Pedro de Castro Van-Dúnem

Pedro de Castro dos Santos "Loy" Van-Dúnem (born February 9, 1942 in the province of Bengo , † September 23, 1997 in Luanda ) was an Angolan diplomat and politician of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA).

Life

Pedro de Castro dos Santos Van-Dúnem studied electrical engineering in Moscow between 1963 and 1970 and then worked as an electrical engineer. He took part under the code name "Loy" as a member of the armed forces for the liberation of Angola FAPLA (Forças Armadas de Libertação de Angola) in the struggle for independence against Portugal . He became an employee of Agostinho Neto , the founder of the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA). After Angola's independence from Portugal on November 11, 1975, he was between 1976 and 1978 Third Deputy Prime Minister (Terceiro Vice-primeiro-ministro) in the government of the now President of Angola Agostinho Neto. After his death on September 10, 1979, he took over the post of Minister for the Coordination of the Provinces in the government of the new President José Eduardo dos Santos from 1979 to 1980 . Subsequently, after a cabinet reshuffle, he was energy (Ministro da Energia) between 1980 and 1989 and from 1981 and 1989 in personal union also Minister for Oil (Ministro dos Petróleos) . In this capacity, he headed a delegation in Washington, DC in 1988 that Angola expressed its readiness to negotiate the withdrawal of Cuban troops from Angola without first obtaining the assurance of the US government , their support for the União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola (UNITA) by Jonas Savimbi to finish.

In the course of a further government reshuffle , Pedro "Loy" Van-Dúnem replaced Afonso "M'Binda" Van-Dúnem as Angola's Foreign Minister (Ministro da Relações Exteriores) in 1989 . He kept this ministerial office in the cabinet of Prime Minister Fernando José de França Dias Van Dúnem (July 19, 1991 to December 2, 1992) and was then replaced by Venâncio da Silva Moura . He then became the administrative director of the Angolan Central Bank (Banco Central de Angola) . Most recently, on June 8, 1996, he took over the post of Minister for Public Works and Urban Planning (Ministro das Obras Públicas e Assuntos urbanos) in the second cabinet of Prime Minister Fernando José de França Dias Van Dúnem , which he held until his death on September 23, 1997 held.

Web links

• Short biography in rulers.org
• Pedro de Castro Van Dunem, 55; Ex-Angolan Foreign Minister ( The New York Times September 29, 1997)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Angola: Foreign Ministers (rulers.org)