This Tuesday, Adão de Almeida opened an international colloquium celebrating the centenary of Amílcar Cabral, promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to Adão de Almeida, the strength of ideals is timeless and is renewed from generation to generation, considering that "men of Amílcar Cabral's stature are timeless".
"His ideals were useful yesterday and are necessary today. The challenges are different, but their reason for being is the same: the dignification of Man", highlighted the Minister of State and head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic.
For the ruler, the challenge of dignifying man is continuous and current, and just as it inspired Amílcar Cabral and his companions to fight for the freedom and dignification of African peoples, it must also inspire the current generation "in the fight for well-being, for development and the construction of States capable of providing equal opportunities for all".
The government official highlighted that the colloquium "is a way of celebrating Amílcar Cabral's centenary", but also a call to reflect on today's challenges.
"Today, the challenge is not traditional colonization, but the various forms of neo-colonization," he declared.
According to Adão de Almeida, the challenge today is to know "how to make globalization a positive reality and not a giving up of African nationalism, particularly at a time when the world economic order is threatened by extremist and xenophobic nationalist movements".
"The challenge is the structural transformation of our economy so that it survives external shocks, natural in contexts of interdependence between peoples, economies and cultures. Only a strong and structurally diversified economy is capable of generating jobs and paying good wages", he noted.
The formation of a free society for everyone, which respects each person and safeguards the common good, in which each person finds their space to achieve their goals, is a challenge for "collective prosperity", he stated.
"As we celebrate Amílcar Cabral's centenary and exalt his life and work, let us seek inspiration from his generation and ideals to overcome the challenges of the present", appealed the government official.
In turn, the head of the country's diplomacy highlighted that Amílcar Cabral's centenary coincides with the year marking the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, on April 25th, "an event intrinsically linked to the military, political and diplomatic pressure of the combatants of the former Portuguese colonies in Africa".
"We gathered to remember the journey of the short, but remarkable life of the companion of the House of Students of the Empire, the agronomist of the Companhia Agrícola do Amboim [Gabela], the companion of President Agostinho Neto, Eduardo Mondlane, Marcelino dos Santos, Lúcio Lara, Mário Pinto de Andrade, Samora Machel and many others, at the founding of CONCP, at the meetings of the Decolonization Committee, in Dar-Es-Salam", said Téte António, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Amílcar Cabral was born on September 12, 1924, in Guinea-Bissau and died at the age of 48, murdered on January 20, 1973, in Conakry, by members of his party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), of which he was one of the founders.
On December 10, 2022, the nationalist and promoter of the independence of Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, who would celebrate his 100th birthday this year, was posthumously awarded the degree of Grand Collar of the Order of Freedom of Portugal.
