Portugal indebted to Angola after economic reversal of fortune

"Maybe Angola will colonise us now," says Vasco Lourenço, the head of Associação 25 de Abril, an organisation that is trying to preserve the spirit of the 1974 revolution. Forty years ago he was one of the young army officers who took up arms to end the Salazar dictatorship and colonial wars.

The conflict has moved to another front, all about the economy, and Angola seems to have gained the upper hand. "Angola is looking for recognition and makes it very clear where the money is, sometimes to the point of humiliation," says French historian Yves Léonard. In February, when the cash-strapped government in Lisbon raised the possibility of selling 85 Miró paintings, an Angolan millionaire, Rui Costa Reis, offered to buy them. Well-off Angolan families are now the only people who can afford to shop on the capital's upmarket Avenida da Liberdade. They are investing in luxury apartments at Cascais, a fashionable seaside resort, and buying up companies hastily privatised by the authorities. They – and the Chinese – are the prime beneficiaries of the "golden visas" that the government has promised to anyone investing €500,000 ($650,000) in the country.

These investments do not always make financial good sense, according to Filipe. He has doubts about the Portuguese press, for example, which is struggling. But for Angolans this is familiar territory and it represents a form of revenge too. Investing in the media and banking brings Luanda greater influence. The Portuguese are unhappy about this situation, even bitter at times. Many wonder whether the papers will still dare criticise Angola.

No b-word. Now kneel and suck the BBC

"Portugal is in a tricky situation. It needs Angolan money and must also watch out for Portuguese residents in Angola," Filipe explains. About 100,000 Portuguese nationals currently live in the former colony. Much as with Brazil in the past, many young Portuguese, dogged by unemployment at home, see their future in Angola.

SMH why do kkkrakkkas keep coming to the black man's land

Some would say the word "partner" is a bit feeble for the links between the two countries. Léonard asserts that a special relationship has developed out of "Portugal's extraordinary capacity for mixing and cross-breeding".