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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 LUANDA 000079 
 
SIPDIS 
FOR SPECIAL ADVISOR HOWARD WOLPE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/26 
TAGS: PREL CG KDEM OVIP AO
SUBJECT: Angola Open to Engaging with International Community to 
Bring Peace to DRC 
 
REF: A. LUANDA 65 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Dan Mozena, AMBASSADOR, Dept of State, AMBASSADOR; 
REASON: 1.4(B), (D) 
 
¶1.        (C) SUMMARY:  Angola pulled out all the stops in 
welcoming the Secretary's Great Lakes Special Advisor Howard Wolpe 
and Special Envoys from the EU, South Africa, Norway and Sweden 
during their February 16 - 18 visit to Luanda.  Separate meetings 
with the President, Minister of State for Military Affairs, Defense 
Minister and Foreign Minister made clear that Angola shares US 
visions of a DRC that is "peaceful, secure and stable."  Angola 
also shares US concerns about the DRC's weak military, police and 
judicial system and the lack of strong, effective leadership from 
the central government.  President Dos Santos suggested that 
Angola, South Africa, Tanzania and Republic of Congo could form a 
working group to engage with DRC President Kabila to urge him to 
address these underlying issues.  Meanwhile, Angola remains willing 
to train DRC military and police personnel, but such training 
remains suspended on the DRC's part.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
¶2.        (C) The Government of Angola used its thickest red carpet 
in welcoming the Secretary's Special Advisor for Africa's Great 
Lakes Region Dr. Howard Wolpe, his deputy Amb. James Yellin and the 
Great Lakes special envoys from the EU (Amb. Roeland Van de Geer), 
South Africa (Amb. Dumisani Kumalo), Norway (Amb. Arild Oyen) and 
Sweden (Amb. Lena Sundh) during their Feb. 16 - 18 visit to Luanda 
to explore with the Angolans how best to proceed in promoting peace 
and stability in troubled DRC.  In separate meetings with the 
envoys, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, new Minister of State 
and Chief of Military Affairs General Manuel Helder Vieira Dias 
Junior ("Kopelipa"), new Defense Minister Candido Pereira dos 
Santos Van Dunem, and Foreign Minister Assuncao dos Anjos were 
warm, open and frank in conveying the importance of DRC to Angolan 
stability, the frustration that Angola feels in trying to work with 
the Congolese government and military, and their willingness to 
explore with the envoys how Angola can better contribute to 
bringing peace, security and stability to the DRC.  COMMENT: 
Angola's reception of Wolpe and the other envoys stunned locally 
resident ambassadors, who had never seen the GRA engage a visiting 
delegation in such depth, including by the heretofore powerful, but 
ever elusive General Kopelipa.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
 
THE ENVOYS' MESSAGE 
 
 
 
¶3.       (C) Although South African Envoy Kumalo led the delegation 
of envoys, Special Advisor Wolpe and EU Envoy Van de Geer carried 
most of the water in conveying the envoys' concerns over the lack 
of  progress in stabilizing the DRC, despite considerable efforts 
and assistance by the international community.  The envoys also 
conveyed their frustrations with both the DRC's continued failure 
to bolster the military, the police and the judicial system and the 
lack of strong leadership from President Kabila in addressing these 
shortcomings and otherwise strengthening the DRC's democratic 
institutions.  The envoys highlighted DRC reluctance in dealing 
with security sector reform, observing that "the Congolese don't 
take ownership of the problems."  They observed that after 
training, security units often were dispersed, and that there was 
no effective chain of command.  EU envoy Van de Geer noted that the 
Congolese military was more a danger to the people of eastern Congo 
than a help.  The envoys declared that re-establishing and 
strengthening state authority was critical to achieving security 
sector reform and improving the situation in eastern Congo. 
 
 
 
¶4.        (C) Other points raised by the envoys included the need 
to fight illegal exploitation of DRC natural resources by 
outsiders, the need to stop sexual violence in the east, and the 
need for Angola and the DRC to improve their bilateral 
relationship.  The envoys conveyed their view that countries in the 
 
LUANDA 00000079  002 OF 003 
 
 
region, especially the Southern Africa Development Community 
(SADC), should take the lead on the DRC situation.  They identified 
Angola as having a key role to play in "helping to guide the DRC 
along the way." 
 
 
 
THE ANGOLAN TAKE ... 
 
 
 
¶5.       (C) Agreeing with the envoys' description of the 
frustrating situation in the DRC, President Dos Santos queried, 
"What do the Congolese want?  Does the Congolese leadership have 
any awareness of the situation in the DRC?  What do the Congolese 
want the international community to do?"  Clearly exasperated with 
the situation in the Congo, Dos Santos said the Congolese need to 
make a "diagnosis" of the situation  and then develop a plan for 
how to deal with the issues. 
 
