Hélder Vieira Dias

General Hélder Vieira Dias, known by the nickname "Kopelipa", is director of the National Reconstruction Office, a top governmental position in Angola. [http://www2.un.int/Countries/Angola/1139232758.pdf] Republic of Angola Permanent Mission to the United Nations, December 2005 Newsletter] [http://www.agenceglobal.com/article.asp?id=1608] Angola After the Wars by Augusta Conchiglia (11 Jun 2008)] He is — along with fellow "top generals" Francisco Higino Carneiro, João Maria de Sousa, Roberto Leal Monteiro, and Kundi Paihama — one of the military leaders holding top ministerial posts for the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the political party that has ruled Angola since it gained its independence from Portugal in 1975. [ [http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=16918] "Private security companies and a parallel State in Angola" (africafiles.org)] The general has been referred to as "a member of the president’s entourage".

References