Jorge Sampaio died. PR highlights its "struggle for a better future" for humanity

"It was with a deep feeling of regret that I learned of the death, due to illness, of Jorge Sampaio, a person of great importance in Portuguese democratic life", wrote João Lourenço in a published note.

The head of state recalled Jorge Sampaio as "master of a high culture" who "has always been actively engaged in the struggle for a better future for all of humanity".

João Lourenço also referred that Jorge Sampaio "has always maintained a relationship of great respect and cordiality with Portuguese-speaking African countries, and with Angola, in particular".

"At this moment of pain and mourning, I address, on my behalf, on behalf of the Angolan people and Government, to the bereaved family and to the Portuguese people my most heartfelt condolences," concluded the head of state.

The former President of the Republic of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio, died this Friday at the age of 81, in the Santa Cruz hospital, in Lisbon.

Before April 25, 1974, he was one of the protagonists of the academic crisis of the early 1960s, which generated a long and widespread movement of student protest against the Estado Novo, having, as a lawyer, defended political prisoners during the dictatorship.

Jorge Sampaio was secretary general of the PS (1989-1992), president of the Lisbon City Council (1990-1995) and President of the Republic (1996 and 2006).

After serving as President of the Republic, he was appointed in 2006 by the Secretary General of the United Nations Special Envoy for the Fight against Tuberculosis and, between 2007 and 2013, was the UN High Representative for the Alliance of Civilizations.

He currently chaired the Global Platform for Syrian Students, which he founded in 2013 with the aim of contributing to the academic emergency that the conflict in Syria had created, leaving thousands of young people without access to education.