LUANDA, Angola, Aug. 9 -- Hillary Rodham Clinton made the first visit to Angola by a U.S. secretary of state in seven years, trying Sunday to strengthen relations with a growing oil producer that is being aggressively courted by China.

Clinton sought to emphasize the positive in her two-day visit, praising Angola's efforts to rebuild after a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. But during a meeting in parliament, opposition politicians urged her to press for more democratic behavior from President José Eduardo dos Santos, who has been in power for three decades.

"Africa and Angola need, not strong men, but strong institutions," Alda Sachiambo, leader of the UNITA caucus, said at the televised meeting, throwing back at Clinton a line from a speech President Obama gave last month in Ghana.

Sachiambo said the U.S. government has a "greater responsibility" to push for fair treatment for the opposition, because it funded UNITA during the war.

Clinton did not respond directly, but told the lawmakers: "In a democracy such as yours, the parliament must demand accountability and transparency, and stand against financial corruption and abuse of power."

Angola was the third stop on Clinton's seven-nation tour of Africa, which has emphasized good governance and economic growth. Clinton was notably less critical of Angola's democratic failings -- corruption and a lack of press freedom -- than she was of Kenya's performance during her stop there last week.

A senior administration official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said Clinton believes the Angolans are "moving in the right direction, so it's better to encourage them along."

Angola's oil production has surged in recent years, and rivals Nigeria as the biggest petroleum exporter in sub-Saharan Africa. It is the No. 7 supplier of oil to the United States.

While the oil-fueled economy grew a sizzling 27 percent last year, many Angolans haven't seen improvement in their lives. About two-thirds of the population lives on less than $2 a day, according to United Nations figures.

Luanda, an Atlantic coastal capital dotted with a few pastel-colored Portuguese colonial buildings, is full of tin-roofed shacks and dilapidated apartment buildings in faded beige and pink, with shirts flapping from clotheslines.

Oil diplomacy was the top item on Clinton's agenda, and she emphasized in her meetings with Angolan officials the need for transparency in awarding contracts and spending oil proceeds, according to her aides.

In recent years, China has provided Angola with billions of dollars in oil-backed loans to rebuild hospitals, schools and roads, and Chinese companies have formed joint ventures with Angolan petroleum companies. Major U.S. oil companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobile are heavily involved in the oil sector here.

Clinton, however, told reporters she was not worried about the Chinese presence. "I'm looking at what the United States can do to further and deepen our relationship" with Angola, she said.

Asked about the high level of corruption here, Clinton told reporters that Angola has made progress by posting oil revenues online and working with the U.S. Treasury on increasing transparency.

She also praised Angola for holding its first legislative elections in 16 years last year. But aides said she told Angolan officials that they had to have a presidential election "in the near future." Elections were supposed to be held in 2009, but Dos Santos has not set a date.

The U.S. government backed UNITA in the war that turned Angola into a Cold War battleground. Angola has shed its Marxist past and normalized relations with the United States under President Bill Clinton.

By Mary Beth Sheridan, The Washington Post, August 10, 2009