But as Secretary of State Antony Blinken walked alongside top Angolan officials in their palm-filled capital this week and toured an exhibition dedicated to a vast U.S.-funded railway project, a major realignment appeared to be underway by a country whose flag still bears imagery recalling a hammer and sickle.
Biden administration officials say Angola’s warming relationship with Washington is a win for both countries and a model for economic cooperation with nations that have at times felt neglected by the United States or portrayed as pawns in bigger geopolitical maneuvers.
The United States and Angola’s “relationship is stronger, it’s more consequential, it’s farther-reaching than at any point in our 30-year friendship,” Blinken said during the capstone of a four-day trip to sub-Saharan Africa that he made even as the Biden administration juggles crises in Gaza and Ukraine.
Biden administration officials bristle at the notion that they are engaged in a geopolitical competition with China and Russia over Africa, saying that even if those rivals weren’t active, Washington would be building the same ties on the continent.
Instead, they say, partnership with the United States can deliver jobs for Angolans and Americans, diversify a supply of critical minerals that is overly reliant on China, and boost U.S. climate objectives by promoting renewable-energy projects.
The economic cooperation has deepened relations between the former antagonists in Washington and Luanda, as Angolan leaders have played an important role in mediating a conflict in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and have been more willing to stand up to Moscow and Beijing, including the warning to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about World War III.
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