{"id":9225,"date":"2025-06-25T11:27:38","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T11:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/as-ligacoes-de-mariana-leitao-ao-poder-angolano-pode-trazer-lhe-problemas-politicos-em-portugal\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T11:56:18","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T11:56:18","slug":"mariana-leitaos-links-to-angolan-power-could-bring-her-political-trouble-in-portugal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/mariana-leitaos-links-to-angolan-power-could-bring-her-political-trouble-in-portugal\/","title":{"rendered":"Mariana Leit\u00e3o\u2019s Links to Angolan Power Could Bring Her Political Trouble in Portugal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"233\" data-end=\"452\">Candidate for IL leadership spent 13 years at Sonangol\u2019s Portuguese company, three as a board member. Prosecutor investigates purchase and sale of a building in Lisbon. Leit\u00e3o says she had no responsibility in the area.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"454\" data-end=\"1062\">Before entering active political life, Mariana Leit\u00e3o built her professional career in a single company: Pua\u00e7a, a Portuguese subsidiary of the Angolan state oil company Sonangol. Her role in the company, over the <strong data-start=\"667\" data-end=\"695\">13 years and five months<\/strong> she worked there, would often be influenced by the political situation in Angola. And it may now bring her political problems due to her connection to a regime that has been considered corrupt, with Sonangol seen as the main vehicle for the improper distribution of wealth and a tool for maintaining Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos, the country\u2019s former President, in power.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1064\" data-end=\"1620\">The sole candidate for IL leadership joined the company in 2005, when Angola\u2019s former Vice President, <strong data-start=\"1166\" data-end=\"1184\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong>, was in charge of Sonangol. Years later, she would be removed from Pua\u00e7a\u2019s board when there was a leadership change at the company, with <strong data-start=\"1322\" data-end=\"1343\">Isabel dos Santos<\/strong> being appointed by her father, Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos, to lead the Angolan group. She eventually left in 2019, after the newly elected Angolan President, Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o, sought to restructure Sonangol, focusing it more on its <strong data-start=\"1570\" data-end=\"1587\">core business<\/strong>, oil, reducing Pua\u00e7a\u2019s activity.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1622\" data-end=\"2159\">Before joining the board of directors, Mariana Leit\u00e3o was operations director of Sonangol\u2019s scholarship program \u2014 which aimed at staff training \u2014 coordinating the stay of Angolan scholarship students in Portugal. But the company had other business areas with greater financial impact. Pua\u00e7a \u2014 still active today, although with minimal turnover \u2014 also had a stake in a travel agency, Atl\u00e2ntida, and operated in the real estate market. It is here that there is a <strong data-start=\"2083\" data-end=\"2109\">particular transaction<\/strong> that is being investigated by Portuguese justice.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2161\" data-end=\"2671\">The Public Prosecutor&#8217;s Office opened an inquiry into the purchase and sale, by Pua\u00e7a, of a 27,000 square meter building located at numbers 5 to 7 Avenida da Rep\u00fablica, in Saldanha, Lisbon, an official source from the Attorney General\u2019s Office (PGR) confirmed to Observador. In 2009, during a counter-cycle for the real estate market, the unfinished building was purchased for around <strong data-start=\"2545\" data-end=\"2562\">\u20ac38.5 million<\/strong>. Twelve years later, without the construction having been completed, Pua\u00e7a sold it for only <strong data-start=\"2655\" data-end=\"2670\">\u20ac30 million<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2673\" data-end=\"2906\">The PGR does not reveal the reasons that led to the opening of the investigation, nor the suspicions involved, but adds that \u201cthere are no defendants in the inquiry, so it is not possible to confirm any name\u201d targeted in the process.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2908\" data-end=\"3226\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o denies \u201cany responsibility, influence, decision or participation\u201d in the purchase and sale of the Pua\u00e7a building on Avenida da Rep\u00fablica. And states: \u201cI never reported directly to Manuel Vicente or Isabel dos Santos. In the performance of my duties, I had no contact with them. Nor after leaving Pua\u00e7a.