Women's roundtable conference, Luanda, People's Republic of Angola, 1978 April 29-30, Tape 3, Side 1
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Speaker 1: the meetings of the WIPA, and in England where they have participated
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Speaker 1: in the long and significant [[??]] against Apartheid.
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Speaker 1: Having [[??]] within imperialist exploitation of Africa,
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Speaker 1: and in support for the reactionary groups in Southern Africa,
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Speaker 1: a meeting of women against Apartheid in Angola
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Speaker 1: is the most hopeful way of demonstrating our support
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Speaker 1: for independence for all the people of Southern Africa,
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Speaker 1: immediately Namibia, Zimbabwe, and may then in South Africa instill
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Speaker 1: the hope of reality. [[voice in background louder than speaker]]
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Speaker 1: We hope these efforts will be helped by solidarity in Namibia.
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Speaker 1: In Britain, the solidarity is really significant.
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Speaker 1: The ANC has an office where certain staff [[inaudible]] welcome.
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Speaker 1: In addition, there are groups devoted to liberation, to anti-Apartheid,
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Speaker 1: and there are various agencies, whose contribution is vital,
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Speaker 1: and has been for many years, giving aid of various kinds,
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Speaker 1: where it is most needed, and where we say little about.
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Speaker 1: Activity has been intensified in these last years,
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Speaker 1: and particularly in this Anti-Apartheid Year of the U.N..
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[[voice in background louder than speaker]] [[Cross Talk]]
Speaker 1: We also have [[inaudible]] Angola and Mozambique,
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Speaker 1: formally called the Committee for the Liberation of Angola and Mozambique.
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Speaker 1: All these groups receive the active
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Speaker 1: support of very many people in Britain.
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Speaker 1: And there are many organizations--
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Speaker 1: --up and down the country, not just in the camps.
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Speaker 1: The Labour, the Communist, and the Cooperative Parties, as well as the Liberal Party,
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Speaker 1: and the majority of Members of Parliament and trade unions, are on record against Apartheid.
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Speaker 1: Women joined in these general activities and organized to take action, as well.
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Speaker 1: For example: International Women's Day of the Year be devoted to Apartheid.
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Speaker 1: Demonstrations and meetings are held all over the country;
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Speaker 1: one, for Winnie Mandela,
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Speaker 1: outside the South African embassy in Trafalgar Square,
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Speaker 1: attracting T.V., radio, and newspaper reporters covering earlier this year.
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Speaker 1: It happened to be a bitterly cold day.
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Speaker 1: I don't know if you could imagine what a bitterly cold day is;
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Speaker 1: obviously, it's not warm like Angola here.
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Speaker 1: But, it was a large demonstration.
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Speaker 1: Many people supported it during their lunch hour.
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Speaker 1: Last Sunday, Joshua Nkomo [[applause]]
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[[voice in background talking louder than speaker]] [[Cross Talk]]
Speaker 1: faced a large meeting of the liberation organization in London
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Speaker 1: and told the audience there
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[[voice in background talking loudly]] [[Cross Talk]]
Speaker 1: of the current struggles of
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Speaker 1: the Patriotic Front.
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Speaker 1: One of the most encouraging advents
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Speaker 1: of the solidarity with Southern Africa,
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Speaker 1: is the large number of young people [[Cross talk]] [[Voice in background talking]]
Speaker 1: who are joining in the solidarity struggle. [[Cross Talk]] [[Voice in background talking]]
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Speaker 1: I was hit with an epiphany of last Sunday's meeting
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Speaker 1: with something like 70 to 80% of young people,
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Speaker 1: and that is a new phenomenon for us.
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Speaker 1: There is in fact solidarity by the people in spite of the
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Speaker 1: [[members'??]] attitude in the government.
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Speaker 1: And most people now recognize Apartheid as a crime.
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[[Applause]]
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Speaker 1: Dear friends, I'd like to emphasize,
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Speaker 1: that the British government is completely ambivalent,
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Speaker 1: as it were, in the negotiations on Zimbabwe.
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Speaker 1: --and from today, showing the lamentable service to the United States,
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Speaker 1: and to the reactionary rule of Britain.
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Speaker 1: Actions and associations are, in despite of the resolution
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Speaker 1: of the Labour Party and the Trade Union Congress Conference,
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Speaker 1: which are already against the Smith regime,
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Speaker 1: and many maneuvers and manipulation on the part of foreign secretary and the government,
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Speaker 1: for the Anglo-U.S. terror has no support from the people of Britain and is doomed to failure.
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Speaker 1: It will not bring independence or self-determination
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Speaker 1: in Zimbabwe without the Patriotic Front,
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Speaker 1: and it does not have the support of
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Speaker 1: the majority of the British people.
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Speaker 1: Obviously, the British government has technically
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Speaker 1: been against the Smith regime, [[Voices talking in background]]
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Speaker 1: and is rejected by them, but it finds the last state of liberation of Zimbabwe,
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Speaker 1: too difficult to accept, especially when they fear a
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Speaker 1: progressive government in power,
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Speaker 1: but now they have no choice.
