Ambassador without Portfolio
Elísio de Figueiredo is an Angolan diplomatic stalwart. In 1976 he was appointed independent Angola’s first ever ambassador to the United Nations, a position he held until 1988. Thereafter, he served in a number of diplomatic postings.
During the early 1990s – the period in which Angolagate and the Debt Deal were conceived and executed – de Figueiredo served as Angola’s Ambassador without portfolio in Paris. During the now notorious Angolagate deal, de Figueiredo was allegedly appointed by José Eduardo dos Santos as Angola’s envoy to key contacts in France.