Angola conducted a funeral on Sunday for longtime ex-leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who passed away in Spain in July but whose burial was postponed due to a family request for an autopsy, amid post-election tensions.
Dos Santos passed away on July 8 at the age of 79 in a hospital in Barcelona. Days after an election that looked to have put his MPLA party back in power but whose results have been contested by the opposition, he was buried.
In Angola, politics were dominated by Dos Santos and his family for the 38 years he was in power until 2017. The People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), his former Marxist party that ruled for over 50 years, appears to have won the election on Wednesday.
A 27-year civil war against U.S.-backed rebels from the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), which he finally crushed in 2002, defined his rule. Oil-fueled economic growth was also experienced in the nation, although more than 30 million people—more than half—live in poverty.
Using the moniker dos Santos gained for ending a conflict that claimed 500,000 lives, Social Affairs Minister Carolina Cerqueira remarked, ‘Today we pay respect to the former president for the contribution he made to the nation as the Architect of Peace.’
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the president of Portugal, the former colonial power that ruled Angola, as well as heads of state and senior ministers from all around the continent attended.
Authorities were able to try to prevent protests over the disputed preliminary results, which awarded the MPLA and President Joao Lourenço a majority of 51% while UNITA, now the biggest opposition group, received 44.5%, thanks to the participation of foreign VIPs.
According to a statement obtained by the Lusa news agency on Saturday, the national police force advised individuals planning events to ‘contain themselves out of respect for the former head of state’ because of the official funeral.
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