Luanda – The Portuguese-speaking world was this Friday saddened by the death of former President of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, who died in Spain, victim of illness.

The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in a message of condolence sent to his counterpart Joao Lourenço and to the bereaved family, said that the former Angolan statesman was a decisive figure in the relations between the Angolan and Portuguese states and peoples.

“Portugal bears witness to the respect due to that long memory, in a period that was decisive for the birth and start-up of the CPLP and for the expansion of our bilateral relations after decolonization,” the message reads.

For his part, the President of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, said he had “lost a great friend” with the death of Eduardo dos Santos and is “in mourning.

The same sentiment was expressed by Guinea-Bissau’s Head of State, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, who remembered Dos Santos as a “unique leader” who fought for Africa’s cause.

In his turn, the Executive Secretary of the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP), Zacarias da Costa, said the death of José Eduardo dos Santos was a “great loss for Angola and the Portuguese-speaking world.

In a statement of regret issued earlier this afternoon, Zacarias da Costa said that the “founding president of the CPLP was always a supporter and tireless defender of the projection of the Portuguese language and the consolidation of our Community.

In the statement, Zacarias da Costa “expresses his feelings of regret and solidarity with the pain of his family and friends.

Former Cape-Verdean President Pedro Pires recalled José Eduardo dos Santos as a “central figure” in the “great change” in Southern Africa.

Source: Angola Press News Agency