The President of Cape Verde, Jorge Carlos Fonseca, said on Thursday that the future of the Portuguese language is in Africa and Brazil, defending its use in international organizations.
In a message about the celebration of World Portuguese Language Day, which marks the first time on May 5, the head of state, who holds the rotating presidency of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), stressed that Portuguese it is spoken in eight countries, on four continents, by more than 250 million people.
“If the past made it the language of the first globalization, today Portuguese is one of the most used languages on the internet and on social networks, which gives it global importance and reinforces its role in the future. its expansion outside Europe, namely in the African continent and in Brazil “, emphasized the head of state.
Regarding the importance of promoting the language, Jorge Carlos Fonseca recalled that the city of Praia is home to the headquarters of the International Institute of the Portuguese Language (IILP): “An important organization whose efforts for its dissemination and expansion must be recognized and supported by all we”.
The decision to institute World Portuguese Language Day was ratified last November by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), with the incumbent CPLP president “launching the call” to the future of May 5th.
“A day of multiple activities and actions to promote and disseminate this language of ours. May we establish a network of activities, in various cities, bringing together state bodies, individuals, schools, institutes, and design a true Language Festival, with the participation of teachers and writers, “he urged.
Jorge Carlos Fonseca also stated that it is necessary to transform the Portuguese language “more and more” into a “working tool in the most important international organizations”.
“And that our young people make it an essential tool for the acquisition of knowledge and their training as men and women, capable of guaranteeing a better, freer, more supportive and fairer world”, he concluded.
CPLP Angola – who assumes its rotating presidency this year – includes Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, Portugal and Timor-Leste.
