General Manuel Hélder Vieira Dias Jr, known by the nickname

Nickname

A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

 "Kopelipa", is director of the National Reconstruction Office, a top governmental position in Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

. He is — along with fellow "top general

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

s" Francisco Higino Carneiro

Francisco Higino Carneiro

General Francisco Higino Lopes Carneiro is Minister of Public Works of Angola. He is, along with fellow "top generals" João Maria de Sousa, Hélder Vieira Dias, Roberto Leal Monteiro, and Kundi Paihama, one of the military leaders holding top ministerial posts for the Popular Movement for the...

, João Maria de Sousa

João Maria de Sousa

General João Maria de Sousa is the Attorney General of Angola and "the top magistrate of the Prosecuting Council". In a December 2007 ceremony reconfirming his post and attended by members of the press, de Sousa was photographed being sworn in to office by José Eduardo dos Santos, President,...

, Roberto Leal Monteiro

Roberto Leal Monteiro

General Roberto Leal Monteiro, nicknamed Ngongo, is Home Affairs Minister of Angola, a top governmental position in that country. He is — along with fellow "top generals" Francisco Higino Carneiro, João Maria de Sousa, Hélder Vieira Dias, and Kundi Paihama — one of the military leaders...

, and Kundi Paihama — one of the military

Military

A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 leaders holding top ministerial posts for the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola

Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola

The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola - Labour Party is a political party that has ruled Angola since the country's independence from Portugal in 1975...

, the political party

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 that has ruled Angola since it gained its independence from Portugal

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 in 1975. The general has been referred to as "the highest and most trusted member of the president’s

José Eduardo dos Santos

José Eduardo dos Santos is an Angolan politician who has been the second and current President of Angola since 1979. As President, José Eduardo dos Santos is also the commander in chief of the Angolan Armed Forces and president of the MPLA , the party that has been ruling Angola since...

entourage".