The President of the Republic defended this Friday that November 25, 1975 should not be forgotten because it is an additional date to April 25, 1974 and it is only possible to understand the two dates together.
The Head of State spoke in the Hall of Ambassadors of the Palace of Belém, in Lisbon, at a ceremony in which he posthumously awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty to Major General Pires Veloso and the Commando Association with the title of Honorary Member of the Order of Infante D. Henrique.
In a short six and a half minute intervention, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, just arrived from Qatar, justified the holding of this evocative ceremony on November 25: “We invoke a very relevant date in a process that is really inseparable from the one that happened after April 25, 1974″🇧🇷
“It is not possible to understand April 25, 1974 without understanding November 25, 1975 and it is not possible to understand November 25, 1975 without understanding April 25, 1974. And it is this complementarity that justifies why we cannot forget about today”he claimed.
The president of the republic said that “the elders” remember “the political process, the economic, social and military process” that followed April 25, 1974 and dominated the year 1975 “and then proceed in a naturally different, more subdued way” in 1976, but “the young have a more detached understanding of History”🇧🇷
“And what is important is to remember this history, not only to do justice to the past, but also to look to the present, to the irreplaceable role of our armed forces and to prepare a better future”he added.
This ceremony was open to the media, but the head of state and the commander-in-chief of the armed forces decided not to speak into the microphone, so his words were not clearly received.
Referring to Major General Pires Veloso, one of the speakers on November 25, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed “surprise, not to say shocked” because he had only received “the only distinction, a very low degree of the Order of Avis” has received. “, taking into account his “highly relevant role in a difficult process”.
“This injustice had to be corrected. And it seemed right to me to correct this injustice today. Therefore, he receives the degree that corresponds to what his role was and also corresponds to the responsibilities he took on at such a difficult time in the Portuguese life.”he declared.
As for the commands, the President of the Republic emphasized that his “long, long service, which began well before April 25, 1974″has already been recognized by successive heads of state.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa added that with Friday’s decoration “underline the role of the association that brings them together in solidarity” and that suffices “the mission to bring together generations and generations and generations of Portuguese soldiers, the oldest combatants in Africa, others more recently present in marked national forces”🇧🇷
The events of November 25, when antagonistic forces clashed on the ground and the so-called moderate wing of the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) won, marked the end of the so-called Process Revolutionary In Course (PREC).
Source: DN
