The celebrations for Amílcar Cabral’s centenary kick off on Saturday January 20, with activities in Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau, and go around the world for the rest of the year, with events and initiatives presented on January 16 in the city of Praia.
“It’s the biggest challenge facing the Amílcar Cabral Foundation,” said the institution’s head, Pedro Pires, a former Cape Verdean President, in an allusion to the work, contacts, and cooperation actions that the global program requires.
The celebrations “will be the sum of activities” developed autonomously by various entities in Cape Verde and abroad to celebrate Amílcar Cabral’s 100th birthday on September 12, 2024.
An international Colloquium on the historic leader of the liberation and independence movement of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde against the Portuguese colonial regime will be the highlight of the program, scheduled for the month of his birth.
But “the first act” of the centenary celebrations, said Pedro Pires, will take place this Saturday, January 20, the 51st anniversary of Amílcar Cabral’s assassination in Conakry.
There will be an international Symposium dedicated to him in Bissau, while Praia will celebrate ‘National Heroes Day’ with meetings, a march, and the premiere of a play, “The Last Moon of the Big Man,” by the companies Sikinada (Cape Verde) and Art’imagem (Portugal).
In March 2024, an international Colloquium is planned in Luanda, and there are ongoing collaborations between the foundation and the Commemorative Commission for the 50th anniversary of April 25 in Portugal, as well as with the organization of the fiftieth anniversary of the release of political prisoners from Tarrafal (Santiago Island, Cape Verde).