Talatona - The Minister of State and Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, on Tuesday pointed to the ideals of the Pan-Africanist Amílcar Cabral as beacons for development and the construction of states capable of providing equal opportunities for all.
Talatona - The Minister of State and Chief of Staff of the President of the Republic, Adão de Almeida, on Tuesday pointed to the ideals of the Pan-Africanist Amílcar Cabral as beacons for development and the construction of states capable of providing equal opportunities for all.
Adão de Almeida, who was speaking at the International Colloquium on the centenary of Amílcar Cabral, to be held on 12 September this year, defined the nationalist's ideals as timeless and self-renewing from generation to generation, which is why men of the politician's stature are eternal.
Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral was a politician, poet, agronomist and convinced pan-Africanist who fought especially for the independence of the then Portuguese colonies in Africa.
For the government official, his ideals as a pan-Africanist were useful yesterday and are necessary today, noting that the challenges are different, but the raison is the same, which is the dignity of man.
According to Adão de Almeida, the event is a way of honouring Amílcar Cabral's centenary, but it is also a call to reflect on the challenges of the times.
He said that the challenge is not traditional colonisation, but the various forms of neo-colonisation, how to make globalisation a positive reality and not give up on African nationalism, particularly at a time when the world economic order is threatened by nationalist, extremist and xenophobic movements.
The official recalled that the honoree had always defended the creation of a free society for all, which respects everyone and safeguards the common good, where everyone finds their own space to achieve their goals and together bring about collective prosperity.
On the other hand, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Téte António, in his capacity as the event´s host, considered Amílcar Cabral to be one of the most outstanding and notable intellectuals of the Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP).
"A pan-Africanist of the highest stature, whose unique liberating path, bravery and stoicism led to the emancipation of the peoples of Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau, made him immortal," he explained.
He described Amílcar Cabral as a man of noble and right causes, who knew how to interpret the desires of his people and fought for essential and foundational goals of human existence.
Téte António said that his ancestry and path influenced his binational passion for Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, for whose independence he offered his life.
The minister said that together with his comrades, he founded the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde, an essential instrument for achieving the independence of these two territories and for affirming the dignity of the African man.
He quoted Amílcar Cabral, in a speech given around 1966, in which he classified colonialism as a "paralysis or deviation, or even the total stoppage of the history of a people in favour of accelerating the historical development of other peoples".
The International Colloquium on the centenary of Amílcar Cabral is Angola's recognition of Amílcar Cabral's contribution to the conquest of National Independence, as well as honouring his memory as one of the freedom fighters against colonial domination.
The colloquium has a single panel with four speakers, namely academics Óscar Monteiro from Mozambique, Julião Soares de Sousa from Guinea-Bissau, the former President of Cape Verde and current president of the Amílcar Cabral Foundation, Pedro Pires (via video conference), and Angolan historian Cornélio Caley. MAG/VIC/MRA/DOJ
