Angolan opposition leaders on Wednesday considered that President Joe Biden should uphold plurality as a democratic value during his visit to Angola by meeting with representatives of civil society and not just the government.
In a note sent to the press, the United Patriotic Front, which includes UNITA (the largest Angolan opposition party), the Democratic Bloc, the Political Project PRAJÁ- Servir Angola, and a representative of civil society said they hoped that the visit “would effectively be to ANGOLA, in its plurality” and that Biden would preserve “this democratic value” which contributes to politics being based on solid foundations.
In the document, they emphasise that the United States is a great democracy, with institutions that respect individual and collective freedoms, an independent judiciary and a free press, to which all political actors have access, assumptions that ‘are denied in Angola’.
They therefore hope that Joe Biden will set an example and, in addition to meetings with government representatives, “meet Angolan society, address the Angolan parliament and leave a positive message” on his only trip to the African continent, “where, unfortunately, many regimes in power have legality attributed to them, but do not carry with them the legitimacy that only their peoples can attribute in regular democratic, free, fair and transparent elections”.
The President of the United States is travelling to Angola from 13 to 15 October, his first trip to Africa since arriving at the White House in January 2021.
Among the priorities are strengthening the ‘Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment’, which encompasses Angola and the G7 and aims to create the first transcontinental railway network, better known as the Lobito Corridor, while strengthening democracy and civic engagement, intensifying action on climate security and the transition to clean energy and strengthening peace and security are also to be addressed.
Before going to Angola, the outgoing US president will visit Germany, from 10 to 13 October, to “reinforce the solid ties between the United States and Germany, as allies and as friends”, as well as “expressing his thanks to Germany for its support for Ukraine’s war effort against Russian aggression”, as well as to NATO, according to a White House statement.