Angola bids farewell to ex-president Dos Santos at a state funeral

Aug. 28 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The state funeral of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, who died on July 8 at a clinic in Barcelona, ​​took place this Sunday in the Plaza de la República in the presence of heads of state, prime ministers and former presidents of different countries.

Representatives of the Angolan State, members of his family, as well as the government party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), spoke before the coffin of Dos Santos, decorated with flowers. The ceremony, which began at 11:10 a.m. (local time), also featured choirs from the Catholic and Methodist churches, according to the Angop news agency.

The meeting was attended by presidents and prime ministers from different countries, such as the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, or the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, among others.

The funeral was held on the same day that the former president turned 80. Dos Santos ruled the African country for 38 years, until 2017, and was succeeded by Joao Lourenço, who precisely this week revalidated his mandate in the elections.

The death of Dos Santos in Barcelona unleashed a judicial dispute between his widow, who demanded the transfer of the remains to Angola, and the children, who requested investigations to determine if a homicide could have been committed.