Luanda - Angolan President of the Republic João Lourenço paid homage to General Paulo Lara, who died of illness last Tuesday in Oporto city, Portugal.
"On behalf of my family and the Executive, I express deep condolences to the family of General Paulo Lara", who died at the age of 65 age, João Lourenço, also Commander-in-Chief of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), wrote in the condolence book.
Also paid tribute was the National Assembly Speaker, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos. He said that it was the loss of "a great fighter", who since his childhood fought for the cause of the Angolan people, contributed to the conquest of independence and national political stability.
While the vice president of the ruling MPLA party, Luisa Damião, described General Paulo Lara as "a freedom fighter, who was notable for his participation in the military forces and the cause of independence", considering that his passing away will be felt by the people, by the FAA and its party.
Funeral eulogy
The family praised Paulo Lara, as a person who was respected, for his character, courage, consistence and loyalty, having remembered his effort to denounce the colonial atrocities in Angola at the international level.
The minister of National Defense and Veterans of the Homeland, João Ernesto dos Santos, and the Chief of Staff General of the Angolan Armed Forces, Egídio dos Santos, underlined the disciplined soldier, who from an early age made himself available for the fight of liberation and who became general on his own merit.
The former Chief of Staff of the Angolan Army, General António dos Santos França "Ndalu", said that the country lost a soldier who fulfilled his duties, a scholar and who compiled military and war missions, while for General Carlos Coceiro, "a correct and honest soldier, who had a very intense life" fell silent.
Paulo Lara was the son of nationalist Lúcio Lara, one of the most prominent leaders of the Angolan liberation struggle, and Ruth Pflüger Lara, having spent his childhood in exile, namely in Congo-Brazzaville, where he attended primary and secondary education.
From an early age, he lived with guerrillas and MPLA militants in Congo, and from 1970 onwards, he joined his father and other combatants to the areas of the 2nd Military Region (Cabinda) and the 3rd (eastern Angola).
In April 1972, he joined the MPLA guerrilla forces and had his first fights, in the Sanga-Plain areas and in the attack on the Portuguese barracks in Miconge (Cabinda province).
He did specialised in Cuba (1975-1976) and in the former Soviet Union (1981-1985), holding positions in the military hierarchy, in addition to actions on the battlefields and at the level of analysis and strategy and in the restructuring of the Angolan Armed Forces .
Between 1989 and 1991, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he was deputy chief of the Directorate of Operations of the General Staff. having been, from 1992, head of the Planning and Organisation Division and carried out several missions, not only in Angola, with involvement in the "Restoration", "Hexagon" and "Triangle" operations, but also in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo.
Promoted to general in 2003, he interrupted his active military activity to complete the course in International Relations and dedicate himself to collecting documentation and testimonies about the struggle for Angola's independence, being co-founder and one of the main drivers of the Tchiweka Documentation Association (ATD).
He directed the project "Angola - Nos Trilhos da Independência", by the TchiweKa Documentation Association (ATD), and was co-producer of the documentary "Independência", winner of the National Award for Culture and Arts in 2016, in the Cinema and Audiovisual category.
He participated in conferences related to the History of the Liberation Struggle in Angola, in countries such as Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor and Portugal.
