Angola has “no hard feelings” with Portugal in regards to Operation Fizz

  • ECO News
  • 22 November 2018

The Angolan president has announced that the Portuguese President shall visit Luanda next year. João Lourenço also noted that there are "no hard feelings" about operation Fizz.

The Angolan President guarantees there are “no hard feelings” regarding the case which upset diplomatic relations between the two countries, in the context of the Fizz Operation. In a joint press conference held in Lisbon this Thursday by the two heads of state. The issue which upset relations, refers to a judicial dispute between the Angolan and the Portuguese systems over who could judge Manuel Vicente in the context of the Operation Fizz.

Now, João Lourenço has told the press that the Portuguese PR is welcome in Luanda next year. The date is yet to be confirmed. “What happened was that there was a deal between both countries in that context, and Angola made sure to remind Portugal it was not being compliant”, Lourenço said.

The case mentioned here involves the ex-President of Sonangol, the state-owned oil company of Angola, who was accused of corruption of an investigator (Orlando Figueira), having pressured him to archive important files. In that context, the Angolan state demanded that Manuel Vicente would be charged and judged in Angola, and the Lisbon Court of Appeals decided to transfer the case to Luanda after a long stalemate.

“There are no hard feelings. What is past is past”, the President of Angola noted. Angola and Portugal will now sign 12 instruments of cooperation and next year Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will visit Luanda, the Angolan president said, while Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa added that he expects these initiatives will “benefit the concrete needs of both peoples”.

Angola’s President Joao Lourenco (2-R) accompanied by his Portugal’s counterpart Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (R) during the welcome ceremony at Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon, Portugal, 22 November 2018. Joao Lourenco is on a three-day official visit to Portugal. EPA/MARIO CRUZ

 

About the new law on coercive expatriation of capital (which will come into force in January 2019), João Loureno had some metaphors to share: “The sting of a hornet is much more painful than the sting of a bee”. By saying this, the President wants to make it clear that the fight against corruption in Angola is the equivalent to “touching a hornet’s nest” revealing that he already has started feeling the first few “stings”.

However, he also noted that these “stings” won’t discourage him.