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3228\" data-end=\"3883\">The liberal MP stopped working at Pua\u00e7a <strong data-start=\"3268\" data-end=\"3279\">in 2019<\/strong>, precisely the year the building was put up for sale. And she was <strong data-start=\"3346\" data-end=\"3367\">no longer working<\/strong> at the company when, in 2021, the building was finally sold, after six proposals had been rejected, according to Jornal de Neg\u00f3cios. At the time of the building\u2019s purchase, in 2009, Mariana Leit\u00e3o was operations director and held \u201cadministrative and financial management\u201d functions, as can be seen on her LinkedIn page. However, the liberal MP assured Observador that \u201cat the time of the building\u2019s purchase, [she] had <strong data-start=\"3787\" data-end=\"3793\">no<\/strong> responsibilities in any other area of the company than managing the scholarship program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"60\" data-end=\"99\"><strong data-start=\"60\" data-end=\"99\">The rise of Mariana Leit\u00e3o at Pua\u00e7a<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"101\" data-end=\"539\">In August 2005, Mariana Leit\u00e3o completed her degree in International Relations and Political Science at Universidade Lus\u00edada de Lisboa with a final grade of 13 out of 20. After a one-month internship at the newspaper <em data-start=\"318\" data-end=\"329\">Seman\u00e1rio<\/em>, in October she began her career at Pua\u00e7a, at the age of <strong data-start=\"387\" data-end=\"393\">23<\/strong>. \u201cI sent my r\u00e9sum\u00e9, did several interviews, and got the job, having been hired. I started as an administrative assistant,\u201d she told <em data-start=\"526\" data-end=\"538\">Observador<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"541\" data-end=\"1075\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o\u2019s father, lawyer Ant\u00f3nio Leit\u00e3o, is said to have worked with then Sonangol president Manuel Vicente, according to two Angolan sources who spoke to <em data-start=\"703\" data-end=\"715\">Observador<\/em> on condition of anonymity. Asked by <em data-start=\"752\" data-end=\"764\">Observador<\/em>, Mariana Leit\u00e3o <strong data-start=\"781\" data-end=\"800\">did not respond<\/strong> whether she already had any connection with Pua\u00e7a or the Sonangol group prior to being hired. As for her family&#8217;s ties with the second most powerful man in Angola at the time, she says: \u201cI am not in a position to comment on the past professional activity of my late father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1077\" data-end=\"1726\">Armindo Pires, a personal friend and representative of Manuel Vicente in Portugal, who was on Pua\u00e7a&#8217;s board at the same time as Mariana Leit\u00e3o, admits that he was a \u201cpersonal client of the office\u201d of the candidate\u2019s father. \u201cI\u2019m not sure whether Ant\u00f3nio Leit\u00e3o worked for Sonangol and I don\u2019t believe he worked with Manuel Vicente,\u201d says the lawyer. Asked whether he took Vicente\u2019s affairs to Ant\u00f3nio Leit\u00e3o\u2019s office, Armindo Pires reiterated only that he was a \u201cpersonal client\u201d of Leit\u00e3o and that he was Manuel Vicente\u2019s representative \u201conly for moving funds and little else.\u201d On the other hand, he assures that he only met Mariana Leit\u00e3o in 2013.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1728\" data-end=\"2127\">Armindo Pires was <strong data-start=\"1746\" data-end=\"1757\">accused<\/strong> in February 2017 of the crimes of active corruption, money laundering, and document forgery (in co-authorship with Manuel Vicente) in the context of <strong data-start=\"1907\" data-end=\"1925\">Operation Fizz<\/strong> \u2014 a case that led prosecutor Orlando Figueira to prison for having been bribed by Angola\u2019s former President. Later, in December 2018, Pires was <strong data-start=\"2070\" data-end=\"2083\">acquitted<\/strong> of all charges by the first-instance court.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2129\" data-end=\"2795\">In February 2007, less than two years after joining the company, Mariana Leit\u00e3o was <strong data-start=\"2213\" data-end=\"2225\">promoted<\/strong> to operations director of Sonangol\u2019s scholarship program. \u201cAt the time, Pua\u00e7a had an external company managing the program for Sonangol\u2019s Angolan scholarship holders and wanted to internalize this function. I was the one to manage the program. It was about bringing scholarship students from Angola to study in Portugal, managing their placement in universities, their accommodation, their academic performance, generating reports on their academic profile, seeking to provide an education and a new life to many young Angolans who otherwise wouldn\u2019t be able to study.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2797\" data-end=\"3178\">The liberal MP explains that, with the increase in the number of scholarship students, \u201cit became necessary to expand the team and hire more people,\u201d and that her promotion was justified by the growth in the company\u2019s structure and responsibilities. \u201cAt the peak of activity, there were around <strong data-start=\"3091\" data-end=\"3127\">200 Angolan scholarship students<\/strong> studying in various Portuguese cities,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3180\" data-end=\"3479\">A year later, in December 2008, the company changed from a limited liability company (Lda.) to a public limited company (S.A.), the share capital increased to five million euros, and Mariana Leit\u00e3o became a <strong data-start=\"3387\" data-end=\"3402\">shareholder<\/strong> with 100 euros and joined, for just over two months, the board of directors.