PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CABO-VERDE PEDRO PIRES BIO
T
he President of the Republic of Cabo-Verde,
PEDRO DE VERONA RODRIGUES PIRES
was born on April 29, 1934 in the District of São
Filipe in the island of Fogo.
He is married to Adelcia Barreto Pires, and is the father of two daughters, Sara and Indira Pires.Pedro de Verona Pires attended elementary and part of the secondary schools in the cities of São Filipe and Praia, having finished his High School education in the Liceu Gil Eanes on the island of São Vicente. In 1956 he moved to Portugal where he attended the University of Sciences of the City of Lisbon. Meanwhile he was drafted to the Portuguese Air Force where he served in the rank of a militia officer.
Pedro Pires' youth was marked by painful events, as the famine that took place in Cabo Verde in the years of 1943 and 1947 and which was the driving force that stirred up his patriotic consciousness to the urgent need of freeing Cabo Verde from the colonial domination.
In June 1961,along with a group of young Africans, he decided to abandon Portugal and join the African Party f or the Independence of Guiné and Cabo Verde (PAIGC), under the leadership of Amilcar Cabral.
From 1962 until 1965 he worked in Senegal and France recruiting Caboverdian patriots from the armed struggle and the same time assuring the connections with the clandestine structure of
PAIGC in Cabo Verde. From 1965 until 1968 he was the leader of the first cell of militant Caboverdians to receive military training in the order to extend and initiate the struggle in Cabo-Verde.
From 1968 until 1974, fully integrated in the political-military structures of PAIGC in Guiné-Bissau front, he assumed, as Comandante of the military region, the great responsability of all political and military planning, In 1973 he was chosen to preside over the National Commission for Cabo Verde. With the proclamation of the Independence of Guiné-Bissau in September of 1973, Pedro Pires assumes the position of Minister Adjunct of the Armed Force in the first established Government of this new country.
After the re-establishment of Democracy in Portugal, in April 1974, Pedro Pires led a delegation of PAIGC to negotiate with the Portuguese Govenment the recognition of the independence of Guiné-Bissau which was secured with the signature of the Accord of Argel, in August of the same year. In October 1974, aware of this political influence he returns to Cabo-Verde to direct the National Organization of PAIGC, greatly contributing for the National Independence.
In December 1974 as the head of a delegation of the PAIGC Pedro Pires signed the Accord for the Independence of Cabo-Verde, having afterwards negociated with Portuguese Government the process of transition that culminated with the National Independence on July 5, 1975.
In June 1975 he was elected deputy and chosen to be the leader of the first Government of Independent Cabo-Verde.
During three successive mandates the Government headed by Pedro Pires adopted a prudent and pragmatic policy aiming at the establishment of an organized, efficient and credible State in the international arena. To resolve the grave problems and deal with the urgent needs of the country, and form the basis for its development, he conceived and created programs for reform, in several domains of the National Life.
Afterwards, measures for the liberalization of Cabo Verde economy were adopted to incentivate the National Economy and attract investments from abroad. Among other results the Government headed
In the external area, Pedro Pires played a relevant role in the process of negotiations that led to the independence of Namibia, and the withdrawal of the Cuban and South African military forces from Angola.
In 1981 Pedro Pires were decisive in the political movement that resulted in the separation of the Caboverdian component of PAIGC, giving birth to PAICV. He was then elected Secretary General Adjunct of this newly formed party.
In February 1990 during the Fourth Congress of the PAICV, recognizing the need for deep changes in the National political system, he worked towards the establishment of an open and pluralistic political country and was elected to the leaderhip of his party. Subsequently, he lost the first general election that ever took place in Cabo-Verde.
In January 1991 he was elected Deputy by the electoral circle of Praia and the same year he was confirmed by the First Congress as the leader of the PAICV. In 1973 he relinquished the leadership of PAICV, but came back in 1997 to take over his old position of leader of his party, a position which he held until mid 2000.
In the year 2000, after leading his party to victory in the local district elections, Pedro Pires decided to step aside from active partidarian life. But in September 2000 he was back to announce his candidacy to the Presidency of the Republic.
There were others substantial gains in the health domain, in education, and literacy, which translated in a significant betterment of the life conditions of the population, as well as in what the environment is concerned.
Ordem Amilcar Cabral (Cabo-Verde)
Amilcar Cabral Medal (Guiné-Bissau)
Ordem do Leão (Senegal)
Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique (Portugal)
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by Pedro Pires was able, in 12 years, to attain multiplication of the Gross National Product from a situation of extreme poverty, to 2.5, and double the production per capita. The PIB evolved from 260 to 816 dollars, attaining one of the best human development indexes in Africa.
He ended up being elected President on February 25, 2001, on the second round of the presidential election. Pedro Pires is the 3rd Pesident of the Republic of Cabo-Verde.
