João Bernardo de Miranda (born July 18, 1952) is an

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n politician who is currently the Ambassador of

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He was Minister of External Relations of Angola from January 1999 to October 2008 and the Governor of

Bengo Province Bengo is a province of Angola. Its capital is Caxito. It has an area of 31,371 square kilometres, and its population as of the 2014 Census was 356,641. The province was created in 1980 by dividing the original province of Luanda into Bengo and ...

from 2009 to 2018.

Early life and education

De Miranda was born in Caxito-Dande, Bengo, Angola. He has academic degrees in journalism, law, and

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

Political career

Early career

He began his political career at a very young age by joining the

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola ( pt, Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola, Abbreviation, abbr. MPLA), for some years called the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party (), is an Angolan left-wi ...

(MPLA), Angola's ruling party since its independence in 1975. He has held various positions within the party, mostly related to journalism,

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

, and propaganda. In 1990, he was appointed to the post of Vice-Minister for Information, and was chosen to be part of the task force in the

Bicesse Accords The Bicesse Accords, also known as the Estoril Accords, laid out a transition to multi-party democracy in Angola under the supervision of the United Nations' UNAVEM II mission. President José Eduardo dos Santos of the MPLA and Jonas Savimbi of U ...

the following year. He was moved to the

Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

of External Relations soon after. In 1993, he led a high level governmental task force to the exploratory conversations with the

National Union for the Total Independence of Angola The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola ( pt, União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola, abbr. UNITA) is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought alongside the Popular Movement for ...

(UNITA) that took place in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. The outcome of those talks gave way to the signature of the Lusaka

Protocol Protocol may refer to: Sociology and politics * Protocol (politics), a formal agreement between nation states * Protocol (diplomacy), the etiquette of diplomacy and affairs of state * Etiquette, a code of personal behavior Science and technolog ...

in 1994.

Foreign Minister

He was appointed Minister of External Relations in 1999 during a very critical time, in which the

National Assembly of Angola The National Assembly ( pt, Assembleia Nacional) is the legislative branch of the government of Angola. Angola is a unicameral country so the National Assembly is the only legislative chamber at the national level. The 220 members of the Natio ...

gave President Jose Eduardo dos Santos a substantial amount of power in order to bring about an end to the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

the nation was facing. In the process, President dos Santos made a series of critical changes within the government that brought a core of loyal and pragmatic individuals such as

Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos (born 5 March 1950), known as Nandó, is an Angolan politician who was the first vice president of Angola from February 2010 to September 2012. He was the prime minister of Angola from 2002 to 2008 and presid ...

Kundi Paihama Kundi Paihama (9 December 1944 – 24 July 2020) was an Angolan politician who served as Angola's Minister of Defense from 2002 to 2010. He served subsequently as Minister for War Veterans. Paihama was the 18th candidate on the national list of ...

, and de Miranda. Being fully oriented by President dos Santos, the newly appointed minister began an intensive and tireless diplomatic campaign in order to isolate UNITA politically, and weaken its military capabilities through sanctions on its arms suppliers. In the process, he was able to gain international sympathy for the Angolan government's cause. In 2002, de Miranda secured more than enough votes for Angola in the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

, as a non-permanent member for the 2002 - 2003 period. In 2003, de Miranda was featured in the book cover of ''Leaders of the World - 2003'' by the late American author Marilyn Perry. In his book "15 Meses no Ministério dos Negócios Estrangeiros" former Portuguese

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

Diogo Freitas do Amaral Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral (; 21 July 1941 – 3 October 2019), known as Freitas do Amaral, was a Portuguese politician and law professor. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 January 1980 to 12 January 1981 and from 12 March 2005 t ...

described de Miranda as a solid politician with whom he was very pleased to work. In 2006 de Miranda oversaw, under the watch of President dos Santos, the successful elections in the

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

, as part of the stabilizing process in the Great Lakes region. Miranda was the 32nd candidate on the MPLA's national list in the September 2008 parliamentary election.List of deputies elected in the 2008 election
CNE website . He won a seat in this election, in which the MPLA won an overwhelming majority in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

. Following the election, President dos Santos appointed

Assunção dos Anjos Assunção Afonso de Sousa dos Anjos (13 February 1946 – 12 December 2022) was an Angolan diplomat who was Angola's Minister of External Relations from 2008 to 2010. Biography Anjos was born in Luanda and worked at the Ministry of External Re ...

to replace Miranda as Foreign Minister on October 1, 2008. Miranda was subsequently the African Union's envoy to

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ), ...

at the time of that country's June 2009 presidential election. Following the assassination of presidential candidate Baciro Dabo, he said on state radio that the African Union wanted the election to go ahead as scheduled."GBissau polls 'should go ahead' despite killing"
AFP, 8 June 2009.

Writing career

De Miranda is also the author of two literary works.

References

External links

* Peter James Spielmann, ''Angola accuses world of ignoring its civil war'',

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, October 1, 1999 *

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

br>Report On the Situation of Angola
{{DEFAULTSORT:Miranda, Joao Bernardo De 1952 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (Angola) MPLA politicians Ambassadors of Angola to France Foreign ministers of Angola Governors of Bengo 20th-century Angolan politicians 21st-century Angolan politicians 21st-century diplomats