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3481\" data-end=\"3998\">In 2013, the liberal would join the board again \u2014 this time for a longer period. She was appointed as a board member at Pua\u00e7a at the same time as <strong data-start=\"3627\" data-end=\"3644\">Armando Pires<\/strong>. She would leave in 2016, when what was then considered the richest woman in Africa, the eldest daughter of Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos, arrived. \u201cAfter Isabel dos Santos was appointed president of the board of Sonangol, a new board of directors was appointed at Pua\u00e7a and I stopped being a board member, keeping my role as director,\u201d she told <em data-start=\"3985\" data-end=\"3997\">Observador<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4000\" data-end=\"4501\">On her <strong data-start=\"4007\" data-end=\"4019\">LinkedIn<\/strong> profile, the liberal does not distinguish between her roles before and after 2016. According to her post, between 2013 and 2019 she was responsible for \u201cdeveloping and executing comprehensive policies, goals and business strategies; providing <strong data-start=\"4263\" data-end=\"4283\">strategic advice<\/strong> to the board of directors; preparing and implementing business plans; carrying out and controlling budgets; monitoring and controlling the progress of all activities (financial performance, investments, and quality).\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4503\" data-end=\"4772\">In response to a question from <em data-start=\"4534\" data-end=\"4546\">Observador<\/em>, the PGR clarified that in the inquiry related to the purchase and sale of the Saldanha building, the investigation \u201cdoes not focus\u201d on the period between 2013 and 2019. But it does not clarify which period is under analysis.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9220\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9220\" style=\"width: 2480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9220 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Mariana-Leitao-e-candidata-a-lideranca-da-Iniciativa-Liberal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2480\" height=\"1395\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Mariana-Leitao-e-candidata-a-lideranca-da-Iniciativa-Liberal.jpg 2480w, https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Mariana-Leitao-e-candidata-a-lideranca-da-Iniciativa-Liberal-516x290.jpg 516w, https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Mariana-Leitao-e-candidata-a-lideranca-da-Iniciativa-Liberal-900x506.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Mariana-Leitao-e-candidata-a-lideranca-da-Iniciativa-Liberal-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Mariana-Leitao-e-candidata-a-lideranca-da-Iniciativa-Liberal-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Mariana-Leitao-e-candidata-a-lideranca-da-Iniciativa-Liberal-2048x1152.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2480px) 100vw, 2480px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9220\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o \u00e9 candidata \u00e0 lideran\u00e7a da Iniciativa Liberal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-start=\"60\" data-end=\"229\"><strong data-start=\"60\" data-end=\"134\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o is a candidate for the leadership of Iniciativa Liberal<\/strong><br data-start=\"134\" data-end=\"137\" \/><strong data-start=\"137\" data-end=\"229\">Sonangol wanted a headquarters in Portugal but sold it \u20ac8.5 million below purchase price<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"231\" data-end=\"590\">During most of Mariana Leit\u00e3o\u2019s time at Pua\u00e7a, the building on Avenida da Rep\u00fablica was by far the company\u2019s most valuable investment. The purchase of the property had attracted some attention the year it was made. In 2009, following the subprime crisis in the U.S., Portugal was going through the second year of a significant <strong data-start=\"558\" data-end=\"589\">real estate market downturn<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"592\" data-end=\"1038\">At that time, in addition to being unfinished, according to <em data-start=\"652\" data-end=\"672\">Jornal de Neg\u00f3cios<\/em>, the property did not have a usage license. Even so, Pua\u00e7a decided to invest <strong data-start=\"750\" data-end=\"767\">\u20ac38.5 million<\/strong>, aiming to concentrate in that space several Angolan companies linked to the Sonangol group that had investments in Portugal. It was intended to be Sonangol\u2019s <strong data-start=\"927\" data-end=\"955\">headquarters in Portugal<\/strong>, in the heart of Lisbon. In 2010, the company\u2019s share capital rose to \u20ac40 million.