The 39th anniversary of the 25th of April was commemorated in Lagos in a call for “greater unity and solidarity among all and all political forces”. The first President of the Republic elected after the 25th of April 1974 spoke of the “urgent need to make, in the name of the country, great choices, with competence, determination and correctness”.
Although the ceremonies began at Praça Gil Eanes, where the traditional Flag Raising Ceremony took place, with the presence of local elected representatives, military and police forces and the city's collectives, and the morning was completed with the inauguration of the Esplanada do Infante area, on the Lagos Riverfront, it was at the Joint Solemn Session of the Municipal Assembly of Lagos, the City Council and the Youth Assembly, which took place in the afternoon, at the Lagos Cultural Center, that the main messages of Freedom Day were heard. .
This session, which takes place in a format that seems unique in the country, aims to give a voice to all the political forces represented in the Municipal Assembly, as well as to younger people who, not having lived through this period of the revolution, have a very unique vision of the today's society.
In addition to the various interventions by municipal deputies and schools represented in the Youth Assembly, which were successively interspersed, the session had a very special presence – the 1st President of the Republic elected after the 25th of April, General Ramalho Eanes.
On behalf of the 25 de Abril Association, Colonel Rodrigo de Sousa e Castro, one of the Captains of Abril, was present, who left, on this occasion, a very emotional message about this period, also talking about the reasons that, in his opinion, led the country to the present crisis.
But, even though it was widely applauded, the most anticipated intervention of the afternoon was that of General Ramalho Eanes. The former President of the Republic began by recalling the times when the country was led by Salazar, “a time when civil society was complicit in its own situation, since it did not have enough strength to fight for democracy”.
He also recalled the spirit of the armed forces at the time and “the decisive position they ended up having, together with many others, in restoring political freedom to the Portuguese”.
The General took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of “documenting April”, defending the need to take stock of the path traveled and remember the most important moments in society, stressing in this regard that “we must not forget that today we have youth with best education ever”.
For this soldier, what is needed “is knowing how to look beyond the crisis” since he believes that it “will still punish us for a few years”.
At this point, he says, “it is really necessary and urgent to make great choices, with competence, determination and correctness. It is now important for everyone, including political parties, to prepare, both to govern and to oppose. That they urgently debate, and with civil society, some of the main pillars of society, namely with regard to areas as important as Education or Health”.
"Only a great national plan that mobilizes everyone will be able to realize the will to work on a collective project", said the former Head of State, recalling that "there were other moments in our history of the crisis as serious as this one", but that "then comes the dawn, new projects and society advances. And I believe it.”
Ramalho Eanes paused here and, referring to Miguel Torga, asked if “we are not the people who make our destiny?”, to which was followed by loud applause from the audience at the cultural center.
For Ramalho Eanes, “governments have not had an easy life with this crisis, but it is necessary that they take options, that they are transparent in their decisions and that they know how to explain them clearly to civil society”. In fact, the former President of the Republic ended his speech defending that “our country's governments should not only be evaluated every four years, but every day”.
Julio Barroso rendered accounts
The mayor of Lagos, Júlio Barroso, began by recalling that “in Lagos dos Descobrimentos, we follow the tradition of properly remembering the 25th of April with all the symbolic load that it historically represents”.
Making a point of highlighting “what is considered perhaps the greatest achievement of April – the democratic local power and the laborious work of all the mayors who transformed a backward and almost illiterate country into a space of progress, culture and well-being” – Júlio Barroso recalled that this would be “the last ceremony of Freedom Day, in which I have the honor to participate, as Mayor of Lagos, elected by the lacobrigenses for three consecutive terms”.
For that same reason, he decided that it would be the ideal time to “be accountable and leave testimony to the 12 years of work in the service of the community, on my personal behalf and the teams of men and women that I have had the honor and responsibility to integrate and represent in an exercise of permanent surrender, in the realization of the ideals of the 25th of April that are the ones that have always guided us”.
In this context, and stressing that "he has always tried to overcome delays and provide the best possible quality of life for citizens, as well as the best conditions for economic agents", the mayor revisited the work of almost 12 years of the municipal team, highlighting the most important and significant was carried out in all areas of competence of the municipality (Childhood and Education; Sports and Youth; Culture and Entertainment; Social Housing, Social Solidarity; Green Spaces, Gardens, Heritage and Environment; Parking, Accessibility and Mobility; Protection; Civil and Public Security; Spatial Planning; Support and permanent work in partnership with the parishes; Support for the creation of jobs in Hotels and Tourism with quality and Quality in the provision of Municipal Services.
In the opinion of the president of the Chamber, "the work done, guided by the programs presented and supported by the populations, largely correspond to our commitments and to the more general interests of the populations, adequately substantiating the implementation of the municipality's attributions and competences provided for in the laws" .
Recalling the times of crisis, Júlio Barroso did not fail to underline that "the scarcity of means and prudence advise that in current times, and in the nearer ones, the focus is placed on the maintenance of infrastructure and equipment, in a more targeted intervention, of rationalization of means and projects, of redoubled attention to the signs of society, social policies, with an emphasis on supporting youth and the elderly, collaboration between the municipality and economic agents in the better dissemination of our culture, traditions and offer tourist.”
The president showed no doubts by stating that, especially at this time, "the municipality has to be on the side of economic agents in their work of economic diversification and job creation, through the continuation of administrative modernization and simplification, planning, urbanism, in the maintenance of the quality of the public space and in the local promotion”.
For the mayor, "in these times of great and hard certainties and distressing uncertainties about what the future and austerity have in store for us, we have to believe that we will be able to overcome the obstacles, if, despite everything and our natural cultural, ideological differences , we are able to maintain the democratic serenity, hope and confidence, and the combative and persistent spirit to never give up in continuing the endless and grandiose work of building a country in April”.
To end the interventions in this Solemn Session, it was the turn of the President of the Municipal Assembly of Lagos, Paulo Morgado, to address a few words to those present.
Sharing the opinion of General Ramalho Eanes, Paulo Morgado revealed that he also believes that “politics without philosophy does not make much sense” and that “transparency and ethics should always command our lives”. “Today is, fortunately, a day of memories. Memories, because we do not want, nor should we go back to those gray times before the 25th of April” insisted the President of the Assembly.
“But we have to think and analyze the past, so that we can make the best options for our future. Because we want and deserve more!"
The last event organized to mark this important milestone in our history, took place in the same cultural facility, at 21 pm, with the completion of the Commemorative Concert of the 30th of April – Ensemble Suest'arte – in charge of the Academy of Music of Lagos.
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