Why Anitta’s Tweet Generated Controversy Over Aid to Angola

BBC News Brazil

A tweet by singer Anitta promising to make donations to Angola due to the Covid-19 pandemic crisis went viral in the country and triggered virtual demonstrations by young Angolans protesting against the local government.

Anitta performed in Angola in May 2019. Last week, she wrote on Twitter: “Yesterday I was talking to some people about the show I did in Angola and something came to my mind. How is Angola in relation to the pandemic? How can I help? Donations or something? I would like to repay all the love I received when I went. Get in touch I want to help”.

The tweet went viral in Angola and was shared by young people like Baptista Miranda, one of the biggest Angolan youtubers, with more than 400,000 subscribers on the platform. Many of his followers are Brazilians.

“Thank you for showing concern for our country. The pandemic situation here has increased unemployment, this current government has not done anything in favor of the population and it has been increasingly complicated for people living on the streets”, Miranda wrote.

“If you can help, talk to the right people because there will certainly be many freeloaders and help may not reach the people who really need it.”

Over the past few years, young people have engaged politically against the government, without a centralized organization, on platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and more recently on Twitter. Some netizens responded to Anitta with criticism of the government: “if you want to help, just publicly denounce the ruling party in Angola” or “this current government has not done anything in favor of the population”.

Anitta’s tweet was highlighted in the local press, especially on the most popular information portals in Angola. Xé Agora Aguenta described the Brazilian singer’s intention as a “beautiful gesture”, adding that the post had a lot of repercussion in the country.

But in many comments by Anitta’s Angolan fans, there was a common concern that any funds donated by the singer would be diverted by Angolan authorities.

Anitta replied to one of these messages: “I’m already doing it differently, dear. Now I’ll send the materials already purchased”.

It is not very common in the country for major music figures to take a stand on the political situation or openly criticize the Angolan regime. Many fear some kind of reprisal from the government.

In 2012 Human Right Watch’s annual report said that in Angola “the educated urban classes used to use the internet and social networks as channels to criticize the government due to the restrictions of traditional media”.

And many critics of the Angolan regime insist that the situation today remains the same, despite the current president, João Lourenço, constantly asserting that freedom of expression and the press are important pillars of his government that began in 2017.

“Given the international dimension of Anitta, Angolans saw in her a channel to express their dissatisfaction with the government in Angola”, says Edmilson Ângelo, Angolan analyst, from the Institute for Development Studies in the United Kingdom.

Anitta would have contacted the NGO Atos Angola, a Brazilian non-governmental organization that has been operating in the country since 2011, to get the donations.

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN ANGOLA?

Angola, an independent country from Portugal since 1975, is currently experiencing serious political, economic and social problems.

With an estimated population of 33 million inhabitants, more than 18 million people, that is, about 54.3% of the population, live in extreme poverty —with less than US$ 1.90 (R$ 10) a day— , according to World Poverty Clock data.

But despite the alarming numbers, the African country, rich in natural resources, is home to an elite of African millionaires, among them Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, who was once considered the richest woman in Africa. by Forbes magazine, with an estimated wealth of US$ 3.5 billion (R$ 19 billion).

“We are talking about a country that once had an economy considered the second largest on the continent, but this abysmal economic growth did not result in Angola’s social development”, says Ângelo.

“Economic development in Angola only served to create a small elite that turned out to be the biggest beneficiary of this historic growth, much to the sadness of the majority of the population,” he adds.

Angola is one of the biggest oil producers in Africa, second only to Nigeria. Oil is the country’s main source of income. In 2019 alone, Angola produced more than 1.4 million barrels of oil per day.

But the resources from oil exploration are not reflected in the lives of a large part of the population. Critics of the government often point to mismanagement and corruption as elements that foster social inequality in the country.

With a youth population of 47%, one of Angola’s greatest challenges today is youth unemployment. The country has high unemployment rates, with an estimated 52% of young Angolans being unemployed.

This has sparked youth protests against the government of Angolan President João Lourenço, who in his 2017 election campaign promised to generate another 500,000 jobs for young people.

According to a 2017 Unicef ​​report, Angola is on the list of countries with the highest infant mortality rate under 5 years of age. According to data in the document, in 2016, 83 children died for every thousand births, while in Brazil there were 15 deaths for every thousand births.

The main cause of death in Angola is malaria, a disease that has already been eradicated in Europe. But the health challenges in Angola go beyond diseases, and extend to lack of sanitary conditions, poor hospital services and little public investment in the health sector.

In December 2021, Angolan doctors went on strike for almost two weeks to demand better working conditions and better wages. A doctor in Angola can earn less than US$520 (about R$3,000).

In addition, the country faces chronic problems due to hunger. In September 2021, the UN World Food Program estimated that more than 1.3 million people in southern Angola faced “severe famine as the worst drought in 40 years left barren fields, dry grasslands and depleted food reserves”. .

In a recent speech that went viral on social media, President João Lourenço said that “hunger in Angola is relative”, generating repudiation from organizations in Angolan society.

PROTESTS

In the last four years, Angola has registered a great wave of anti-government demonstrations. Most of them are young people who gather in various squares of the city, especially in Luanda, the country’s capital, to claim unfulfilled electoral promises and demand better living conditions.

“The population is much more active than in the past and wants to make its voice heard in order to solve its biggest problems”, claims Edmilson.

“We are facing a context of a youth that no longer fears the civil war that has been lived in Angola and wants the electoral promises to be fulfilled”, he adds.

Most protests end with police repression, and in some cases with deaths and injuries. Sometimes, it is the protesters who use violence to convey their message of discontent with the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) party, which has ruled Angola since 1975.

This is what happened last week during a taxi drivers’ strike in Luanda, in which a group of protesters set fire to an MPLA building and ripped off party flags scattered across the city. Police authorities detained 33 people following the acts.

The Angolan president on Wednesday condemned the protests and said they were part of a plan to create instability in Angola.

2022 ELECTIONS

Angola holds elections every five years. The last elections, in August 2017, elected João Lourenço, a former defense minister in the government of José Eduardo dos Santos, as president, who was appointed to the position by his predecessor who ruled Angola for 36 years.

João Lourenço, who today sees his popularity in Angola questioned because of the problems the country faces, intends to run for a second term in elections scheduled for August.

Adalberto da Costa Júnior, leader of UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), the biggest opposition party, should be his main opponent.

In Edmilson Ângelo’s view, the latest protests in Angola should serve as a warning to what will be the electoral process in Angola.

“Many people look to 2022 as a year of change, where they will make their voice and political will felt. There is a possibility that radical protests will continue and these latest protests could be a sign of what we will have during this year.”