The Cape Verdean official ended his five-day working visit with a meeting with the community in Angola, attended by Manuel Semedo, 55, a native of Santa Catarina, who has lived in Angola for over 30 years.
Manuel Semedo, who works for a construction company, is concerned about the situation of some of his elderly fellow countrymen, with regard to social issues, as well as the level of documentation.
"We have a lot of people already at an advanced age and I wish they could pay a little more attention and also see if we could see the issue of our documents resolved, in the issue of the passport, for example, and a few more special issues, such as, for example, the situation of Cape Verdean pensioners who have been here for a long time and need to resolve these issues", said Manuel Semedo who was last in Cape Verde in 2006, a long period caused "by financial and documentation issues".
Married to an Angolan woman and father of eight children, Manuel Semedo does not intend to return one day to his country of origin, which he has now stayed just to visit.
"My children were born here, they already have Cape Verdean nationality, now they are the ones who always have that desire to go to Cape Verde, because they don't know it", he stressed.
Eugénia Borges Lopes, aged 84, belongs to the group of oldest Cape Verdeans in Angola, remembering only that in "the whole war in Angola" she was present, when asked about the date of her arrival in the country.
"The liberation struggle in Angola, the whole war, we spent here", said Eugénia Borges Lopes, who worked at the Ministry of Interior where she "arrived young".
With nine children, three in Cape Verde and the rest in Angola, Eugénia Borges Lopes participated in the meeting between Jorge Santos and the Cape Verdeans residing in Angola, with the aim of asking for more attention.
"I'm poor, I have nothing, I've worked all the time of my life, but I have nothing, so whatever you give me, I'll take it", lamented Eugénia Lopes, who only remembers that she stopped going to Cape Verde when the direct air links between Angola and the archipelago ended, leaving only the will to visit the family and return to where "the whole family" is also.
At the meeting, Jorge Santos announced that until December 31 of this year, Cape Verdeans will be able to process national documents free of charge, which are available on the Cape Verde consular portal, in operation since 2022, for access by communities to a set of of digital services, namely passports, powers of attorney, driving license, among others.
As an issue to be resolved, the minister took from the meeting the desire of the Cape Verdean community to have a Casa de Cabo Verde in Angola similar to what already exists in Portugal and in the United States of America, to accommodate all the initiatives of this community of about 120,000 people.