 
 
¶6.       (C) Dos Santos suggested that Angola and South Africa, 
along with Tanzania and Repubic of  Congo, could form a small group 
to communicate with the DRC leadership on the need to prepare an 
analysis of the situation and to develop a plan accordingly.  After 
some discussion, the President concurred that Rwanda and Uganda 
should not be part of this group "until later on."  The President 
highlighted several areas that need urgent attention in the DRC: 
improving the effectiveness of the Executive, strengthening 
judicial structures, bolstering the armed forces, and launching 
development and reconstruction of the country.  Dos Santos 
underscored that President Kabila's personal commitment to tackle 
these challenges was essential if change were to happen, adding 
that Kabila "needs a strong team to undertake reform."  Dos Santos 
opined that "maybe Angola can help DRC make a more detailed plan." 
In response to Van de Geer's statement that the President's 
engagement in high level dialogue with Kabila would be most 
welcome, Dos Santos said he had already spoken with South African 
President Zuma and Kabila on the matter. 
 
 
 
¶7.       (C) In a meeting with the envoys immediately before the 
one with the President, Minister of State and Chief of Military 
Affairs General Kopelipa gave a crisp, four-part statement: 
 
 
 
-          The situation in the DRC:  Kopelipa agreed fully with 
the envoys' description of the current situation in the Congo.  He 
said the DRC has institutional problems relating to four key 
"pillars:"  public administration, armed forces, police and 
judicial system.  He said that since these pillars are not 
functioning, the DRC suffers from growing poverty, AIDS, poor 
performance on decommissioning and disarmament, and reintegration 
of ex-combatants.  He underscored that "the DRC must have the 
capacity to enforce peace through force." 
 
-          Role of Angola in the DRC:  Angola is working with the 
US, EU, SADC and CEAC to bring peace, security and stability to the 
region.  Angola is also engaged bilaterally with the DRC to support 
training police and armed forces. 
 
-          Problems between Angola and the DRC:  Kopelipa 
maintained that Angola has always had good relations with the DRC. 
He said Angola had to expel a "massive illegal migration " of 
Congolese who had come to Angola for diamonds, gold and timber. 
Kopelipa said the DRC government did not understand why Angola had 
to expel these illegals, so it retaliated by expelling Angolans 
legally living in the DRC.  Kopelipa added that the DRC also 
unilaterally established the land and sea borders between the 
countries.  He said Angola was willing to turn to Portugal and 
Belgium and the Gulf of Guinea Commission for help in defining the 
 
LUANDA 00000079  003 OF 003 
 
 
borders; the DRC had agreed to these approaches, Kopelipa said, but 
had not followed through.  Kopelipa underscored that Angola is not 
against the DRC, but simply wants a peaceful, stable and secure 
DRC. 
 
-          Next steps in solving the DRC situation:  Kopelipa 
declared that Angola "is ready to cooperate with the international 
community to solve the problems of the DRC. . .we are open to 
finding solutions."  He declared that the DRC leadership "needs to 
do more."  When asked subsequently whether Angola would consider 
appointing an envoy to join the group of envoys, including a 
possible upcoming trip to China, Kopelipa said he "took note of the 
query."  Foreign Minister Dos Anjos, clearly eclipsed by Kopelipa 
in the meeting, interjected that he was the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs and that he would appoint someone to attend meetings with 
the envoys. 
 
 
 
¶8.       (C) In a separate meeting newly appointed Minister of 
Defense Van Dunem highlighted a recurring theme from the Angolans: 
instability in the DRC directly affected regional stability, 
especially for Angola.  Responding to envoy queries, Van Dunem said 
Angola has trained 13,000 soldiers (three brigades)  and 15,000 
police.  He said he couldn't vouch for the success of the training 
..."I can't say the training has been well taken by the DRC." 
Nonetheless, he continued, the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) were 
ready to continue the training as long as the political authorities 
give the green light.  When asked whether training is going well at 
the moment, Van Dunem responded that Angola remains willing to do 
more training, but "recent events compelled both governments to 
clarify all aspects of the relationship, which affected the 
training ... we are working to normalize relations to return to the 
previous state, which was beneficial to both"  ... meaning training 
is in fact suspended for now. 
 
 
 
¶9.       (C) The Acting Minister of the Interior, Angelo Pavares 
Barro Veiga, was more forthright in venting his frustration with 
the training, noting that trained police units were subsequently 
dispersed.  He lamented that some of those trained were in fact 
criminals.  He questioned the commitment of the DRC leadership to 
improve the police service, adding that the international community 
"should work together so we can improve the situation in the DRC." 
 
 
 
¶10.   (C) During his separate meeting with the envoys, Foreign 
Minister Dos Anjos, who clearly was eclipsed by General Kopelipa on 
this issue, resorted to giving the envoys quotes from the President 
and Kopelipa from meetings earlier in the day.  When discussion 
turned as to how to start up the small group of African countries 
that Dos Santos had envisioned, Dos Anjos "took note" of Wolpe's 
suggestion that South Africa and Angola could take the lead in 
reaching out to Tanzania and ROC to join the group.  On naming an 
Angolan envoy to join the group of envoys, Dos Anjos said Angola 
"was willing to participate in meetings without restrictions," 
suggesting that Angola might not name an envoy per se, but rather 
send representation to meetings of the envoys. 
 
 
 
¶11.  (C) COMMENT:  Angola's open engagement with the envoys makes 
clear that Luanda is serious in wanting to engage with the 
international community to help bring peace, security and stability 
to the DRC, which Angola's considers its number one foreign policy 
concern in the region.  The envoys will need to remain engaged with 
the GRA to ensure maximum Angolan support for peace in the DRC. 
END COMMENT. 
MOZENA