Africa-Press – Cape verde. Former Cape Verdean President Pedro Pires, 89 years old, today defended more attention to the elderly population, a “new social category” that is also a consumer and determinant for the economy, as well as guardian of societies’ memories.
Pedro Pires was speaking after receiving his doctorate “honoris causa” from ISCTE, in Lisbon, with researcher and specialist in artificial intelligence Manuela Veloso.
“The elderly population constitutes a new social category that must be taken into account by decision-makers and public policies, and must not be seen as a mere burden on family and public finances. To begin with, it is a consumer, a determining factor in a liberal economy, but, in addition to constituting the memory of our societies, it represents an important repository of knowledge and experiences, which aims to remain active and useful ”, he stated.
With a rich and decisive past in the anti-colonial struggle, commander Pedro Pires confessed that his memory has been “a huge personal nightmare” that “functions as a critical conscience”.
“I am being constantly challenged, as I have found, with surprise, that the realities I have experienced, the facts I have witnessed or become aware of, directly or indirectly, historical events, many of which were historic, many of which were tragic, are being selectively hidden or surreptitiously mitigated with a purpose: Not to tarnish the magnanimous and democratic images of the powerful and power holders”, he said.
About current society, he considered “evident that the disproportionate use of power, force, egocentrism, nationalist or religious obsession and unmeasured greed necessarily lead to violence, atrocities, cruelty and disregard for the life and interests and rights of others”.
“Aggressiveness and armed, economic, ecological, religious, social, cultural and religious violence have persistently characterized relations between societies, nations and states, opposing, on the other hand, the important advances achieved in terms of legal human rights”, he added.
On the sidelines of the event, Pedro Pires told Lusa that the distinction represents “a personal stimulus to do more, add something more to life and to your journey” which he did.
And he was pleased that his name was associated with the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, as the ceremony at Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa marks the institution’s 51st anniversary, this year dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of the Portuguese revolution.
“There is no doubt that the 25th of April is a historical fact, perhaps the most important event in Portugal. It is a break with the past and a perspective of a new path, a new reality”, he stated.
Manuela Veloso, for her part, told Lusa that this “honoris causa” doctorate is “an honor” in three aspects.
“Recognizes the person’s career, a long career of research, teaching, dedication to teaching and research”, the area itself – of Artificial Intelligence – currently a very important area, and Iscte itself, as I have great admiration for the dean, for the institution, for combining technology, companies, the Government and the social aspect.
The rector of Iscte, Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues, stated, in the speech with which she introduced the winners, that Pedro Pires and Manuela Veloso “are very different personalities, but they also have a lot in common.”
“They have in common lives marked by the democratic regime that had its ‘initial, whole and clean’ moment on April 25, 1974. They have in common lives of commitment, in a In one case, the commitment to the independence, democratization and modernization of your country, in the other, a life of commitment to science, the production of knowledge and the training of new generations of scientists” , he continued.
And he added: “The implementation of such different commitments is due, we can say, to the democratic regime and the 25th of April. Pedro Pires and Manuela Veloso are personalities who also have in common having broken down walls, crossed borders, achieved impossible goals”.
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