The ambassador felt unwell when he arrived home, shortly before 8 pm, after a walk.
Despite resuscitation maneuvers, he arrived lifeless at Hospital Agostinho Neto, in the Cape Verdean capital, where he was transported by ambulance, said a source from that health unit.
During the day, while carrying out his duties, the diplomat participated in public activities in the historic center of Praia and at the Portuguese School of Cape Verde.
Several members of the Cape Verdean Government, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rui Figueiredo Soares, accompanied the team from the Portuguese embassy in Cape Verde at the hospital overnight.
Meanwhile, procedures are underway to repatriate the ambassador's body to Portugal.
The ambassador's funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, at the Basilica da Estrela, in Lisbon, Portugal.
According to information from the funeral agency responsible for the funeral service, the urn will go to the Capelas Exequiais of the Basílica da Estrela on Monday, starting at 5pm.
"Tuesday, May 28th, at 10:30 am, the funeral services will begin, with the celebration of a mass with the body present", says the funeral home.
The news about Paulo Lourenço's death generated several reactions, with the Portuguese government expressing "deep regret" over his death on Saturday.
In a message on the social network Instagram, the Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, highlighted Paulo Lourenço, in office since December 2022 in Cape Verde, where he "gained enormous recognition, prestige and sympathy".
"With deep regret, I present, on behalf of the Portuguese Government and in my own name, heartfelt condolences to the family of Ambassador Paulo Lourenço. An exemplary diplomat, yesterday [Friday] who died in Cape Verde, he gained enormous recognition, prestige and sympathy there, which I was personally able to witness it", reads the note of condolence.
Both the President and the Government of Cape Verde also expressed regret over the diplomat's death, with José Maria Neves lamenting "the enormous loss".
Still on Saturday, the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, also lamented the death of the Portuguese ambassador to Cape Verde, Paulo Lourenço, whom he remembered as a "competent and dedicated diplomat".
The Portuguese Minister of National Defense, Nuno Melo, also lamented the death of the Portuguese ambassador to Cape Verde, Paulo Lourenço, recalling "his exceptional action" in the area of Defense.
Paulo Jorge Lopes Lourenço was born on March 10, 1972, in Angola.
He was a career diplomat since 1995 and worked at the Portuguese embassies in Luanda, London, Sarajevo and Belgrade.
Between 2012 and 2018 he was consul general in São Paulo.
Between February 2020 and until being appointed ambassador to Cape Verde, in December 2022, he headed the General Directorate of National Defense Policy, in which role he negotiated the new Defense framework program between Portugal and Cape Verde for the period 2022 to 2026.
