On August 24, 2014, Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos appointed Agostinho Tavares da Silva Neto to be his ambassador to the United States. Neto presented his credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama on November 14, 2014.

Tavares was born January 16, 1954 in Luanda, Angola’s capital. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Central University Brasilia in Brazil and a degree in planning from the Karl Marx Institute in Luanda. Neto joined Angola’s foreign service in 1977.

Tavares’ assignments included being human resources department head for the Secretary of State for Cooperation; administrative attaché at Angola’s embassy in Madrid, Spain; third secretary at the embassy in New Delhi, India; department head in the Asia and Oceania Directorate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and first secretary and subsequently counselor at the Angolan embassy in Brasilia.

In 2007, Tavares was made head of the Asia and Oceania Department of Bilateral Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His first ambassadorial posting came in 2011 when he was sent to represent Angola in Ottawa, Canada.

Tavares and his wife, Prudência de Sousa da Silva, have five children. He speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish.

-Steve Straehley

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