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1040\" data-end=\"1718\">An investment of this scale had major significance in the national real estate market at a time of weak investment in the sector in the country, which was undergoing a deep economic crisis. According to the same newspaper, in the year prior to the purchase, the total amount of large real estate transactions in the country was around <strong data-start=\"1375\" data-end=\"1391\">\u20ac500 million<\/strong>, with an average value of less than <strong data-start=\"1428\" data-end=\"1443\">\u20ac10 million<\/strong>. However, according to a <strong data-start=\"1469\" data-end=\"1486\">2019 estimate<\/strong>, if the building had been ready for use, it would have had a potential value of more than <strong data-start=\"1577\" data-end=\"1592\">\u20ac60 million<\/strong>. That did not happen. Pua\u00e7a made changes to the project and began construction, but the works would be <strong data-start=\"1696\" data-end=\"1717\">suspended in 2015<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1720\" data-end=\"2151\">With Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o\u2019s rise to power in 2017 and the implementation of his <strong data-start=\"1793\" data-end=\"1828\">Privatization Program (Propriv)<\/strong>, the building was identified as one of the Sonangol group\u2019s assets to be disposed of and was urgently put up for sale in 2019. After at least six proposals were rejected, the property was sold, in 2021, for <strong data-start=\"2036\" data-end=\"2051\">\u20ac30 million<\/strong>, to the British investment fund <strong data-start=\"2084\" data-end=\"2111\">Signal Capital Partners<\/strong>. A value well below the purchase price.<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"2153\" data-end=\"2156\" \/>\n<p data-start=\"2158\" data-end=\"2257\"><strong data-start=\"2158\" data-end=\"2257\">Strategic reorientation of Sonangol and Pua\u00e7a\u2019s \u201cunviability\u201d led to Mariana Leit\u00e3o\u2019s departure<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2259\" data-end=\"2780\">Although this property was the company\u2019s largest asset, it was the management of Sonangol\u2019s international scholarship students that required the greatest workload. The assessment comes from Pua\u00e7a\u2019s own board of directors, as can be seen in a copy of the <strong data-start=\"2513\" data-end=\"2545\">collective dismissal process<\/strong> of eight workers. This process was sent to the Commission for Equality in Labour and Employment (CITE), in order to request a prior opinion on the dismissal of a worker who had just given birth and another who was still breastfeeding.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2782\" data-end=\"3256\">In this document, dated late 2018, Pua\u00e7a\u2019s management states that, since 2016, Sonangol\u2019s \u201cstaff training strategy\u201d has \u201cbeen changing,\u201d causing a \u201cvery negative direct impact\u201d on Pua\u00e7a\u2019s activity. From that year on, the number of scholarship students received annually by the company became \u201cmerely symbolic,\u201d after the Angolan oil company decided to transfer the responsibility for managing Angolan students in Portugal to another company, effective from November 1, 2018.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3258\" data-end=\"3652\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o explained to <em data-start=\"3286\" data-end=\"3298\">Observador<\/em> that the end of the scholarship program \u201cled to the <strong data-start=\"3351\" data-end=\"3387\">elimination of the job positions<\/strong> of the people who worked on it,\u201d including her own. However, the liberal, who at the time was part of the company\u2019s management, guarantees that the \u201cprocess was carried out normally, with all the rights, deadlines, and compensations provided by law being ensured.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3654\" data-end=\"4029\">To justify the elimination of jobs, Pua\u00e7a\u2019s board also explained that \u201cin the last five years most of the real estate\u201d held by the company had been sold. Regarding these real estate assets, the suspension in 2015 of work on the Avenida da Rep\u00fablica building is highlighted \u2014 \u201cthe only real estate project that was in progress\u201d \u2014 and the decision to dispose of it \u201cas it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4031\" data-end=\"4598\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o explained to <em data-start=\"4059\" data-end=\"4071\">Observador<\/em> that this was a \u201cdecision made by the shareholder, at the time related to the <strong data-start=\"4150\" data-end=\"4169\">economic crisis<\/strong> being experienced in Angola\u201d \u2014 from 2014 onwards, with the fall in oil prices, the country entered a difficult period. Although she claims to have had \u201cno responsibility, influence, decision or participation\u201d in the purchase and sale of the building, the IL parliamentary leader says she was \u201cpart of the team for its redevelopment and requalification, which involved managing suppliers, architects, and construction deadlines.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4600\" data-end=\"5207\">The reduction of the company\u2019s real estate assets and the drop in services provided to scholarship students led to losses at Pua\u00e7a, at a time when it was already \u201cstruggling with economic and financial imbalance.\u201d This situation led to the \u201c<strong data-start=\"4841\" data-end=\"4856\">unviability<\/strong> of the company due to lack of financial means, as the shareholders did not intend to continue financing the company,\u201d according to the dismissal process. However, Pua\u00e7a, now 30 years old and with a share capital of \u20ac40 million, has not yet been privatized, and remains active, registered under the economic activity of buying and selling real estate.