ep 1/18 part 1/6

The March 15th was prepared under an order that came from Leopoldville (Kinshasa). They sent people, UPA delegates, that brought pamphlets regarding the beginning of the uprising of the Angolan people. When they arrived, they arranged for a meeting on March 10th. There was a lot of people on that meeting. The meeting took place in the church, so the "whites" (the settlers) would think it was some sort of church meeting. When the March 12th came, there were other meetings now in other zones, each group and village would decide on what was necessary to do. After the meeting, everyone was advised to sharpen up their machetes. On the March 15th, at 6 am, the operation started. When we would reach a farm, we would chant: UPA! UPA! UPA! [March 15th, 1961] [Camabatela, March 1961] [Álvaro Silva Tavares - General-Governor of Angola 1960/61] When the U.S. warned the Portuguese defense minister that the March 15th (massacre) was about to take place. When that telegram arrived to Angola, Botelho Moniz's (portuguese defense minister 58-61) chief of staff sent an alarming telegram to Angola so they could take heed. After the event took place he was very surprised when he realized that no one had paid attention to that telegram. Colonel Valença(?) replied that Salazar told them that the American warning was of no importance because it was part of the American agenda for the decolonization. [Holden Roberto - UPA president in 1961] It was a well prepared operation: "you should rebel on the farms, to show that there is forced labor, "and we are going to send TV crews to show it." that was our initial goal. I went to the US to be present (on the UN), I kept waiting, That happened on March 15th, but the news only reached the US on March 17th I saw images that displeased me. - We were overtaken. - Overtaken how? - By the events... When mass murders took place, we were surprised. But I reached the conclusion that it was not an action, it was a reaction. The people reacted and the people's reaction was uncontrollable. [Adriano Moreira - Minister of Overseas 1961/62] The arsons, the destructions, the victims, all that is truly a crime against humanity that cannot be explained as a reaction. the amount of complaints cannot explain the disproportionated violence: people could be passed over a timber saw, decapitated, children could be neglectedly thrown against a wall because it was fastest. the destruction of everything that is white, white chickens, white flowers, everything that was white. In history, the March 15th is not a sole case... that happened... but the way the people reacted, it was hard for me but maybe it was that event that started the liberation war. I didn't claim it immediately, because I saw that and thought... well, what is the meaning of this... But (Franz) Fanon called me and told me: "if you don't claim it, the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) will say it was them..." So, next day I claimed it. The majority of the farmers were white European, those farmers owned the main coffee plantations coffee was the main economic source of revenue for the region In that time, Angola was one of the top producers in the world and coffee had guaranteed prices in the international markets since the 50's The production process was possible thanks to the work of the bailundos workers hired in the south. From the coffee boom, the most important boom in the Angolan economy after the end of slavery, a city was born: now called Uíge, its name used to be Carmona and it developed in the North, right in Bakongo territory. With a population of approximately 30.000, it exported the production of about 250 farms. The city of Carmona, was located in the center of the coffee production region Between the village of Salazar and Maquela do Zombo, next to the border. the city of Carmona extended to vast moist fields that benefitted from the regular fog of the region. More than fog, it was the clouds on the horizon of the North of Angola that seemed to point out that March 15th of 1961 was going to bring a good harvest But in the end, the rainfall that promised an historical year for coffee production would only accentuate a drama announced by the winds of history. It was 6:30 am when my deceased husband, noticing a loud noise, went looking. It was the bailundos, "we are the bailundos". - Is that what they were saying? but were they bailundos? - No, they were not bailundos, they were there bandits that were there to kill. - "We are bailundos, UPA! UPA! Hurrah for... (Patrice) Lumumba, hurrah! hurrah!" they all said with their machetes lifted in the air. They had like 6 weapons, the rest was all machetes. My husband was in front of them running, they killed him on the terrace. In the places where the action took place, there were cooks and servants, that were already prepared for what they had to do: "tomorrow morning, before the (patrão) boss wakes up, when you go clean his house you hide his weapon, because after the attack, when he goes looking for his weapon, he won't find it and that way he cannot defend himself." (in the businesses) you would come next to the (patrão) boss and ask: "I want 2 kg of sugar!" and when he went to get it, you would hit him in the head with the machete. The first to be attacked was the (patrão) boss, and only after the manager. The patrão (boss) was killed with a shot, and only after the shot was heard would the attacks with the machetes start. If the machete wouldn't kill at first, one would repeat twice or thrice Because we were so angry with all that time of oppression, there was not pity nor compassion because it is no small thing to be ruled over for 500 years. UPA combines its operations on the March 15th with the work schedules and routines of the farms. Some of the attackers worked in those same farms they attacked. The majority of the bailundos that work on those farms didn't adhere to the revolts, so they and their bosses were the main victims of the attacks along with business owners and administrative authorities. The attacks are simultaneous in the districts of Luanda, North Quanza and Congo, specially in the Dembos, approximately 40.000 sq. km.