Protesters battle shunting of a shantytown in Angola

Meanwhile, some churches are using a church-run radio station to debate the issue and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are uniting to pressure the Angolan government.

"The more illiterate and the poorer people become in this country, the less they have to lose from speaking out," says Raphael Marques, a political activist and writer. "Two years ago Boavista would not have even considered protesting. Now we are less passive. Less scared."

Still, government claims of safety hazards ring true, to some degree. Last year, a mudslide washed several tin shacks off their fragile foundations, killing 11 people. But Boavista is no worse off than dozens of other shantytowns scattered in and around the capital.

For many people here, the eviction of the Boavista residents is a classic example of all that is wrong in Angola: The wealthy elite enriches itself without regard for the poor, using the ongoing civil war as an excuse, they say.

Since independence in 1975, Luanda's population has grown from half a million to almost 4 million. But little has been added to the infrastructure, and much has deteriorated. Some 50 percent of this capital's residents do not have access to proper latrines. Even more must buy drinking water from street vendors.

The difference in this case, says Boavista activist Joseph Rashgadinho, is that Boavista is sitting on property worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The March edition of the SONANGOL oil company magazine describes its planned development. "We will construct a commercial area with entertainment clubs, restaurants, bars, leisure areas, a supermarket, swimming pool etc.," the glossy reads. "[However], ... the project is a challenge that requires a joint solution with the provincial government of Luanda," it continues. "They will need to construct a residential area to which to relocate the people of Boavista."

But the government officials are wrong to point at the war as a reason for the evictions, says lawyer Mendes. Officials from the UN and NGOs agree. They criticize the government's actions in Boavista, although they asked not to be named, to avoid getting into confrontations with the government.

But when asked to provide food for the hapless new refugees, the organizations collectively declined, saying that in a country where their resources are already terribly stretched, this problem is of the government's own making.

Isabel Emerson is director of the National Democratic Institute in Angola, an organization that promotes civil society. She sees this as a possible impetus for change.

"Civil society is often accused of being passive, but as Boavista shows, we are not," she says, speaking of a wider movement. "We are suing, we are demonstrating. There is some incremental change - and civil society is maturing."

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