5 January 2009
Luanda — Angola's ruling MPLA party Sunday in Luanda reiterated its deepest gratitude to all who gave their lives in the defence of the noblest ideals of Angolans in the belief that such acts of heroism significantly contributed to the strengthening of the feeling of unity and accelerated the process that led to the National Independence, on November 11, 1975.
According to a press note from the Secretariat of the MPLA Political Bureau that reached Angop, on the occasion of the Day of the Martyrs of the Colonial Repression, January 4.
the un-reflected act of the mentors of the colonial system led to a rise in awareness on those already fighting for freedom and encouraged a greater cohesion within the groups of the resistance nationalist.
The source also notes that the uprising of the Baixa de Kassanji was the seed that blossomed the first activity organised with military and political characteristics, carried out by the heroic fighters of the February 4, 1961, start of the armed liberation struggle.
At this moment of reflection, the MPLA praises the memory of all martyrs of the Colonial Repression and expresses its deepest respect and gratitude for all those who sacrificed their lives so that today we can be proud to live in a free and sovereign country, where the peace attained and the return to constitutional normality are secure foundations for a genuine reconciliation among the Angolans, the national reconstruction and economic recovery towards the development of Angola.
The town of Úcua, province of Bengo was the venue for the main event of the January 4, the day dedicated to the Martyrs of Colonial Repression, which this year is going under the motto: "Let us preserve the memory of those who fought for the dignity of Angolans."
On January 4, 1961 thousands of workers from the cotton fields of the Cotonang company in the Baixa de Kassanji region, northern province of Malanje, were brutally massacred by the Portuguese colonial troops, for demanding for better remuneration for their work.
The colonial authorities' response was brutal with massive bombardment of the region with napalm, in which became the worse massacre by soldiers in the then Portuguese overseas, according to some sources.
This courageous action of the population precipitated the events of February 4 of that year, with the launch of the armed struggle for national liberation which culminated with the proclamation of the national independence on November 11, 1975.
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