By Fr. Efren de Guzman, SVD

For twenty years now a civil war has been in progress in Angola, the government forces being led by President Dos Santos and the UNITA rebels led by Jonas Savimbi. Elections were held under the auspices of the United Nations, but UNITA were not prepared to accept the result. Since they have access to $500,000,000 a year from diamond mines, unscrupulous arms dealers continue to supply then with arms. So, also, they supply the government forces who have oil reserves. Fr. Efren de Guzman, the intrepid SVD priest, and his brave companions continue to do what they can for the poor and the afflicted. Here is one of his recent reports!

Killing Children

On April 8, at 6:00 in the morning the government soldiers of the military camp in Funda, 40 kms from our convent, attacked the people near the camp. They cut off arms and legs of men and women; children were thrown violently to the ground. Some of the soldiers had lost their mind and accused people of having killed one of their soldiers so they could have some reasons for putting our people in prison.

Discontented Government Soldier

The soldiers threatened to do the same thing to other villages if the government did not pay them their salary. Violence was on the rise. After a week, four people in Sao Jose were killed by soldiers. Many soldiers want to leave their camps because they don’t receive their salaries and are hungry. Maybe this situation could account for the banditry that’s happening even in the city of Luanda. Add to this the influx of returning jobless Angolan refugees, some 120, 000 from Zambia and more than 300,000 from Zaire.

Priest Tortured

Within this week, nine foreigners were murdered. Last Friday while entering the compound to park his car, Padre Abilio Guerra, a Holy Spirit Missionary, was abducted. This happened at about seven o’clock in the evening. His provincial superior and a brother immediately looked for him. They informed the city exit police station, inquired from hospitals and other places, but to no avail. The following day (at four in the afternoon), he was found dead in the morgue of a hospital. Earlier someone had found his body covered with grass in a place near the airport.

There were marks of brutal torture. He had wounds in the head and face and a bullet in the side. He must been tied up to a seat as there were marks on his thighs and lower torso. It seems that was the third attempt on him, and at last the bandits succeeded.

We Must Keep Going

Carnappers are not content with stealing that car; they kill the owners cruelly. Last Sunday, after a day’s excursion on the beach, a Portuguese couple and their three children were murdered. Within three months according to police sources, there have been more than a hundred and fifty killings in Luanda and its periphery. It is very risky now to go out (especially by car) but our work demands that we go out. So please pray for us.