Welcome to the Official page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me start by saying how pleased we are, my wife and I, to be here tonight celebrating with you the opening of an Exhibition that pays tribute to an adventure. A daring, extensive and also a well planned adventure. One which connected distant peoples and set the stage for the world we live in today.

“Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the XVI and XVII Centuries” is a magnificent Exhibition that highlights the role of Portugal as the pioneer of modern globalisation. A country driven by the determination to act, to open itself to new people and cultures. A country that has, in fact, disseminated knowledge across the globe through several centuries.

While providing an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with our History, I am convinced that this Exhibition will also raise people’s curiosity about the country we are today and the country we want to be in the future.

Fernando Pessoa was one of our greatest poets and stands among the great names of the world literature of the XXth Century. He wrote these lines:

“E a orla branca foi de ilha em Continente
Clareou, correndo, até ao fim do mundo
E viu-se a terra inteira, de repente
Surgir, redonda, do azul profundo”

There was a time when I could rightly assume you would understand what I just said. Portuguese was then the “língua franca” of the world, used by princes and merchants alike. Although Portuguese is now the third European language in the world, spoken by almost 250 million people, the current “língua franca” is your own. And in English, in a free translation, Pessoa’s poem would read as follows:

“And the white fringe from isle to continent was lit up,
Running on and on until the world’s end,
And suddenly earth was seen whole,
Arising, round, from the deep blue”

I can hardly find a better way of describing the spirit of this Exhibition.

It evokes the greatness of a period of our History which was driven by the will and the convictions that made us step away from our own territory towards the unknown, daring to first sail the Atlantic, this large Sea whose shores we share - Portugal and the United States.

Monsters like the Adamastor, who was supposed to loom over the Southern African coast, gave place instead to Cabo da Boa Esperança, the Cape of Good Hope, as it was christened by Bartolomeu Dias. The encounter that eventually followed gave origin to a rich heritage spread all over the world.

In Rome, in what would have sounded today as a sheer absurdity, the Pope blessed the Treaty of Tordesilhas, by which the great powers of the time, Portugal and Spain, agreed on how they would share the world. Lisbon, our capital, became a feverish place where people would come to trade and see things never seen, nor even imagined. The world changed never to be the same again.

The Portuguese heritage of those times is all over the world, in monuments, in words, in habits, in the blood that runs through so many veins. Not only in the distant places we have been to, but also in Portugal, in Europe itself, forever changed by the results of the encounter.

This is the true meaning of embracing the globe – the interaction between peoples and cultures – that this Exhibition captures so well. The magnificent pieces of art assembled here will tell you part of the story. To go deeper, I am afraid you’ll need to travel to the five continents, since some other pieces, like fortresses and cathedrals, proved quite difficult to relocate to Washington, despite Julian Raby, Jay Levenson and their team’s best efforts.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For any country, History has to be a source of inspiration for the future or it would become just a nice story. Those who came before us deserve more than that. And so do those who will come after us.

The Portuguese adventure was made out of dream, and certainly of ambition. But it wouldn’t have been possible without careful preparation. Technical information and intelligence were both meticulously collected and used in the preparation of the new voyages around the globe.

Research and development - as we would call it today - was encouraged and actively supported: navigation schools were created with teachers and students from different countries (brain drain was less problematic than today, it seems); newly discovered plants and animals were studied, new instruments were invented that made navigation easier and cartography increasingly more accurate.

Dream and ambition are essential, but nothing is possible without careful preparation and consistent support to those who dare and innovate.

Portugal wishes to be, once again, among the best in a globalised and highly technological world. And we will get there! We are building up an economy based on knowledge and education, mixing our own traditional values with modernity and excellence. A beautiful country to visit and a good place to invest. A country with friends all over the world and therefore an excellent partner to encompass the globe…

We have achieved much more than you would imagine. The wide range of activities that have been organised parallel to this Exhibition will give you an idea about what I am saying. It may come as a pleasant surprise to many of you to see we are already playing an unsuspected leading role in some areas and clusters.

As of the 1st of July, Portugal will be holding the Presidency of the European Union. Former Portuguese Presidencies have always lent a drive to internal reform and to European external relations, through enhanced transatlantic links and the first EU Summits with Mercosul, Africa and India.

This time we will try and help to overcome the institutional deadlock, in order to enable the EU to better deal with the challenges of our time, including on the international scene.

External relations will again be high on our agenda, starting with the very first EU Summit with Brazil, a great nation and a Portuguese-speaking country. Similar high level EU meetings will take place with China, Russia, India, the Ukraine and hopefully with Africa.

We will again do our utmost to foster relations between the European Union and the United States. Because we deem they are essential for both of us and for a better future in the world at large. The European Union that we believe in is open and self-confident, defining itself on the basis of its own merits, not against anyone. The European Union that we believe in is a partner of the United States.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Portugal and the United States have been close friends and allies for a long time. The United States are our main trading partner outside the European Union. We have a large and well established Portuguese community in this country. The perspectives for an enhanced cooperation between our two countries, companies and universities are immense.

I will conclude by thanking whole-heartedly all those in the Smithsonian Institution who lent their support and worked hard to put up this Exhibition, including those who sponsored it. A particular word to Julian Raby and Jay Levenson who since the beginning strongly believed in this project. To all of them, the encompassed globe will certainly be grateful. Starting with those who dreamed, who dared and who made it happen many centuries ago: the Portuguese people.

Thank You