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

I am extremely pleased and, at the same time, very proud, to take part with Your Excellency, Mister President, in the inaugural act of the Bogotá International Book Fair, in the year that Portugal is the invited Country,

Satisfaction and pride, more than ever, for the invitation with which the Colombian authorities distinguished us and which has greatly honoured us.

But satisfaction and pride, equally, for the notable number of authors, musicians, plastic and graphic artists that came to Bogotá to prove, with their word and their art, the vitality of Portuguese culture, a culture that, throughout many centuries, has known how to reinvent itself to each new generation.

Regarding this, I want to use the opportunity to publicly pay tribute here to the work and drive of Professor Doctor Jerónimo Pizarro – Professor in the University of the Andes and Commissioner of the Portuguese participation in the Bogotá Book Fair -, who has largely contributed towards the dissemination of Portuguese culture in Colombia.

We want to show you our best. And the best with which a nation can present itself emerges from its authors, its artists, those that, through their work, reveal not just their individual talent, but also what is deepest in the collective identity they share.

It wouldn’t anyway be necessary to recall it here, in Colombia, a country whose image is so associated, all over the world, to the works of authors such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Alvaro Mutis, or artists such as Fernando Botero, whose paintings and sculptures we have had the privilege to enjoy, more than once, in Lisbon. Some years ago, our capital housed, in its main square, a magnificent exhibition of Botero’s works and is proud to currently exhibit, in one of its privileged locations, with a magnificent view over the city and the Tagus River, a sculpture by this great Colombian creator.

Portugal is a nation that since very early days opened its dialogue with people from all over the World. Located at the western end of Europe, but projected onto the Atlantic, its own geography implants on it this identifying mark. As written by Luis de Camões, the greatest of our poets, Portugal is located =where the land ends and the sea commences=.

It is not surprising that, being one of the most ancient European nations, Portugal was also the first that ventured through the sea and met people from the whole of the planet, thus launching the pillars of the global world in which we live today.

=The sea can be seen from my tongue=, wrote Virgílio Ferreira, one of the great 20th century Portuguese authors. It would be difficult to find a more expressive sentence, which the organizers of the Fair chose, to illustrate the singularity of our literature.

Actually, Portuguese literature has been, for a long time, replete with feelings linked to the need to go down to the sea and view new horizons, not just away from our own borders, but also without the borders of the small world that the Europeans were aware of until the end of the Middle Ages and the birth of the Renaissance.

In the very first ditties written in Portuguese, the risks of sea travel and the nostalgia of those who were left on land are constantly referred to.

Yet today, in the wordings of Fado song, which is one of the best known symbols of the Portuguese intangible heritage, equally frequent are the themes linked to sailors, ships, storms and fair weather. Fado was sung by many, but Amália Rodrigues gave Portuguese poets the tone of her unique voice. It is exactly in the Amália Rodrigues Garden, in Lisbon, that Fernando Botero sculpture has been erected. Here is a very expressive instance of the union that culture generates between the peoples of Portugal and Colombia.

We will be able – following this – to listen to several Fado songs, in the voice of Raquel Tavares. I believe that, for those who are not very familiar with this musical genre, this is an excellent opportunity to understand why Fado is so enjoyed in the whole World. I am very pleased to let you know that I made it a point that Raquel Tavares, in addition to this brief show, will perform in a bigger concert, tomorrow, to be held in the Gabriel Garcia Marques Cultural Centre, which I will have the pleasure to offer to the city and the citizens of Bogotá.

The sea has always been present, both in our popular and in our erudite culture; it is part of our History and comprises our language and our culture.

Our travelling the seas allowed us to establish, in all the continents, trading relationships and bonds of friendship which are still lasting. In some cases, even the Portuguese language has lasted, shared by Brazil and another six sovereign States.

To the East as to the West, in Africa as in the Americas and in the Indies, we assembled with the most diverse cultures, in an interchange of discoveries that changed the World and whose results the peoples whom we met are unanimous in recognizing.

It is with this same spirit, open to mutual acquaintanceship and dialogue between nations that we now have such a diversified representation of contemporary Portuguese culture in Bogotá.

Throughout the next few weeks, conferences, exhibitions, concerts and debates will be held all over the city, where this group of authors and artists will show their work and will maintain contacts with representatives of Colombian culture.

I believe that, in the end, both our peoples will become better acquainted.

I wish that the cooperation between our two countries, based on the values and objectives that we share, will reinforce this initiative, whether culturally or in all the areas in which Portugal and Colombia have been widening their relationship.

Thank you very much.