Joe Biden, received with military honors and a 21-gun salute, entered the Cidade Alta at around 12:15 pm, with João Lourenço and members of the executive, to whom he also offered greetings, as well as ambassador James Story, current head of US business manager in Luanda and his team.
Contrary to the usual scenario, and despite the rainy morning in Luanda – with blue skies upon Biden's arrival – there were no traffic congestions in the capital this Tuesday, but rather empty roads due to the restrictions imposed on road circulation and the tolerance of two-day point given by the provincial government to the public and private sector due to the presidential visit.
The North American head of state, who arrives in Angola at the end of his term and with uncertainty about the foreign policy of his successor, Donald Trump, with regard to Africa, makes an unprecedented visit considered historic as it is the first by a President of the USA to the country.
In Angola, Biden's agenda, after the meeting with João Lourenço at the Presidential Palace, passes through the Slavery Museum, where a speech is scheduled, and on Wednesday through Benguela, where he will visit Porto do Lobito, an industrial complex of the largest agri-food company (Grupo Carrinho) and will participate in an international summit on the Lobito Corridor.
This railway infrastructure that crosses Angola from the Atlantic coast to the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, considered strategic for Western interests, allowing faster transport of the region's minerals, is being developed with financial support from the United States, the European Union and of the African Finance Corporation, among others.
Dozens of journalists from Angola, North America and other nationalities are attending the visit, but the security measures imposed by the authorities prevent access to the vast majority of press professionals who are forced to cover the story from tents set up in the Presidential Palace where big screens were installed.
