Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III meets with Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Chidi Blyden; Angolan Minister of State and Chief of Security Affairs Office to the President of the Republic Francisco Pereira Furtado; and Angolan Chief of the Armed Forces General Antonio Egidio de Sousa Santos, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., April 8, 2022. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

By   Gary   Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

WASHINGTON  –   PENTAGON  –   U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin met on Friday with top state and military officials of the Republic of Angola at the Pentagon.  U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Dr. Colin Kahl, and Minister of State and Head of the Security House of the President of the Republic of Angola, Francisco Pereira Furtado, discussed the United States – Angola defense partnership.  Oil-rich Angola is the second largest oil producing country in sub-Saharan Africa.   The Pentagon said the talks reaffirmed the two countries’ commitment to strengthening bilateral defense cooperation, building on and commemorating the five-year anniversary of the 2017 Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Department of Defense and the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Angola to advance shared priorities and common objectives.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs Chidi Blyden hosts Angolan Minister of State and Chief of Security Affairs Office to the President of the Republic Francisco Pereira Furtado, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., April 8, 2022. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

Dr. Kahl and Minister Furtado reflected on a range of topics including regional security, peacekeeping operations, cybersecurity, national security strategy, personnel and readiness, and climate change, according to the Pentagon. 

The Memorandum was signed on May 17, 2017, by the then Minister of Defense, and current President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, and by the Department of Defence of the United States of America, the former Secretary of Defence, General James Mattis.  Trump’s Defense Secretary said at the time he acknowledged  Angola’s  “increase regional cooperation in protecting against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and your leadership — your country’s leadership in seeking stability in Central Africa, specifically in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.”  Mattis also stated the Pentagon will  continue to work closely with “our African partners in the defense against terrorism.”

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin H. Kahl and Minister of State and Head of the Security House of the President of the Republic of Angola Francisco Pereira Furtado sign a joint declaration at the conclusion of talks at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., April 8, 2022. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

Head of the Security House of the President of the Republic of Angola Francisco Pereira Furtado and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., April 8, 2022. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)