Seven years ago, rapper and activist Luaty Beirão, 40, was arrested for participating in a microcell opposing power in Angola. Since then, the country has witnessed intense political episodes.
José Eduardo dos Santos, who was in power for 38 years, left the country and died, and João Lourenço, his political heir, was elected president with an extensive list of promises.
But not all that much has changed, says Luaty, who spoke to Sheet in mid-July, by video call, from Portugal. The author of “Sou Eu Mais Livre, Then” (ed. Tinta da China) spoke about the August 24 elections, the strengthening of civil society, the death of Dos Santos and the ingrained remnants of authoritarianism.
What is the election scenario? The government has provided a number for people to send an SMS and know where they are going to vote. Everyone started to find a dead relative. I looked up the name of my father, who died in 2006, and he has data to vote. This is symptomatic. The question remains whether the incompetence is intentional or not.
There was also a change in the Constitution [em 2021], once again with the arrogance of the parliamentary majority, which made cosmetic changes that interested them, but did not make substantive changes demanded by society, such as reintroducing presidential elections separate from legislative ones and reducing the president’s powers. We have a hyper-presidential system in which we don’t elect the president.
Afterwards, they tinkered with the electoral package and removed elements that guaranteed some trace of transparency. That’s what authoritarian regimes do: as soon as they see that society begins to organize itself, they quickly find a way to outlaw civil society’s action, as was the case with the law that prohibits polls.
Elections are completely doomed. This is more like the theatricalization of an electoral act to legitimize a regime that considers the possibility of an alternation of power.
Are you supporting any candidate or party? If we are frank, there is only one party capable of being a more or less serious alternative to the alternation necessary for democracy. It’s Unita.
Unfortunately the others all don’t seem to have enough internal organization. I sympathize with Adalberto Costa Júnior [líder da Unita], but I don’t think it’s Unita. Unita has already shown more than evident proof that it has the same mentality problem as those who are governing: that, as soon as they get there, they will beautify themselves with that.
Will the new generation have weight? If elections were the express will of the people, I’m sure they would. But the elections in Angola are not that. The results that will be read at the end they [o governo] already know what they are. There will only be a transparent result if all the people, aware that their votes will be stolen, make an effort not to accept this. That means going out on the street and contesting.
And the diaspora? Could it be more critical? Not necessarily. But this question, too, was more of a joke. Even if all the people of the diaspora who are more open at the level of democratic consciousness do not vote for the MPLA, it will not have any weight, because it is only a tiny fraction.
in your book [lançado em 2017], you say that you would not celebrate the death of José Eduardo dos Santos, which happened just now. How did you get the news? I was in Portugal and I was completely indifferent. In Angola, his name or state of health was not mentioned before his death. And I’m not sorry either. He was eventually isolated by the man-eating system he created. He wanted to be remembered as a patriot, but he left his country and was not treated in the hospitals he created. The antithesis of the image he projected is over. Alone, unsupported, completely outcast.
How do you rate the organization of civil society today? Nothing too showy. Gradually I have felt a little more cohesion, but still very tenuous and hesitant. There is a lot of resistance from organizations to trust each other. Sometimes, due to small nuances, people quickly become incompatible.
To what do you attribute this difficulty in strengthening civil society? There were many years of acceptance of a position of subjection to the government. And this dependency relationship is not easy to undo. It is necessary that new organizations are less careful, more open-minded, that do not depend on the benevolence of the government.
What is your assessment of João Lourenço’s government? In the first two years, I wanted to believe in an intention to do something different. We began to feel an opening in the press, which until then was a propaganda machine for the MPLA. I don’t know if he got wrapped up in the strong tentacles created over the years in the party, but I know that was lost. It returned to being a propaganda and image washing machine.
But one positive thing that I think will hardly go back, unless violent repression practices are resumed, is the open window to freedom of expression. People started using this space, even those who didn’t even dare to like what they agreed on Facebook. We feel a much more conscious and active civil society flourishing. In this he has certain merit.
Do you think that in today’s Angola a political prison like yours could occur? There are political prisoners right now with ridiculous accusations. They are young Luther Campos and Tanaece Neutro, arrested for forced association with events that attacked an MPLA committee.
I don’t think there’s an automatic possibility that we can get rid of this specter of authoritarian rule that puts people in prison just because they’re being a nuisance.
X-ray | Luaty Beirao, 40
Born in Luanda, he graduated in engineering in the United Kingdom and in economics in France. In the rap scene, he is known by stage names like Ikonoklasta. He composed the so-called “revu movement”, in opposition to the MPLA government. He was arrested alongside 16 other activists in 2015 while discussing a book on democracy. In prison, he went on hunger strike for 36 days. He is the author of “Sou Eu Mais Livre, Then: Diary of an Angolan Political Prisoner” (ed. Tinta da China, 2017).
