Africa-Press – Cape verde. Celestino (Didi) Almeida, a well-known figure in Cape Verdean society, was in Praia (Plateau) at the time when Amílcar Cabral was assassinated, in Conakry, on January 20, 1973. Years before, in 1970, he had come from São Vicente, to be manager and technician at Leão’s pharmacy. Today, 50 years later, he tries to revive his memory and remember how he received the news of Cabral’s murder. From what was thought to be “a bluff by the Portuguese”, the news, he recalls, fell after “no bomb”. However, he believes that Cabral’s memory and thinking are being “recovered” today, especially among younger people.
“In colonial times, life was absolutely normal. We were already used to living in the colonial regime. There was no crime, there was a lot of coexistence, there was respect, there was a lot of good things, before, in colonial times, before Amílcar Cabral’s death. But there was a certain restriction from the Portuguese police, the PIDE wasn’t it? For me it was the only inconvenience that existed at that time, it was a certain fear of speaking, of saying some things…”, starts by remembering Didi Almeida about Cape Verde 50 years ago when Cabral was murdered in Conackry on January 20, 1973 .
Agriculture, as he recalls, was a “stinging” activity and a means of subsistence. “There was even a large export of products to Portugal, such as bananas and some vegetables”.
“We lived and, that’s it, there was work, there weren’t so many people here. I mean, the people, each one lived on their own island, there wasn’t this constant emigration that exists today, this concentration of people in a single city that is Praia”, he recalls. However, he admits that people lived “with some difficulty, of course”, but things were not “expensive as they are now and people lived well, so to speak”.
At that time, he recalls, there was poverty in Cape Verde, as “there was everywhere in the world”, “but it was not as much as it is now”.
“It wasn’t an accentuated thing because money was worth a lot, products were very cheap, even imported products were cheap, people lived well. Because you had purchasing power, a power that was eroded, with the guilt of the years, then with independence and, now, we are living in this situation”.
Lion Pharmacy Manager
At the time, Didi was manager and technician at the Leão pharmacy, in Praia, “an important profession”, having come from São Vicente for the purpose. “There were few doctors in Praia, I think (if my memory serves me right) there were about 6 doctors”.
Trusting her memory, Didi believes she was at the pharmacy when she heard the rumors of Cabral’s murder.
“The news arrived very tenuously, very fragile, rumors with people like that on the sly asking “is it true”, “isn’t it true”? And many did not believe. They said it was a bluff by the Portuguese and that the death was not real, but a long time later it came to the reality that he had died. For a long time it was thought that he was a bluff with the intention of reducing the power of the PAIGC here in Cape Verde”, he recalls.
Confirmation of the murder dropped like “not a bomb”
But confirmation of his murder later dropped like a bombshell. “A bomb because there was a division of people. Some wanted independence and others didn’t. A good part wanted, or thought of being like Madeira, a peripheral region of Portugal. Many people bet on this situation, continuing as adjacent islands, as they said at the time. But, for others, it was a really big regret, the death of Cabral, because they wanted independence”, he says.
For a long time, he recalls, “there was uncertainty” as to whether the PAIGC would “end”, but until things later “normalized, so to speak”.
“The same thing continued, some people wanting independence, others not, because people didn’t really believe in independence. Hence the idea of Cabral, at the time, as Cape Verde did not have possibilities, or they said it was an unviable country, raised that idea of creating a Guinea-Cape Verde unit, which also displeased many people, including those people who thought and they really liked independence, but they didn’t like the idea of a Guinea-Cape Verde union. And then the PAIGC, which was already established in Cape Verde at the time, repressed a lot and condemned people who did not want this idea”.
Guinea-Bissau, a “flourishing” country
Didi confesses that he was one of the people who “didn’t like this idea” of the Guinea-Cape Verde unit, but he says that, “intelligently”, Cabral thought about it, precisely, because it was the survival of Cape Verde that was at stake.
“Cape Verde ended up, perhaps, linked to Guinea Bissau because Guinea Bissau had conditions at the time. Before independence, Guinea Bissau was a flourishing country, it was a country that produced and even exported rice, there was a lot in Guinea Bissau. Hence Cabral’s idea of taking Cape Verde to Guinea Bissau. But most people in Cape Verde did not like the idea and, therefore, the idea later failed and this unit was not created”, he recalls.
respected country
But nowadays, Didi has no doubts that independence was “an excellent thing”.
“At first, we were all afraid… Internationally, it was said that Cape Verde was an unviable country, but what is certain is that there was good governance, to get to the point where it is today, which is a country that is already respected. It went from an unfeasible country, in the Portuguese-speaking world, to a country with a certain amount of credit”, he rejoices.
Over the years, 50 decades after Cabral’s murder, Didi believes that Cabral’s dream has not yet been fully fulfilled, but argues that Cabral’s memory is being “recovered”, “even in opposition”.
“Young people are already studying Cabral, Cabral’s thoughts… and since Cabral is a highly valued person abroad, this has an influence in Cape Verde. People respect Cabral’s memory and live Cabral’s thoughts. It is possible that, in the future, Cabral will have an ideal preponderance in this youth”, he concludes.
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