UN General Assembly
1979

4. We learnt with deep shock of the untimely death, early this month, of Mr. Agostinho Neto, the President of the People's Republic of Angola. Mr. Neto and his countrymen have had a long association with my country and people, a relationship which deepened through Angola's armed struggle for independence. The association ripened in the post-independence years as, along with the other front-line States, we met, planned and worked together to discharge the duty entrusted to us by the OAU to act as a firm rear base for the armed struggle for the liberation of southern Africa. With his passing, Africa has lost a great son, a great patriot, a great freedom fighter, a great revolutionary thinker and a great statesman. I ask the Angolan delegation to convey my delegation's heartfelt condolences to the family of the late President, to the MPLA Workers Party, and to the Government and people of Angola.