Sita Vales – the Goan revolutionary New book on the life of the this brave young Goan woman who was raised as a devoted catholic, embraced communist idealism and fought for her beliefs in her native Angola.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sita Maria Dias Valles was born in the oil rich Angolan province of Cabinda in 1951 to Goan parents who started a new life there. All three siblings were raised in the traditional catholic faith. She eventually grew into a refined young woman, well in tune with the fashion at the time - the famous 60’s. In 1971, Sita decided to move to Lisbon to study medicine. Both her elder and young brothers too moved in the same direction. It was there she realized her love for communist ideals were stronger than her medical vocation. Hence, she joined the youth student wing (UEC) of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) in Lisbon. Moving up the ladder she eventually became the ‘numero dois’ in the echelons of her party organization. When the Angolan struggle of the 1960’s intensified into the mid 1970’s, Sita decided to pack her bags and join in the revolution in her beloved motherland. She eventually became a member of the local communist MPLA party, where she was well known as the elegant Goan lady who was passionate about her belief for equality in Angola. She eventually married fellow party official José Van Dunen and they had a baby son, Ernesto – named after ‘Che’ Guevara, their hero. But as the MPLA deviated from the Soviet styled way of functioning, Sita, her husband as well as their disgruntled fraction decided to revolt against their party policies and stage a revolution on their own – the 27 de Maio revolution. As the Russians would not back them, and with the local military split, the Cuban army finished them off at the request of then president – poet, Agostinho Neto. Sita and her husband were forced into hiding for a while, but their whereabouts was eventually discovered due to betrayal within her own circle of friends. Arrested, they were both brutally tortured for months by local intelligence agency DISA agents. She was believed to have been finally shot by a firing squad but refused to have her eyes covered and chose to stare at her killers in her last moment of defiance. Till today the whereabouts of both bodies is unknown and the Angolan Government has declined to comment on the matter and has so far refused to issue any death certificates for the couple. The book Sita Valles – Revolucionária, Comunista até à morte (Sita Valles – communist revolutionary till death) by Leonor Figueiredo, has been just released in Portugal. Published by Alêtheia, 250pp costing €17 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Now available in Toronto, a few copies of *Into The Diaspora Wilderness* by Selma Carvalho. Contact Bosco D'Mello [email protected] (416) 803-7264 http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/