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"60\" data-end=\"133\"><strong data-start=\"60\" data-end=\"133\">Connection to the company of \u201cMr. Oil,\u201d a \u201cnightmare for the liberal\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"135\" data-end=\"911\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o\u2019s connection to the powerful Angolan \u201cstate-enterprise\u201d and one of Angola\u2019s richest men may become problematic. And not only for the sole candidate for IL leadership, but also for the party itself, says <strong data-start=\"353\" data-end=\"377\">Paula Cristina Roque<\/strong>, an expert in African studies. \u201cIt\u2019s not a good record for Mariana Leit\u00e3o, her relationship with <strong data-start=\"475\" data-end=\"493\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong>, who <strong data-start=\"499\" data-end=\"536\">Portugal considered to be corrupt<\/strong>, and whose case is still ongoing in Angola. This connection to the corrupt Angolan power, to a regime known worldwide for its nepotism, that enriched an elite while leaving the majority of the people poor or starving, with no healthcare or jobs, can only be a nightmare for the liberal,\u201d laments the researcher from the Centre of African Studies at the University of Oxford.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"913\" data-end=\"1379\">\u201cUnless she shows that during the years she was in the company, there was nothing questionable, no irregularities,\u201d Paula Cristina Roque emphasizes. If that doesn\u2019t happen, there is the risk that \u201cthe party itself becomes hostage to Mariana Leit\u00e3o\u2019s past,\u201d stresses the executive director of <strong data-start=\"1205\" data-end=\"1219\">Intelwatch<\/strong>, a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening public and democratic oversight of state and private intelligence services in Southern Africa and beyond.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1381\" data-end=\"1598\">No one has forgotten the <strong data-start=\"1406\" data-end=\"1428\">\u201cBermuda Triangle\u201d<\/strong>: Sonangol created an offshore mechanism that allowed the Angolan elite to appropriate large sums of money, creating a hole in public accounts of about <strong data-start=\"1580\" data-end=\"1597\">\u20ac4.22 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1600\" data-end=\"2340\">There is always a political issue that may be subject to scrutiny. This is the line that <em data-start=\"1689\" data-end=\"1701\">Observador<\/em> columnist <strong data-start=\"1712\" data-end=\"1739\">Rodrigo Ad\u00e3o da Fonseca<\/strong> followed. The businessman, who worked in Angola, wrote in a recent opinion piece that <strong data-start=\"1826\" data-end=\"1971\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o has a trajectory \u201cincompatible with the minimum requirements expected\u201d for the leadership of a party that calls itself liberal<\/strong>. The specialist in cybersecurity and data protection says he cannot \u201crationally conceive how someone who for thirteen years carried out \u2014 without discomfort and surely with some myopia \u2014 duties (\u2026) within the sphere of such a sinister state-owned company as Sonangol, has the profile to give coherence to IL\u2019s message and take the party further than her predecessors.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr data-start=\"2342\" data-end=\"2345\" \/>\n<p data-start=\"2347\" data-end=\"2409\"><strong data-start=\"2347\" data-end=\"2409\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o arrives at Pua\u00e7a in Angola\u2019s \u201cgolden years\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2411\" data-end=\"2882\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o arrived at Sonangol in Angola\u2019s <strong data-start=\"2458\" data-end=\"2476\">\u201cgolden years\u201d<\/strong>, when the economy was growing at double-digit rates, the \u201cpetrodollar\u201d euphoria was in full swing, and the excitement of rebuilding the country provided fertile ground for many business opportunities. The nearly thirty years of civil war had ended three years earlier, in 2002, with the assassination of <strong data-start=\"2781\" data-end=\"2798\">Jonas Savimbi<\/strong>, the leader of UNITA, and the regime was waving the slogan <strong data-start=\"2858\" data-end=\"2882\">\u201cAngola begins now.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2884\" data-end=\"3417\">Sonangol was, in times of peace, the same political and economic instrument it had been in times of war. A tool of power used by <strong data-start=\"3013\" data-end=\"3040\">Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos<\/strong>, President of Angola since 1979. The oil company reported directly to the head of state, escaping any oversight body. For years, it was a true <strong data-start=\"3184\" data-end=\"3212\">\u201cstate within the state\u201d<\/strong>, with budgetary autonomy and control over vast resources, diversifying its activities. It funded state projects, paid salaries of public institutions, and covered military expenses (during the civil war).