João Jacob Caetano

João Jacob "Monstro Imortal" Caetano (4 April 1941 – 1977) was an Angolan militant and politician who was a participant in the Angolan War of Independence and the Angolan Civil War. During his military career, he was promoted to the post of general and was vice-commander of the general staff of the People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and commander of the 9th Brigade of Mobilized Marines of the Special Forces of FAPLA. During his political career, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA) and a member of the leadership of the orthodox Communist Nitista-Fractionalist faction.

Biography Caetano was born on 4 April 1941 in the small town of Piri,

During the War for Independence, Caetano participated in numerous confrontation with the colonial Portuguese troops and militants from the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA). He was sent by the MPLA to Congo-Kinshasa to receive training in 1962. While there, he also became a member of the MPLA's football team.

He became a part of the first group of militants of the People's Armed Forces of Liberation of Angola (EPLA; which afterwards became FAPLA), taking leadership positions and commanding detachments of the armed wing of the MPLA. He was one of the first people who identified Mobutu Sese Seko as an adversary of the MPLA. Due to this, he was arrested by the police of Congo-Kinshasa, but was able to escape and went to Congo-Brazavile. From 1964 onward, he was a part of the MPLA's leadership, participating in the military/political meetings of the party in their headquarters in exile in Brazzaville.

He participated in reconnaissance units in the north of Angola in 1963 and in military operations in Cabinda in 1965. He commanded a guerrilla squadron named after Cuban revolutionary Camilo Cienfuegos. In 1966, the Cienfuegos Squadron, under his command, was able to establish itself militarily in the province of Luanda, which became known as one of the most crucial and most successful operations by FAPLA/EPLA before the 1970s.

After the feat, Caetano became one of the main commanders of the 1st Military-Politic Region (Luanda, Dembos e Norte Angolano) of the MPLA/EPLA. He came to be recognized by the soldiers for his courage and capacity for combat, he survived and left victorious after participating in the ambushes by the armed wing of the FNLA the Exército de Libertação Nacional de Angola (ELNA). They gave him the nickname "Monstro Imortal" (Portuguese for "Immortal Monster", given due to his almost seemingly mythical invincibility). and for training sessions as a military official in Czechoslovakia (Military Academy of Brno).

During this period, however, the MPLA went through an intense internal political dispute that had turned into, between 1972 and 1974, the Active Revolt and the Eastern Revolt.

On 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution overthrew the regime of António Salazar and hastened the decolonization of the Portuguese colonies in Africa.

At the signing of the Alvor Agreement, which established the parameters of the partition of power during the process of independence for Angola, Caetano was named by the MPLA to compose the military hierarchy of the transitional government, keeping with one of the Area Commands, together with Pedro Timóteo "Barreiro" Kiakanwa (FNLA) and "Edmundo Rocha" Sabino Sandele (UNITA).

After March 1975, the anti-colonial war transformed into a civil war between the MPLA, the FNLA, and the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA). Angola's independence was declared by the MPLA on 11 November 1975. Agostinho Neto thus became president of the People's Republic of Angola.

Afterwards, he commanded the 9th Brigade of Mobilized Marines of the Special Forces of FAPLA, who were the elite defense forces in Luanda. He strongly contributed to the formation of class consciousness in FAPLA, creating the framework for political education in the branches of the military. After his death, she served as a deputy for the MPLA at the Angolan National Assembly, with her being a member of the assembly until her death from natural causes in 2004. With Luísa, they had a daughter, Florbela Caetano. His nephew, Mário Caetano, also became a politician.

Later declarations & reburial On 26 May 2021, Angolan president João Lourenço expressed his "sincere regrets" and apologized on behalf of the state after a speech in which he mentioned Caetano.

On 13 June 2022, the remains of Caetano were buried in Luanda, at Alto das Cruzes cemetery, in what was described as a solemn ceremony. President Lourenço was represent by his security service and military cabinet chief, Francisco Furtado, and had government representatives such as Minister of Justice Francisco Manuel de Queiróz, Minister of the Interior Eugénio Laborinho, and by Telecommunications Minister Manuel Homem. Florbela Caetano, his daughter, thanked the president for the act of reparations to her family.