Amílcar Cabral, the leader of the fight for the independence of Guinea-Bissau, where he was born, and Cabo Verde, where he grew up, would have turned 100 today. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, highlighted “the universal prestige of Amílcar Cabral.” Many of his dreams remain unfulfilled.
Cabral is regarded by historians, scholars, and politicians as one of the greatest figures of African nationalism. He led the fight on military, diplomatic, and ideological fronts until he was killed by one of his bodyguards on January 20, 1973, a mystery that remains unsolved.
In his many writings, Amílcar Cabral drafted various objectives for the development and welfare of the Guinean and Cape Verdean peoples.
An agronomy engineer by training, Amílcar Cabral envisioned agriculture as a crucial point for economic development, as well as political and social emancipation.
By promoting education, he considered self-sufficiency, along with agriculture, as fundamental bases for the reconstruction of post-colonial countries. In his writings, he already expressed concern about the impact of climate change in the country.
He, still the founder of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), was received by Pope Paul VI at the Vatican in 1970.
Dreams yet to be fulfilled
Amílcar Cabral’s ideas “are sufficiently generous, profound, and far-reaching that they cannot be realized by a single generation,” stated Carlos Reis, a former comrade-in-arms of the leader of the liberation struggle for Guinea-Bissau and Cabo Verde, in a conversation with VOA in 2022.
The Minister of Education of Cabo Verde, from 1975 to 1981, believes that “future generations will continue on this path” which is still long. “Even today, he is a strong symbol of the struggle of peoples who still suffer and those who consider themselves dispossessed in any way, of the struggle that the poor also need to undertake, assuming their self-responsibility, as Cabral spoke, seeking paths of peace, love for one another, and solidarity.”
Amílcar Cabral’s dreams, according to the former teacher of the PAIGC Pilot School in Conakry, will not be realized “as long as there is poverty that undermines people’s dignity.”
Fifty-one years after his death, Cabral continues to be studied and to have an impact on today’s music, as explained by Angelo Barbosa, director of the Pedro Pires Institute for Cape Verdean Studies, affiliated with Bridgewater State University.
“The universal prestige of Amílcar Cabral”
Led by the Amílcar Cabral Foundation, the celebrations of Cabral’s centenary began in early 2024, with numerous events. UN Secretary-General António Guterres marked the date.
At the international symposium Amílcar Cabral – a national and universal heritage, which takes place in Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau, Guterres stated that “the universal prestige of Amílcar Cabral is also, and largely, due to the richness and depth of his intellectual production, and his reflections continue to inspire scholars in various fields of knowledge, as well as men and women of letters and the arts,” he said in a video message for the opening of the Symposium.
Also during the opening, the President of the Republic of Cabo Verde, José Maria Neves, said that Cabral is “a heritage of humanity,” and that his influence goes beyond the borders of the islands. “He is so great that he transcends the borders of Africa. It makes no sense to limit him to parties or nations.”
It should be noted that the celebrations of Amílcar Cabral’s centenary were the subject of controversy and public discussion in Cabo Verde and in the diaspora after the National Assembly of Cabo Verde rejected the draft resolution regarding the official celebration of Amílcar Cabral’s centenary. Later, the Cape Verdean Prime Minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva, promised “dignity and representativeness” in the celebrations of Amílcar Cabral’s birth centenary.
The Amílcar Cabral Foundation also established a partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the inclusion of Cabral’s writings in the Memory of the World Register and the inclusion of the date September 12 in the birthdays of personalities supported by UNESCO.
The former President of Cabo Verde, Pedro Pires, who is also the president of the Amílcar Cabral Foundation in the city of Praia, spoke with Voice of America correspondent Eugénio Teixeira about the importance of Amílcar Cabral in the struggle for the independence of African peoples.
Amílcar Cabral was born on September 12, 1924, in Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau, and was assassinated on January 20, 1973, in Conakry, Guinea.