The Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation ended last Sunday his participation, on behalf of the President of the Government, in the celebrations of the Centennial of the Portuguese Republic that took place in California, United States of America.
Rodrigo Oliveira participated in various initiatives, with special emphasis on his speech at the opening session of the seminar “The Portuguese Republic: Tradition, Successes and Future” (A República Portuguesa: Tradição, Sucessos e Futuro) at the University of California, Berkeley, on March 12. This two-day event brought together several scholars from U.S. and Portuguese Universities.
Rodrigo Oliveira mentioned that “one of the greatest victories of the Republic, built on Freedom and Democracy, is precisely the establishment and development of the autonomic system in the Azores and Madeira,” stressing that “it was not until the third republican Constitution that the State acknowledged the geographical and cultural specificities of a People that has long demanded the “free administration of the Azores by the Azoreans.”
In his speech, the Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation addressed the evolution of the autonomist movements, with special emphasis on the progress of the Azores after the establishment of Autonomy. He also mentioned the role played by Teófilo Braga and Manuel de Arriaga in the establishment of the First Republic, in the context of “a major intellectual movement and the political, civic and cultural participation of Azoreans at a national level.”
Rodrigo Oliveira has also participated in meetings with the Azorean community in California and he was speaker at the Dinner to Celebrate the Centennial of the Portuguese Republic, which was held in the city of San Jose on March 12. At this dinner Diniz L. Borges, former Director of the Portuguese Communities in California, was awarded with the Culture Prize “Luso-American Education Foundation”; therefore, Rodrigo Oliveira pays a tribute, “on behalf of the Government of the Azores,” to a man that honours the Azoreans, an example dedication and work to acknowledge the value of the Luso - American communities as well as to promote and defend the Azorean culture and traditions in the United States.”
On Sunday, the Under Secretary for European Affairs and External Cooperation attended the launch of the bilingual book “Nine Islands, a History” (Nove Ilhas, uma História) by Professor Susana Goulart Coast from the University of the Azores, with translation by Professor Rosa Neves Simas, from the same institution. The book, which was coordinated by Professor Deolinda Adão from the University of California, Berkeley, was considered by Rodrigo Oliveira as “a valuable tool - concise, but scientifically accurate - in the promotion of the History of the Azores among the communities in the North American continent as well as in the external promotion of the Region, thereby filling an important gap.”
The Annual Conference on Luso-American Education, this year dedicated to the celebrations of the centennial of the Portuguese Republic, was organised by the “Luso-American Foundation” and by the Portuguese Studies Programme of the University of California, Berkeley.