# Roberto Francisco de Almeida

Roberto António Victor Francisco de Almeida (born 5 February 1941) is an Angolan activist and politician for the MPLA liberation movement and party, lawyer, journalist, writer and poet. He served as Deputy Foreign Minister (1976-1978), Minister of Foreign Trade (1978-1979), Minister of Planning (1979-1981), and the President of the National Assembly of Angola (1996-2008).
Besides being a politician, Almeida is also an established Portuguese-language writer, under the pseudonym Jofre Rocha.

## Publications

Rocha's publications include:

### Poetry

* Rocha, Jofre (1973). Tempo de cicio [Time cycle]. Cadernos Capricórnio, 6 (in Portuguese). Capricórnio. 32 pages. Poetry.
* Rocha, Jofre (1977). Assim se fez madrugada : canções do povo e da revolução [This is how dawn broke: songs of the people and the revolution]. Colecção Autores angolanos, 9 (in Portuguese). Lisboa: Edições 70 (Ed. 70). OCLC 463073408. 78 pages. Poetry.
* Rocha, Jofre (1985). Crónicas de Ontem e de sempre [Chronicles of yesterday and forever]. Cadernos Lavra & Oficina, 47 (in Portuguese). Luanda: UEA - União dos Escritores Angolanos. LCCN 89191431. OCLC 21077361. 53 pages.
* Rocha, Jofre (1988). 60 canções de amor e luta : põesia [60 songs of love and struggle : poetry]. Contemporâneos (in Portuguese). Luanda: União dos escritores angolanos. OCLC 499453133. 82 pages. Poetry.

#### Anthology

* Rocha, Jofre (2014). Neto, Akiz (ed.). Contingência : afectos, revoltas e ternura : poesia de Jofre Rocha, antologia [Contingency : affections, revolts and tenderness : poetry by Jofre Rocha, anthology] (in Portuguese). Luanda, Angola; Lisboa: Ministério da Cultura, Comissão Organizadora do II Festival Nacional de Cultura ; Mercado das Letras. OCLC 1352000355. 217 pages. Poetry.

### Prose
#### Short stories

* Rocha, Jofre (1977). Estórias do Musseque [Stories from the Musseque (slum)]. Colecção Autores angolanos, 3 (in Portuguese). Lisboa / São Paulo: Edições 70 / Ática. OCLC 863325218. 88 pages. Short stories.

#### Politics

* Rocha, Jofre (2002). 10º aniversário da Assembleia Nacional [10th anniversary of the National Assembly, 1992-2002] (in Portuguese). Luanda: Assembléia Nacional. OCLC 940755050. 116 pages. Prose.
* Rocha, Jofre (2011). Peço a palavra : peças de oratória parlamentar [I request the floor: parliamentary oratory pieces]. Discursos, entrevistas & communicações, no. 1 (in Portuguese). Luanda: Kilombelombe. ISBN 9789898368157. OCLC 820553468. 460 pages. Prose.

## Public service

Political offices :
| Preceded by | Deputy Foreign Minister 1976-1978 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of Foreign Trade 1978–1979 | Succeeded byLopo do Nascimento |
| Preceded byJosé Eduardo dos Santos | Minister of Planning 1979–1981 | Succeeded byLopo do Nascimento |
| Preceded byFernando José de França Dias Van-Dúnem | President of the National Assembly of Angola 1996-2008 | Succeeded byFernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos |

## Quote

The first lines of Rocha's Poem of Return are:
   When I return from the land of exile and silence
   Do not bring me flowers.
   Bring me rather all the dews, Tears of dawns which witnessed dramas. Bring me the immense hunger for love and the plaint of tumid sexes in the star-studded night. Bring me the long night of sleeplessness with mothers mourning, their arms bereft of sons.