Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias Junior

Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias Junior , known as Kopelipa , is an Angolan politician and former general in the Angolan army .

Politicians and public offices

Kopelipa used to be the head of various secret services, among other things, and is now head of the Presidential Guard , along with other offices, and thus Chefe da Casa Militar do Presidente da República de Angola . Kopelipa is a member of the ruling MPLA party and is considered a close confidante of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos .

On February 24, 2006, he was temporarily appointed to succeed General Fernando Miala , chief of foreign intelligence and Kopelipa's former business partner, after reports of Miala infiltration of the government.

Hélder Vieira Dias has been director of the “Bureau for National Reconstruction” (Gabinete de Reconstrução Nacional, GRN) since October 22, 2004. The GRN reports directly to the Presidential Office and is responsible for managing the loans from China. The loans are secured by Angola's oil production and have contracts with Chinese companies, which makes the granting of these loans appear dubious.

Private citizen

During the 27-year civil war in Angola , Kopelipa built a fortune together with General Fernando Miala through the joint company "Simportex" through a monopoly of the Angolan army supplying uniforms and food.

As a private individual, Vieira Dias makes various investments in Angola. He controls the Media Nova group, which wants to set up the first Angolan private broadcaster with “TV Zimbo” . With various investments totaling around 10 billion US dollars, he also maintains business connections with the former colonial power Portugal . He and Filipe Vilaça Barreiros Cardoso founded the company "Vieira Dias & Barreiros Cardoso", which is active in the tourism industry.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Information on the positions of Hélder Vieira Dias on Publico.pt (port., Accessed on December 27, 2008)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Information about Kopelipa on the website of the Direcção Nacional do Comércio Interno (port., Accessed on December 27, 2008) ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ^ Report on Miala's dismissal on Reliefweb.int (PDF file, accessed on December 27, 2008)
4. ↑ Information on the appointment on the website of the Embassy of Angola (English, accessed on December 27, 2008) ( Memento of the original of March 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Information on the function of the GRN on the website of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (PDF file, accessed on December 27, 2008; 178 kB)
6. ↑ Le Monde diplomatique with information on the GRN (accessed December 27, 2008)
7. ↑ Information on functions during the civil war at projects.publicintegrity.org (accessed December 27, 2008)
8. ↑ Afrika.info with data on the investments in Portugal (accessed on December 28, 2008) ( Memento of the original from September 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ Information on investments on Dawn.com (accessed December 28, 2008)