Portuguese diplomats in the United States are preparing a series of events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, in a program that includes events at universities, meetings with communities and a celebration at the United Nations.
In the Boston consular area, Harvard’s Center for European Studies will host a special event on April 25 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, with the support of the Consulate General of Portugal in Boston and the Camões Institute.
To celebrate the event, the director of the Center for European Studies, Daniel Ziblatt, will lead a discussion with political scientist António Costa Pinto, economist Lúcio Vinhas de Souza and social sciences professor Daniela Melo, to assess the political and economic consequences of April 25, 1974 and what Portugal and other countries can learn from the Revolution.
Also next Thursday, the Saab Center for Portuguese Studies, at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, is promoting the colloquium “Transition to Democracy in Portugal and Spain”, with the support of the Consulate General of Portugal in Boston.
The colloquium will explore the significance of democratic transitions in Portugal and Spain, following the authoritarian regimes of António de Oliveira Salazar and Francisco Franco.
Academics from Portugal, Spain and the United States will focus on the lasting impact of this historic period, with the program closing with a screening of Maria de Medeiros’ film “Capitães de Abril”.
The following day, in the city of Cambridge, still in the US state of Massachusetts, the region’s Portuguese-American community will gather for a dinner commemorating the 50th anniversary of April 25, organized by the PAPS — Portuguese American Post Graduate Society and the Consulate General of Portugal in Boston.
The event will be attended by the Consul General, Tiago Araújo, and is open to all Portuguese who wish to join the celebration.
“We’ll have very diversified celebrations, with academic aspects and celebrations with the community,” Tiago Araújo told Lusa.
In New York, the Portuguese Mission to the United Nations (UN) will mark 50 years of freedom and democracy on Wednesday, at a special event with speeches by the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, and the Portuguese Permanent Representative, Ana Paula Zacarias.
Under the motto “Portugal 3D: Democracy, Decolonization, Development”, the event will feature a panel discussion entitled “The impact of the Carnation Revolution on the world”, with the presence of the ambassadors of Mozambique, Brazil, Spain and East Timor.
The celebration will also have two musical moments, with a Portuguese guitar concert by Marta Pereira da Costa, and a rendition of “Grândola, Vila Morena” by the young Portuguese artist Júlia Machado.
In Washington, the Portuguese Embassy will commemorate the 50th anniversary of April 25 with a reception at the official residence of the ambassador, Francisco Duarte Lopes, on Thursday.
Over the last few weeks, the North American capital has hosted several events commemorating the Carnation Revolution, such as the screening of Inês de Medeiros’ film “Cartas a uma Ditadura” (Letters to a Dictatorship) and the concert by pianist and composer Júlio Resende, accompanied by Bruno Chaveiro on Portuguese guitar, which also took place in New York and San Francisco as part of the April 25 celebrations.