Caracas, September 12, 2024 – On this Thursday, September 12, marking the centenary of the birth of Amílcar Cabral, liberator of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela held a conference in tribute to the African revolutionary leader. The event was led by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Africa, Yuri Pimentel, with special guests Jorge Arreaza, Executive Secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), and Tomás Gomes Barbosa, Presidential Advisor of Guinea-Bissau.

During the event, held at the Simón Bolívar Hall of the Foreign Ministry in Caracas, Deputy Minister Pimentel highlighted the importance “of Amílcar Cabral’s thought, as a man of ideas and a revolutionary, his internationalist character, the vision of transforming society through education and culture (…) the work of the land, the understanding of the historical reality of his people, and the urgency of having their own development model.”

He highlighted that, on this day, “we wanted to pay this simple tribute to a man who dreamed and fought for the liberation of his people from the chains of colonialism, and whose legacy became a sacred fire for all of Mother Africa for its independence and dignity. We are celebrating the centenary of Amílcar Cabral.”

On the other hand, the ALBA-TCP Executive Secretary described Cabral as “one of the great man of Mother Africa,” and pointed out that “for the Bolivarian Revolution, and in particular, for the Cuban Revolution, for the Sandinista Revolution, even for the Cultural Revolution of Bolivia, the African Independence processes are inputs, they are nutrients for the process of union in Our America.”

“Our Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America preserves in its heritage all the virtues, all the lights, especially those of the martyrs who were ultimately murdered because they feared not only that these countries would be free, but that they would be free and socialist… For us, it is an honor from ALBA-TCP, and we believe that in the emerging multipolar world, which has already been born, facing the risks of an overextended capitalist model that tends to dissolve, the union of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa is fundamental for the future,” Arreaza stated.

Who is Amílcar Cabral?

Born in Guinea-Bissau on September 12, 1924, Cabral successfully led for ten years the armed struggle of two peoples (Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde), leading them to military victory against the colonizing army.

This agronomist, writer, politician, and great military strategist defined colonialism as fascist, racist, and responsible for the exploitation, illiteracy, and poverty of his people. He was a man of both thought and action, and his ideas were rooted in revolutionary nationalism, Pan-Africanism, socialism, and anti-imperialism.

Cabral viewed education and culture as tools for the awareness and emancipation of the people. In 1973, after the colonial army was defeated, the African leader was shot dead in Conakry, Guinea, by the PIDE, the secret police of the dictator Salazar, who, like Franco (Spain), ruled Portugal for 35 years through crimes and bloodshed. Amílcar Cabral, after 20 years of popular struggle and enormous sacrifices, paid with his life for the freedom of his people, only months before Independence.