Feingold Statement on U.S. policy toward Angola

For the Congressional Record
http://feingold.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=325897

The National Security Strategy released last month rightly states, “[d]ue to increased economic growth and political stability, individual nations are increasingly taking on powerful regional and global roles and changing the landscapes of international cooperation. To achieve a just and sustainable order that advances our shared security and prosperity, we are, therefore, deepening our partnerships with emerging powers and encouraging them to play a greater role in strengthening international norms and advancing shared interests.” 

The strategy goes on to note that expanding our partnerships with emerging powers includes a number of African nations, specifically South Africa. Indeed, I have great respect for South Africa’s leadership on the continent and internationally, and am glad that we are seeking to deepen our bilateral relationship. From peace and security to climate change to nuclear non-proliferation, we should continue to look for areas where we can team up with the South Africans.

I would also like to highlight another emerging power in sub-Saharan Africa that we should not ignore: Angola. 

Many of my colleagues will recall the brutal civil war that devastated Angola. In my first trip as a Senator to Africa, in 1994, I traveled with Senator Reid and Senator Paul Simon to Angola to observe the tragic consequences of this conflict. Decades of war left an estimated one million people dead, a third of the country’s population displaced, and millions of landmines littered throughout the countryside. 

Yet, since the war ended in 2002, Angolans have made tremendous strides to secure the peace and rebuild their country. According to a recent UNICEF study, since 2002, the percentage of children attending primary school has increased from 56 to 76 percent, and infant mortality has fallen by 22 percent. At the same time, Angola’s economy has registered double-digit GDP growth over recent years, mostly driven by increasing oil production. Angola’s future growth prospects, however, are more diverse than just oil. According to the September 15, 2009, New York Times article, “Angola is poised to become a hub of liquefied natural gas and diamond exports.”

With its economic growth and stability, Angola is also poised to play a greater role on regional, continental and international issues. It has already become a major player in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and although it is not a member of the G-20, President Dos Santos has been invited to some G-20 meetings. Angola has also become involved in critical issues relating to the Gulf of Guinea, which sits to its north. It supported the launch of the Gulf of Guinea Commission in 2006 to resolve maritime disputes and ensure regional cooperation, and hosted a summit for heads of the state of the commission in 2008. Finally, Angola has the potential to play a much more active future role on issues facing the Southern African Development Community, SADC.

For all these reasons, the United States has a strong interest in deepening and broadening our relationship with Angola. Secretary Clinton’s visit to the country last year – in which she became the first U.S. Secretary of State to stay overnight in the country – was a major step to that end. She committed to developing a “comprehensive strategic partnership” with Angola, and to expanding our engagement in the areas of trade, agriculture, health, and education.

To follow through on this commitment, we now need to ensure that our embassy in Luanda has the necessary programs and tools to pursue such a partnership. We need to ensure there are sufficient incentives and encouragement to attract Foreign Service officers to Angola given the inordinately high cost of living and other hardships. And we should try to ensure that we have the right staff, including representatives from other agencies that can bring expertise on issues of commerce and agriculture.

But expanding our engagement with Angola should not mean ignoring or downplaying troubling issues of human rights and governance. In fact, it should be quite the opposite; we need to actively encourage reform in these important areas if we are going to pursue a truly comprehensive and long-term partnership with Angola. 

According to the State Department’s 2009 Human Rights Report for Angola, “The government’s human rights record remained poor, and there were numerous, serious problems.” Last weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that there continue to be abuses and killings by soldiers and private security guards around diamond mines in Angola. The international community should investigate these reports and ensure that Angola is fully living up to its commitments in the Kimberley Process. If it is not, there should be serious consequences. 

More broadly, we should also consider whether certain gaps in the Kimberley Process, such as promoting greater protection for human rights, can be incorporated into the oversight procedures of participating countries.   We need to be realistic about what is possible with a voluntary organization, but we cannot allow ongoing human rights abuses involving diamonds to be ignored.

Issues of governance are also especially important for Angola’s development prospects. While the country has seen tremendous overall economic growth in recent years, most Angolans have seen little, if any, direct benefit. Corruption remains a serious and deep-seated problem in Angola, including in the oil sector. For 2009, Transparency International ranked Angola 162nd out of 180 countries in its annual Corruption Perceptions Index. A report released in February by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations documented how certain Angolan officials have sought to use U.S. banks and financial institutions to conceal funds acquired through corruption.

The Angolan government has acknowledged that it needs to improve its fiscal management and practices, and President Dos Santos has called for a “zero tolerance” policy against corruption. I am pleased that the President has said this and we should look for ways to help the government give real meaning to such a policy. At the same time, we should explore ways that we and our international partners can put pressure on corrupt officials in Angola to cease their illicit actions, including travel bans and assets freezes, and more.

In terms of governance, it is also important that the Angolan government create the space for a strong civil society to develop – one that allows for the free flow of information and includes independent watchdog institutions that can demand accountability and transparency. We should seek to expand our engagement with civil society organizations and, as is appropriate, to help strengthen their capacity and amplify their voices in policy debates.

Within the government, Angola’s National Assembly has the potential to play a strong oversight role, and I am pleased that Secretary Clinton met directly with the National Assembly during her visit to Luanda last year. We should look for ways, such as technical assistance and parliamentary exchanges, that we can support and strengthen the National Assembly’s oversight roles.

None of this will be easy. Some in the Angolan government are still unwelcoming toward the United States because of positions we took during their civil war. Many Angolans are also skeptical about whether we genuinely have interests beyond accessing oil. We need to take these perspectives seriously. But I believe we can break through the suspicion and mistrust by demonstrating—through greater resources and a more visible presence—that we seek a mutually beneficial, long-term partnership with the people of Angola. In the months and years ahead, I look forward to working with the administration to that end.

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