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Speaker 1: The step to independence itself is no later;
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Speaker 1: it will be taken by people at will.
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[[applause]]
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[[Voices in background]]
Speaker 1: Due to the [[?]] superiority of a master race
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Speaker 1: in Southern Africa, is also new.
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Speaker 1: Even Vorster, who learned it well from Hitler
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Speaker 1: and to be reinforced by fascism and racism
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Speaker 1: enduring at the U.N., will be overthrown
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Speaker 1: by the determination of the people,
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Speaker 1: not without sacrifice, not without suffering and destruction,
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Speaker 1: but with the growing unity and solidarity
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Speaker 1: which did not [[inaudible]] yesterday,
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Speaker 1: and with the coming sacrifice,
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Speaker 1: brains and the brawn of sisters and brothers [[noises in background]]
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Speaker 1: in the field of tragic suffering in Southern Africa,
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Speaker 1: and with the support as always of progressive countries
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Speaker 1: and progressive people--
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Speaker 1: Last year, we had a program for [[??]] visiting London on the initiative of the W.I.P.A.
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Speaker 1: Their Committee wasn't ready for change; they gained a large number of people
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Speaker 1: who were interested in the [[inaudible]] for Angola,
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Speaker 1: but was too short.
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Speaker 1: For after they met, we were inundated in the press,
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Speaker 1: for interviews with TV, radio press, as well as [[inaudible]],
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[[inaudible]] democratic earlier, and were congratulated on new ideas
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Speaker 1: of organizing it and [[inaudible]] it, that they should be
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Speaker 1: [[inaudible]] and they have very nearly done.
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Speaker 1: Angola and Mozambique can be said
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Speaker 1: to have supplied the heart and inspiration
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Speaker 1: for even more continuation of activity in Southern Africa.
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Speaker 1: [[inaudible]] [[voice talking loudly over speaker's voice]]
Speaker 1: will endeavor as the courage of the young people of South Africa
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at the same time ... try to analyze...
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...??
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The government takes no action but... able to operate
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Speaker 1: Let us make no mistake, while the neutron bomb is to be deployed in Europe
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Speaker 1: against the Socialist countries, and in particular against the Soviet Union,
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Speaker 1: once deployed in Europe, it will find its way to the government of South Africa.
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Speaker 1: And they will stop at nothing
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Speaker 1: to prevent the spread of education and progress
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Speaker 1: for the people in Southern Africa.
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Speaker 1: The Socialist countries and freedom fighters
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Speaker 1: everywhere will be the target.
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Speaker 1: Europe or Southern Africa, they will stop nowhere.
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Speaker 1: We women must unite against racism,
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Speaker 1: against fascism, against war, against reaction.
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Speaker 1: The United Nations have provided two immediate ways to do it together.
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Speaker 1: In 1978, renewed a vigorous struggle everywhere against Apartheid
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Speaker 1: and against the arms race,
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Speaker 1: in particular, nuclear weapons and the ubiquitous neutron bomb.
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Speaker 1: We have demonstrated against our own government,
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Speaker 1: when they pursue reactionary politics.
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Speaker 1: We must unite internationally, so that we are strengthened in our own national struggles.
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[[silence]]
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Speaker 1: We must ensure that our own governments ratify the U.N. conventions against Apartheid.
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Speaker 1: We must find ways to encourage our government to send aid
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Speaker 1: and to do business and to do trade with the newly liberated countries.
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Speaker 1: In England, for example, we have a Ministry of Overseas Development,
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Speaker 1: which has been very progressive towards the future, who is against Apartheid,
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Speaker 1: who has given a great deal of help to [[genuine?]] refugees, to the Vietnamese.
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Speaker 1: And it seems to me, that requests should be sent to our Ministry of Overseas aid,
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Speaker 1: particularly within various [[??]] we have had,
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Speaker 1: requests for aid are coming from Southern Africa.
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Speaker 1: In 1979, the International Year of the Child,
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Speaker 1: should provide many opportunities for cooperation in favor of the world's children.
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Speaker 1: Delegates from the Congo and from South Africa, [[noises and talking around mic]]
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Speaker 1: have told us of the difficulties, psychological and physical,
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Speaker 1: of the children of women living in prison.
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Speaker 1: This is one group of children we can help in 1979.
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Speaker 1: We should change and experience in the best interests of our children.
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Speaker 1: And today, Socialist countries have showed the highest priority
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Speaker 1: to the development and habitat of children.
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Speaker 1: This can only be implemented fully in a world of peace.
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Speaker 1: What countries of Southern Africa have done with their children,
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Speaker 1: even during the course of the struggle,
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Speaker 1: is a tribute to the care and concern which the refugee
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Speaker 1: people have for children - all children - everywhere.
