Maria das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa (born 11 July 1958) is a São Toméan politician and economist who served as

prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a Product (mathematics), product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime ...

from 2002 to 2004. Appointed as a member of MLSTP–PSD, she was the first woman to serve as head of government for São Tomé and Príncipe. Das Neves was prime minister during the attempted coup of 2003 and was arrested by those orchestrating the coup. She resigned after it ended but was convinced to stay by President

Fradique de Menezes Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes (born 21 March 1942) is a São Toméan politician who was the third president of São Tomé and Príncipe from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2003 to 2011. Early life Menezes was born on the then Portuguese colony ...

. De Menezes dissolved das Neves's government in September 2004 following allegations of corruption. She continued serving 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 repr ...

, and she was an unsuccessful candidate for president in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. She was appointed rector of the Lusíada University of São Tomé and Príncipe in 2024.

Early life and career

Maria das Neves Ceita Baptista de Sousa was born on 11 July 1958 in

São Tomé São Tomé is the capital and largest city of the Central African island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Its name is Portuguese for " Saint Thomas". Founded in the 15th century, it is one of Africa's oldest colonial cities. History Álv ...

. She studied finance and credit at the

University of Santiago de Cuba The University of Oriente - Santiago de Cuba (, UO) is a university located in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. It was founded in 1947 and is organized in 12 Faculties. Organization These are the 12 faculties in which the university is divided into: * F ...

from 1980 to 1987. She worked at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

in São Tomé and Príncipe, where she led the Statistic Bureau and was involved with the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

. In July 1993, she was appointed as a member of the Office for the Establishment and Development of the Free-Trade Zone. She also worked at the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and at

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

. Das Neves married Carlos Quaresma and they had two daughters. Das Neves became Minister of Economics under Prime Minister

Guilherme Posser da Costa Guilherme Posser da Costa (born 18 May 1953) is a São Toméan who served as the ninth prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe from 1999 to 2001. Posser da Costa served as Minister of Foreign Affairs: 1987–1988, 1990–1991, and 1994–1996 ...

in 1999, taking the position that was once held by her husband. Her husband was the subject of a scandal the same year when he was removed as governor of the

Central Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe The Central Bank of São Tomé and Príncipe ( or BCSTP) is the central bank of São Tomé and Príncipe, a Portuguese-speaking island nation off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. History At independence in 1975, the government con ...

following allegations that he attempted to defraud a bank in Brussels, and an international warrant was issued for his arrest. In 2001, das Neves's position changed to Minister of Finance. Das Neves was elected as a deputy of MLSTP-PSD in the

during the 2002 parliamentary election. She took the position in March, and the following month she was made Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism under Prime Minister Gabriel Costa. No party had obtained a majority of the legislature, and Costa's coalition was fragile. It was dissolved in September 2002, and the three major parties chose das Neves as a compromise candidate to succeed him as

Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a Product (mathematics), product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime ...

Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe

Das Neves became prime minister on 3 October 2002 and was the first woman to serve as Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe. She retained most of Costa's ministers. She also included several women in her cabinet, making up four of the eleven members. She appointed her husband, the former governor of the

, as an economic advisor in December 2002. Das Neves considered the country's

external debt A country's gross external debt (or foreign debt) is the liabilities that are owed to nonresidents by residents. The debtors can be government, governments, corporation, corporations or citizens. External debt may be denominated in domestic or f ...

to be the most important political issue to address during her premiership. She worked to develop industry in São Tomé and Príncipe with an emphasis on oil. She was concerned about making the economy too dependent on oil but did not have enough support from the president or the legislature to enact policy to diversify the economy. Das Neves also focused on developing a tourism industry for the country. President Menezes dissolved parliament on 21 January 2003 after a dispute over constitutional reform, and das Neves worked with Supreme Court President Alice Vera Cruz to convince him not to hold early elections. An attempted coup took place on 16 July 2003, and she was arrested while asleep in her home. She had ended assistance for the leaders of the

Christian Democratic Front The Christian Democratic Front () is a small political party in São Tomé and Príncipe. It failed to win any seats in the National Assembly following elections held on 26 March 2006. The party supported Fradique de Menezes in the 30 July 2006 ...

in June 2003, and they helped organise the coup. The leaders of the coup threatened to deport her husband, who was still subject to an international arrest warrant. She had a heart attack during the coup and was taken to the hospital. An agreement led to the end of the coup a week later. Das Neves resigned as prime minister after the coup on 1 August 2003, but President

convinced her to stay. She was appointed as prime minister again on 9 August. She formed a new government including MLSTP–PSD, MDFM, and

Independent Democratic Action The Independent Democratic Action () is a political party in São Tomé and Príncipe. It was established in 1994 by the then president Miguel Trovoada and is a politically centrist party. It took part in the 29 July 2001 presidential election ...

. Das Neves ordered the dismissal of Minister of Natural Resources

Tomé Vera Cruz Tomé Soares da Vera Cruz (born 23 July 1956) was the 14th prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe from April 2006 to February 2008. He is also Secretary-General of the Force for Change Democratic Movement-Liberal Party (MDFM-PL). In addition t ...

and Foreign Minister

Mateus Meira Rita Mateus Meira Rita (byname Nando) is a São Toméan politician. He served as the country's foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or pri ...

in March 2004, when it became known that each had pursued agreements with Energem Petroleum and the government of Angola, respectively, without her approval. Both were members of MDFM, which defected from her government and joined the opposition. This caused conflict between das Neves and President de Menezes. Das Neves was dismissed by de Menezes in September 2004 after she was implicated in a corruption scandal. She was one of several political figures accused of accepting payments from the food agency Gabinete de Gestão de Ajudas. She alleged that she had been dismissed because of her rejection of the Natural Resource Ministry's agreement with Energem Petroleum. She said that the allegations were a plot against her and that de Menezes was corrupt. Das Neves was succeeded as prime minister by

Damião Vaz d'Almeida Damião Vaz d'Almeida (born 28 April 1951) served as the 12th prime minister of São Tomé and Príncipe and the vice-president of the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe, Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe ...

Post-premiership

Das Neves was summoned as a witness alongside other former government officials on 25 October. The National Assembly revoked her

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...

in 2005, and she was charged with embezzlement of public funds in May of that year. Her husband's fraud sentence in Brussels was commuted to probation in 2006. Das Neves was reelected to the National Assembly in the 2006 parliamentary election. She became chair for the Committee on Human Rights and Gender Issues, where she successfully pushed for criminalisation of battery against a woman. The embezzlement charge against das Neves was paused in April 2007 for lack of evidence, and an appeal by the prosecutor to reopen it was rejected in January 2008. She became the first the first president of the Network of Women Parliamentarians of the

Community of Portuguese Language Countries The Community of Portuguese Language Countries (; : CPLP), also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth or Lusophone Community (), is an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portug ...

in April 2009. Das Neves ran in the 2011 presidential election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

and placed fourth with 15 percent of the vote. She ran as a member of MLSTP–PSD in the

2016 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2016 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2016 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *7 January: Kiri ...

and placed third with 24 percent. She ran as an independent again in the 2021 presidential election and placed fifth with 3 percent. Das Neves was appointed rector of the Lusíada University of São Tomé and Príncipe in 2024.

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