<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3419\" data-end=\"3833\">In reality, it was the country\u2019s actual <strong data-start=\"3459\" data-end=\"3484\">sovereign wealth fund<\/strong>. During Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos\u2019 long rule \u2014 which lasted 38 years \u2014 Sonangol was used to finance the <strong data-start=\"3587\" data-end=\"3595\">MPLA<\/strong> (the ruling party since 1975), feed political clientelism, and protect and enrich an oligarchy, argues <strong data-start=\"3699\" data-end=\"3729\">Ricardo Soares de Oliveira<\/strong>, the Oxford University researcher, in his book <em data-start=\"3777\" data-end=\"3832\">Magnificent and Miserable: Angola Since the Civil War<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3835\" data-end=\"4558\">At the same time, the company was associated with corruption and mismanagement schemes. Reports by the <strong data-start=\"3938\" data-end=\"3945\">IMF<\/strong> and the <strong data-start=\"3954\" data-end=\"3968\">World Bank<\/strong> criticized the opacity in the accounts and direct transfers to presidential funds. The company created and controlled <strong data-start=\"4087\" data-end=\"4134\">offshores, properties, banks, and companies<\/strong> in Portugal, China, Switzerland, and the Emirates, for example, often without being subject to any political oversight (except by Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos, possibly) and much less public scrutiny. And, in Eduardo dos Santos\u2019 drive to rebuild Angola, it was used to ensure partnerships with foreign companies on terms highly favorable to their political intermediaries \u2014 an idea that opened the door to widespread corruption.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4560\" data-end=\"4675\">In this process, one name was central: <strong data-start=\"4599\" data-end=\"4617\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong>, Angola\u2019s <strong data-start=\"4628\" data-end=\"4641\">\u201cMr. Oil\u201d<\/strong>, as <em data-start=\"4646\" data-end=\"4663\">Financial Times<\/em> called him.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9222\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9222\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-9222 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Manuel-Vicente-mandou-durante-anos-na-Sonangol-\u2014-o-Financial-Times-chamou-lhe-Sr.-Petroleo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"548\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Manuel-Vicente-mandou-durante-anos-na-Sonangol-\u2014-o-Financial-Times-chamou-lhe-Sr.-Petroleo.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Manuel-Vicente-mandou-durante-anos-na-Sonangol-\u2014-o-Financial-Times-chamou-lhe-Sr.-Petroleo-516x377.jpg 516w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9222\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Manuel Vicente mandou durante anos na Sonangol \u2014 o Financial Times chamou-lhe Sr. Petr\u00f3leo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-start=\"57\" data-end=\"200\"><strong data-start=\"57\" data-end=\"141\">Manuel Vicente ruled Sonangol for years \u2014 the Financial Times called him Mr. Oil<\/strong><br data-start=\"141\" data-end=\"144\" \/><strong data-start=\"144\" data-end=\"200\">In 2010, Manuel Vicente received \u20ac280,000 from Pua\u00e7a<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"202\" data-end=\"568\">When Mariana Leit\u00e3o arrived at Pua\u00e7a, <strong data-start=\"240\" data-end=\"258\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong> had already been president of Sonangol for six years. He embodied well the objectives of the Angolan President: the reconstruction of infrastructure and the creation of a business bourgeoisie, a strong private sector in which international investors would always have to ally themselves with Angolan partners.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"570\" data-end=\"990\">Angola tripled its oil production to 2 million barrels per day, becoming, according to the <em data-start=\"661\" data-end=\"678\">Financial Times<\/em>, one of Africa&#8217;s main producers alongside Nigeria and the second-largest supplier to China, after Saudi Arabia. And Sonangol became the <strong data-start=\"815\" data-end=\"858\">second-largest business group in Africa<\/strong>. In 2011 alone, the oil company&#8217;s revenues totaled about <strong data-start=\"916\" data-end=\"931\">\u20ac34 billion<\/strong> \u2014 an amount comparable to the best companies in the world.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"992\" data-end=\"1809\">It was also in that year that the IMF found a <strong data-start=\"1038\" data-end=\"1076\">hole in Angola\u2019s national accounts<\/strong>: <strong data-start=\"1078\" data-end=\"1093\">$32 billion<\/strong> between 2007 and 2010 (more than \u20ac27.5 billion at the current exchange rate). An amount that Sonangol is said never to have transferred to the State. No one had forgotten the <strong data-start=\"1269\" data-end=\"1291\">\u201cBermuda Triangle\u201d<\/strong>: the company created an offshore mechanism that allowed the Angolan elite to appropriate large sums of money, which caused a hole in public accounts of around <strong data-start=\"1451\" data-end=\"1468\">\u20ac4.22 billion<\/strong> between 1997 and 2002, according to the IMF. Some estimates said that, during that period, the <strong data-start=\"1564\" data-end=\"1586\">\u201cBermuda Triangle\u201d<\/strong> absorbed half of Angola\u2019s annual income, highlights researcher <strong data-start=\"1650\" data-end=\"1680\">Ricardo Soares de Oliveira<\/strong> in <em data-start=\"1684\" data-end=\"1739\">Magnificent and Miserable: Angola Since the Civil War<\/em>, a book in which he describes the operation of this \u201cparallel state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1811\" data-end=\"2079\">Several non-governmental organizations, such as the reputable <strong data-start=\"1873\" data-end=\"1891\">Global Witness<\/strong>, criticized the lack of transparency in the granting of oil licenses and exploration contracts and the risk of corruption in their assignment as well as in the redistribution of revenues.