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Speaker 1: And now, we would like to thank all the members of OMA,
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Speaker 1: who are present, and who have demonstrated
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Speaker 1: it to us; the hospitality of this free Africa,
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Speaker 1: the generosity of the women and the government of Angola.
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Speaker 1: Some [[??]] have given us of many heroines and many heroes
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Speaker 1: in their long struggle for freedom.
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Speaker 1: May we all [[??] the WIPA will, as a result of this roundtable conference,
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Speaker 1: publish such a [[inaudible]], so that we may know
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Speaker 1: and honor them in our own countries.
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[[applause]]
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[[Rhythmic clapping]]
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[[Rhythmic clapping over speaker in background]]
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[[soft voices in background]] [[rhythmic clapping]]
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[[singing in foreign language with rhythmic clapping]]
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[[Unknown Speaker 1]] [[speaking in foreign language]]
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[[Applause]]
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[SILENCE]
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Speaker 2: I am unique, I am wonderful,
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Speaker 2: I am black, and I am beauti--
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[[silence]]
Speaker 1: Dear sisters, quite short, I would like to give you much love
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from my organization in Sweden, SKV.
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"S" stands for Swedish, "K" for Kvinna - woman, [[cross-talk]],
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"V" for anti-fascist, anti-war, anti- anti-neutron bomb,
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and that's a growing movement in Sweden,
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And anti-, anti-Apartheid.
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I hardly don't need to say that we are happy and proud to have been invited here,
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by OMA, and that we will be fighting against the Apartheid system,
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now is one of the most important things in the world.
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But please, let us now come to concrete matters,
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because that is what we need in Sweden.
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We feel very much the importance of this fight for the women in Sweden,
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in Southern Africa.
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But, please let us now call to action.
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Finally, I wonder if you have heard of Víctor Jara?
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He was a poet and musician murdered by the Chile junta
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in 1975.
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They killed him, alright, but not his songs.
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They are still sobbing, now spread all over the world.
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This is what I want to say.
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Music is also a weapon.
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Now, I bring a song from Sweden to you.
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It is about the liberation of women, and a message of importance.
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It says "sisters of all countries - come together,
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the liberation comes closer and closer."
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Speaker 2: But, then some voices say, "But can we?
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Speaker 2: Will we? Have we got the courage?"
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Speaker 2: And the majority answers, "Yes we can. Yes we will.
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Speaker 2: Yes we have got the courage if we are together."
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Speaker 2: And if there is--
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[SILENCE]
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Speaker 2: The children says, one day the children will say,
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Speaker 2: "Thank you, mothers, you did it well."
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Speaker 2: This is the human world we want to live in.
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Speaker 2: I will sing just the last verse for you. [[?]]
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[[Speaker 2 singing in Swedish]]
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Speaker 2: Thank you. [[Applause]]
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Speaker 2: [[Rhythmic clapping]]
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[[many voices talking in foreign languages in background]]
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Pearl Bowser: [[speaking over the loud background talking throughout this talk]] The song represents
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Pearl Bowser: the 13 provinces of Angola,
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Pearl Bowser: represented at the conference
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[[singing starts around her in foreign language]] [[Cross Talk]]
Pearl Bowser: brought in a song.
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[[singing continues in foreign language]] [[rhythmic clapping]]
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[[background talking]]
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] [[singing continues in foreign language]] [[rhythmic clapping]]
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[[background noises & talking in a foreign language]]
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[[singing in foreign language]]
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[[singing in foreign language]] [[rhythmic clapping]]
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[[background voices once in a while]] [[singing in foreign language]] [[rhythmic clapping]]
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[[singing stops]] [[background noise and people speaking in a foreign language]]
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[[background noise and people speaking in a foreign language]] [[background singing in background in foreign language]]
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[[singing in foreign language]]
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[[singing in foreign language]] [[rhythmic clapping]]
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Speaker 2: Now we come to the most important part of our roundtable discussions,
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Speaker 2: but before we do this, I would like to make a few explanations.
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Speaker 2: We all are aware that the Angola is a very young country,
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Speaker 2: and that OMA is also a very young country.
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Speaker 2: And not only young, but a country which has just gone through a terrible war.
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And because of this, as you have seen yourselves,
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Speaker 2: there are-- We don't have as much facilities as we would like to have.
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Speaker 2: At the present, being that the priorities
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Speaker 2: are a question of life and death in this country.
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Speaker 2: And so, although we have tried, the comrades of OMA have put in every effort
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Speaker 2: to make our work as easy, as, as understandable,
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Speaker 2: as possible; sometimes it is not possible to do what you want to do.
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Speaker 2: And the last declaration is being translated into French and Portuguese,
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Speaker 2: but the documents are not ready.
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Speaker 2: And if we wait for the documents to be ready,
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Speaker 2: we shall not be able to finish the day.
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Speaker 2: Unfortunately, we have to finish our visit with you. But what we can promise you --
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[[silence]]
