Morgan Ortagus, who spoke to Lusa from Washington a week after the US Secretary of State's visit to Angola, reaffirmed that the inclusion of the Portuguese-speaking country in his African roadmap had served to support the president, João Lourenço, in the fight against corruption, showing that the dialogue had entered a new phase.
"It was very important to go. There was endemic corruption in Angola for a long time, so we wanted to go and show support for the initiatives that the President [of Angola] has been carrying out to put an end to corruption and make the business environment in Angola more favourable to US companies," he said.
Asked whether the United States intends to win over China in Angola, currently the country's main trading partner, she stressed that the relationship with Angola "does not depend on what China does or stops doing".
"We have said the same thing in Angola as we say elsewhere: we respect the sovereignty of the country, we respect the ability of governments to make their own decisions and we just ask people to think realistically about what the Communist Party of China puts on the table when it proposes its business," she said.
He argued, on the other hand, that the US offers "first-class partnerships" emphasizing transparency and the rule of law: "[people] know exactly what they are dealing with when it comes to the US, our business is conducted under ethical rules, and the US president protects the people. We don't have the same kind of protection when we're dealing with the Chinese Communist Party and that's what we wanted to point out".
On the US relationship with Angola, he said that it has entered "a phase where dialogue has become much more productive, more related to human rights, an end to corruption and make the environment more inviting", a "lasting" relationship whether China "is or is not".
Morgan Ortagus pointed that Angola "is working in the right direction", although the government needs to continue working on reforms.
"When we see a government that fights for democracy, fights to end corruption and be accountable to its people, that's the kind of government we want to work with," she continued, noting that Pompeo also wanted to encourage private sector investment in the US and found receptivity.
"We have robust cooperation on energy, but we believe we can find many other ways to work together," she stressed.