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2081\" data-end=\"2655\">Under <strong data-start=\"2087\" data-end=\"2105\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong>, Sonangol went beyond oil and came to play an <strong data-start=\"2152\" data-end=\"2211\">essential role in the real estate and financial sectors<\/strong>. In 2009, when the global crisis was also affecting the Angolan economy, \u201cMr. Oil\u201d joined Pua\u00e7a\u2019s board of directors, on the day when, conversely, <strong data-start=\"2359\" data-end=\"2392\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o left that body<\/strong>, where she had served briefly: from December 29, 2008, to February 17 of the following year. However, the liberal continued to be operations director at the company and worked under Vicente\u2019s leadership until his departure to join the Angolan government in 2012.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2657\" data-end=\"3210\">\u201cAt the moment the company was transformed from a limited company into a public limited company, a transitional management board was appointed, which required three directors. As soon as the first General Assembly took place, already as a public limited company, the new Board of Directors was appointed, of which I was not a part.\u201d The liberal also explains that she gave up her \u20ac100 share in the company \u201cright after the conversion into a public limited company,\u201d which occurred before the date of the purchase of the building on Avenida da Rep\u00fablica.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3212\" data-end=\"3842\">That was also the year in which Angola decided to <strong data-start=\"3262\" data-end=\"3279\">help Portugal<\/strong>, which was going through a severe economic crisis, recalls, anonymously, a lawyer linked to Angolan businesses. And it invested in banks, in <strong data-start=\"3421\" data-end=\"3429\">Galp<\/strong>, bought real estate, such as the one in <strong data-start=\"3470\" data-end=\"3482\">Saldanha<\/strong> and, for example, the <strong data-start=\"3505\" data-end=\"3529\">Convent of Brancanes<\/strong>, in Set\u00fabal. The building, built at the end of the 17th century, which served as a prison between 1998 and 2005, was purchased by <strong data-start=\"3660\" data-end=\"3682\">Dirani Project III<\/strong>, another Sonangol subsidiary, which became part of Pua\u00e7a\u2019s structure in 2012. It was the first prison sold by the Portuguese State, recalls <em data-start=\"3823\" data-end=\"3841\">Jornal Econ\u00f3mico<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3844\" data-end=\"4040\">In fact, <strong data-start=\"3853\" data-end=\"3871\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong>, according to his IRS declaration, in 2010 received <strong data-start=\"3924\" data-end=\"3936\">\u20ac280,000<\/strong> from Pua\u00e7a, reported <em data-start=\"3958\" data-end=\"3966\">S\u00e1bado<\/em> magazine. Precisely the year after the purchase of the Saldanha building.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4042\" data-end=\"4512\">The <strong data-start=\"4046\" data-end=\"4105\">2011 purchase of a property for \u20ac3.8 million in Estoril<\/strong> put <strong data-start=\"4110\" data-end=\"4128\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong> on the radar of the Portuguese justice system, on suspicion of <strong data-start=\"4192\" data-end=\"4212\">money laundering<\/strong>. The second most powerful man in Angola, only behind <strong data-start=\"4266\" data-end=\"4293\">Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos<\/strong>, was leaving Sonangol for the <strong data-start=\"4324\" data-end=\"4350\">Pal\u00e1cio da Cidade Alta<\/strong> \u2014 becoming <strong data-start=\"4362\" data-end=\"4386\">Minister of Planning<\/strong>, the first step towards becoming <strong data-start=\"4420\" data-end=\"4454\">Vice President of the Republic<\/strong>, a position he would assume in 2012, after the elections.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"4514\" data-end=\"5079\">Later came <strong data-start=\"4525\" data-end=\"4543\">Operation Fizz<\/strong>, in which <strong data-start=\"4554\" data-end=\"4572\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong> was <strong data-start=\"4577\" data-end=\"4602\">accused of corruption<\/strong> by the Portuguese Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office, for allegedly paying prosecutor <strong data-start=\"4681\" data-end=\"4701\">Orlando Figueira<\/strong> to close his cases. Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos said in his <strong data-start=\"4758\" data-end=\"4788\">State of the Nation speech<\/strong>, in 2013, that the <strong data-start=\"4808\" data-end=\"4845\">strategic partnership with Lisbon<\/strong> would not move forward. Portuguese Foreign Minister <strong data-start=\"4898\" data-end=\"4913\">Rui Machete<\/strong> even <strong data-start=\"4919\" data-end=\"4933\">apologized<\/strong> for the Portuguese investigations \u2014 and it was already under Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o\u2019s presidency that <strong data-start=\"5027\" data-end=\"5078\">Manuel Vicente\u2019s case was transferred to Luanda<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5081\" data-end=\"5484\">Angola wanted the separation of the case concerning <strong data-start=\"5133\" data-end=\"5151\">Manuel Vicente<\/strong> and the sending of that part of the records to the <strong data-start=\"5203\" data-end=\"5229\">Angolan justice system<\/strong>, having had the political support of President <strong data-start=\"5277\" data-end=\"5304\">Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa<\/strong> and Prime Minister <strong data-start=\"5324\" data-end=\"5341\">Ant\u00f3nio Costa<\/strong>. However, the <strong data-start=\"5356\" data-end=\"5385\">Attorney General\u2019s Office<\/strong>, led by <strong data-start=\"5394\" data-end=\"5417\">Joana Marques Vidal<\/strong>, always opposed separating Vicente\u2019s case from <strong data-start=\"5465\" data-end=\"5483\">Operation Fizz<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"5486\" data-end=\"5906\">It took a <strong data-start=\"5496\" data-end=\"5536\">ruling by the Lisbon Court of Appeal<\/strong>, in December 2018, for the <strong data-start=\"5564\" data-end=\"5594\">accusation against Vicente<\/strong> to be transferred to Angola. The Portuguese courts confirmed that <strong data-start=\"5661\" data-end=\"5714\">Manuel Vicente bribed prosecutor Orlando Figueira<\/strong>, who was <strong data-start=\"5724\" data-end=\"5754\">imprisoned in October 2024<\/strong> to serve a sentence of <strong data-start=\"5778\" data-end=\"5808\">six years and eight months<\/strong> for the crimes of corruption, money laundering, breach of judicial secrecy, and document forgery.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"53\" data-end=\"112\"><strong data-start=\"53\" data-end=\"112\">Isabel dos Santos removes Mariana Leit\u00e3o from the board<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"114\" data-end=\"485\">It was in 2013 that Mariana Leit\u00e3o once again sat on the board of directors, this time for three years, until <strong data-start=\"224\" data-end=\"245\">Isabel dos Santos<\/strong> arrived at Sonangol. The eldest daughter of Jos\u00e9 Eduardo dos Santos requested an <strong data-start=\"327\" data-end=\"336\">audit<\/strong> and, based on it, drew up a report in which she strongly criticized <strong data-start=\"405\" data-end=\"436\">Manuel Vicente\u2019s management<\/strong> and proposed a restructuring of the oil company.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"487\" data-end=\"1095\">At the same time, she removed those who had worked during the Manuel Vicente era, like <strong data-start=\"574\" data-end=\"592\">Mariana Leit\u00e3o<\/strong>, who nevertheless remained at Pua\u00e7a until 2019 as <strong data-start=\"643\" data-end=\"655\">director<\/strong>, after Isabel dos Santos had already left Sonangol, having been removed by <strong data-start=\"731\" data-end=\"748\">Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o<\/strong>, the new President of Angola. <strong data-start=\"779\" data-end=\"796\">Armindo Pires<\/strong>, who emphasized to <em data-start=\"816\" data-end=\"828\">Observador<\/em> his <strong data-start=\"833\" data-end=\"855\">non-executive role<\/strong> on the board of directors between 2013 and 2016 \u2014 \u201cMariana was the executive board member, the management was hers and Fernando Roberto\u2019s\u201d \u2014 insists on stressing that <strong data-start=\"1023\" data-end=\"1094\">Pua\u00e7a was mainly dedicated to working with the scholarship students<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1097\" data-end=\"1380\">As for the parliamentary leader of IL, she denies having had a professional relationship with the two former leaders of Sonangol: \u201cI never reported directly to Manuel Vicente or Isabel dos Santos. In the performance of my duties, I had no contact with them. Nor after leaving Pua\u00e7a.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Candidate for IL leadership spent 13 years at Sonangol\u2019s Portuguese company, three as a board member. Prosecutor investigates purchase and sale of a building in Lisbon. Leit\u00e3o says she had no responsibility in the area. Before entering active political life, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":9219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,78,76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-others"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9225"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9227,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9225\/revisions\/9227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.negociosdeangola.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}