SCAPEGOAT HUNT – The Stigma of The Wealth of São Vicente

Irene Alexandra Neto – 16.11.2025

Because silence weighs heavily, injustice persists and the truth needs to be told.

There are ancient phenomena that cross the centuries like persistent shadows. One is the human—almost biblical—need to find a scapegoat whenever a society goes into upheaval. Times change, instruments change, but the moral mechanics are the same as in archaic rituals in which animals — or people — were sacrificed to “placate” the wrath of the gods.

The community is afraid to look at its own failures and chooses someone to carry collective blame. A face to be crucified. A body to be burned at the stake of frustration.

In Angola, as in so many places in the world, wealth is a paradox: it fascinates and annoys, inspires and irritates, awakens ambitions and inflames resentment. In the case of Carlos São Vicente, this paradox was turned into a weapon. It wasn’t just the court case that put him at the epicentre of the storm: it was the social stigma of wealth, manipulated and amplified until it became a form of public lynching.

The holders of Power made him the ideal candidate to atone for the sins of others. The “sin” of having worked, of having built, of having prospered. The “sin” of having stability and competence in an environment where many have become rich in very different ways. The “sin” of having an audited, transparent and legal economic life.

And what does a society do in the face of those who stand out? Instead of justice, they choose lynching. Because, in fact, what always bothered was not any crime, it was success.

In a country where the majority struggles daily for survival, anyone who has built up a significant heritage is easily the target of suspicion, regardless of their conduct or how they achieved their results. The collective imagination does not admit that someone has prospered honestly, especially if that prosperity is visible and structured.

Resentment disguises itself as morality.

It is easy to attack a man who has assets. It is easy to insinuate guilt where there is only work. It is easy to put on the mantle of virtue and point the finger.

The same people who applaud businessmen and praise ascension through merit are the ones who, in the face of the success of others, let admiration rot into envy and envy turns into symbolic violence.

Because merit is celebrated only until the moment it becomes uncomfortable.

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Wealth erases empathy

Many know the truth. Many know that the heritage of São Vicente was built over decades of legal, audited and taxed activity. Many know that there is no evidence against him. But they are silent.

There is an embarrassed, almost guilty silence among “good” people — those who know the facts, who have witnessed a life’s work, who know how to distinguish honesty from opportunism.

They are silent out of fear. Fear of being associated with him. Fear of being dragged into the mud by simple proximity.

Fear of losing privileges, positions, protections, favors.

Panic of being next at the stake.

It’s not a lack of decency; it’s a lack of courage.

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Hypocrisy Points the Finger

Those who shout “guilty!” are often those who have a heritage of origin as nebulous as their late moralism. Their aggressiveness is distraction. Their indignation is theatrical. Their cry for justice is only an attempt to buy, with shouts, their own moral impunity.

The wealth of São Vicente was never the problem. The problem is what it arouses in others: Envy. Resentment. Distrust.

None of this has anything to do with justice.

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What Many Forget

The question never was: “he’s rich.”

The question is: “did he commit any crime?”

And five years passed without a single piece of evidence emerging.

The UN was crystal clear: Arbitrary detention. Violation of rights. Total absence of legal basis to keep him imprisoned.

Wealth does not nullify human rights. Wealth does not suspend the Constitution. Wealth does not authorize confiscations without legal basis.

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Biblical Cynicism

There is a cynicism as old as the Scriptures in the way many have behaved. Instead of catharsis, hysteria. Instead of justice, spectacle. Instead of truth, convenience.

The old logic of human sacrifice is reborn, disguised as “fighting corruption” but it only hits the targets that come in handy, never the ones that are menacing.

And so, the primitive ritual is repeated: Sacrificing an innocent person to protect the guilty.

But the truth remains simple:

Carlos São Vicente is not Jesus. He will not be crucified so that the Barabbas can be released.

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Injustice Destroys Lives

Five years after 2020: Carlos São Vicente remains in prison without evidence. His assets were confiscated without legal basis. His family — never accused — was left without homes, without possessions, without savings, without minimum means of living.

What they did to us is not only illegal. It’s cruel. It is inhumane. It is morally shameful.

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A Final Appeal

Today, Angola needs moral maturity and civil courage.

To defend justice in the case of Carlos São Vicente is to defend the rule of law. Because if a man with resources, visibility and international audits can be deprived of his rights without evidence… Hence, no one is safe.

The stigma of wealth is just a smokescreen. The essential thing is this: Legality has been violated. The family was punished without having committed any crimes. And Angola has not yet repaired the injustice that the world has already recognized.

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Tu quoque, Brutus

My messages are personal — feathers blown by the wind, for your hearts only.

I address each one: “To those who know me.” “To those who know our family.” “To you. You know who you are”.

Whatever party you are from, whichever church you are from, whatever country you are from. Because, despite everything, I still believe in people who have memory, who have courage, who recognize the border between justice and revenge.

There is a real, serious and urgent problem that needs to be solved. And it really must be resolved.

Because indifference also kills. It kills justice. It kills dignity. It kills hope.

And I repeat, so that there is no doubt:

São Vicente is not Jesus. He will not be crucified so that the Barabbas will remain free.

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