politician, Angola's mediation for the pacification of the Great Lakes countries reflects the matrix left by the greatest poet, when he declared that ‘Angola is and will be, of its own free will, the firm trench of the revolution in Africa. Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa are the continuation of our struggle,’ he said.
In this regard, he defended the demystification of the late Neto's poetry so that new generations can continue to understand and be inspired by the cultural, political, humanist and economic dimensions of the founder of the Angolan nation.
For his part, the second provincial secretary of the MPLA in Zaire, Garcia Vieira, said that the legacy of António Agostinho Neto remains firm in the lives of Angolans and the peoples of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
‘Agostinho Neto always stood out for unity and peace, and created guidelines for Angola to continue along the path of social and economic progress,’ he emphasised.
According to the politician, the political dimension of Angola's first President transcends national borders and Africa, for whom this vision should be considered a source of inspiration in the search for solutions to the main problems that still afflict the population.
António Agostinho Neto was born on 17 September 1922, in the village of Caxicane, Icolo e Bengo, and died on 10 September 1979 in Moscow, Russia of illness. DA/JL/DAN/DOJ
