Africa-Press – Angola. Angola is interested in acquiring from the United States of America (USA) a system for building state-of-the-art military machines, logistics transport vehicles and aircraft.
The intention was expressed yesterday by the Minister of National Defense, João Ernesto dos Santos “Liberdade”, during a meeting he held, at the Pentagon, Washington, with the North American Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin.
The minister said that with the USA, Angola intends to strengthen relations in the field of Defense, expanding cooperation in new areas, namely the strengthening of technical and operational capacity, such as the acquisition of a state-of-the-art machine building system, acquisition of transportation and logistics vehicles to be provided by Oshkosh Defense.
João Ernesto dos Santos “Liberdade” also listed the acquisition of a bridge system, to be supplied by Acrow Bridges, and the acquisition of a fleet of light tactical vehicles, to be supplied by General Motors Defense, in addition to the acquisition of aircraft.
Therefore, he said, he is focused on promoting an agenda of conflict prevention and resolution through peaceful means and inter-state dialogue.
“Therefore, we came to your country to follow all the activities that we have been developing over recent times”, he said.
From this perspective, he said that the trip to the USA will serve to visit some American companies, so that they can work together and strengthen the cooperative relationship.
According to the minister, Angola plans to promote African defense and security policies to achieve peace, stability, cohesion and deepening continental projects.
The country, he said, adopts a cooperation strategy in the bilateral and multilateral domains, with a view to its competitive rise on the international scene, increasingly preserving its interests on the continent and in the world.
“Angola’s strategic vision prioritizes its insertion in all possible areas of national, continental and international interests, especially within the scope of the African regional organizations in which it is inserted and with which it has geographical, historical and cultural affinities mentioned above”, stated João Ernesto dos Santos.
In this context, Minister Liberdade said that the geostrategic and geopolitical space in which Angola is located requires special attention due to the deep historical, geographic, economic and cultural complexities of the communities mentioned above.
In turn, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin said that Angola is a strategic partner and a regional leader, which is why the United States “deeply values” the increasingly closer ties between both nations.
“As President Biden said, in 2022, at the US-Africa Leaders Summit, here in Washington, Africa’s success is the world’s success”, he cited.
And since that summit, he stressed, the two countries have continued to maintain high-level dialogues and advance the objectives discussed by their leaders.
In September last year, the minister recalled, he was proud to be the first US Secretary of Defense to visit Angola, and had good discussions with President João Lourenço and the team at the Ministry of Defense. “I am proud of everything we have done together to deepen our partnership, from maritime security to peacekeeping to defense policy and more,” said Lloyd Austin.
The relationship between Angola and the US, added the minister, has “tremendous potential to grow even further”, including areas such as Cybersecurity, as well as Angola’s potential participation in the US State Partnership Program.
“And we remain grateful for Angola’s willingness to consider US defense purchases”, he thanked.
According to the Secretary of Defense, Americans are eager to work with Angolan officials to seize this historic opportunity to promote peace, security and responsible rules-based governance.
Given this scenario, he continued, the US Department of Defense looks forward to continued cooperation with Angola, while it restructures and modernizes its armed forces.
He said he appreciated Angola’s leadership in the region and beyond.
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