Message of H.R.H. Duarte de Bragança, Head of the Royal House
On December 1st, in Lisbon, H.R.H. Duarte, Duke of Bragança, read his yearly message to the Portuguese people, at the Conjurados dinner, attended by more than a thousand people. The Board of Directors of the Institute for Portuguese Democracy was present as a guest and greeted D. Duarte, his wife, Isabel de Herédia, and their children Afonso, 11, Maria Francisca, 9, and Dinis, 8.
Message of H.R.H. Duarte de Bragança, Head of the Royal House of Portugal
On December 1st, 1640, our ancestors liberated Portugal. They raised to the crisis of their time, fighting for our independence against the Spanish Empire, a feat that Naples and Catalonia did not then achieve.
Difficult days are ahead. It seems clear that 2009 will be worse than recent years. To face the coming crisis and keep the social cohesion we must reinforce the spiritual values of our culture. We must reinforce family ties. We faced many terrible problems throughout our History, but we overcame them.
I appeal to your initiative, solidarity, and generosity. We live in a propitious occasion to review our priorities. We must learn to live better and consume less, saving the limited resources of our planet.
The hour has come to invest in the Portuguese people. We have a chance to opt for a sustained development. Government, entrepreneurs and associations must join hands to overcome difficulties.
The hour is to invest in the Portuguese people. Portuguese families bet in the education of their children. Teachers and parents claim for a better School, better education programs and more respect for teachers.
The hour is to invest in the Portuguese land. Farmers refuse to abandon their land, in spite of confusing EU directives and unfair competition. Portugal needs more than a policy of free trade; it needs policies of intelligent and just commerce. Our farmers need to cooperate to distribute their products to the consumers. In the last ten years we have lost 180.000 hectares of good agricultural lands.
The hour is to invest in the Portuguese territory supporting innovative companies with "green" alternative energies. We must fight energy wastefulness and give priority to railroad and maritime transports. Self-sustainability in energy is necessary. For example, if we modernize the hydroelectric-power dams, we would increase the production of energy by 20%.
I appeal to political parties to become more than mechanisms for conquering power; they may keep a decisive role in politics and can be a school for citizenship through dialogue with non-governmental organisations.
Democracy must always be improved, and I supported in 2007 the creation of the Institute for Portuguese Democracy (IDP); it has developed multiple and useful activities in some regions of the country, collaborating with several organisations and local governments.»
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«I have traveled extensively around the country. I am cordially received by city councils and the local people and I warmly thank them. I appreciate our cultural traditions. It is this "gross domestic product" that keeps high the human "stock exchange" where we must invest.
In 2008, many City Councils honoured the memory of King D. Carlos and the Prince D. Luís, assassinated 100 years ago.
When a minority proclaimed a Republic in 1910, Portugal slid behind Spain, England and Belgium, and other European monarchies, because it lost the King and his moderating power.
The Commission "D. Carlos 100 Years", organised an outstanding Congress "the Seas of Lusofonia" that will be repeated two years from now in another Portuguese-speaking country.»
Congress "the Seas of Lusofonia"
«I collaborated in programmes of agricultural development with the brother countries of Guinea-Bissau, Angola and Timor and I greet Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, currently in Portugal, as the leader of the heroic East Timorese People.
I greet the widening of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries with Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea, Cape Vert, S. Tome, East Timor and I hope that soon, Morocco, Senegal, the Mauritian Islands, Equatorial Guinea and the Galician brothers may join this community.
I had the joy of taking my Family to Brazil, the country of my Mother, a descendant of the Emperor Pedro I, to participate in the celebrations of the 200 years of the transfer of the Government and the King to Brazil in 1808!
I greet the Portuguese military institution, defending the country since the Foundation. Today, it defends Portugal "out of area", contributing to the peace and security of the Portuguese population and the regions where it operates. The cannonisation, in 2009, of Nuno Álvares, the victor of Aljubarrota, and the founder of the House of Bragança, will be an occasion to learn with his examples of spirituality and leadership.
Let us take advantage of all these examples. The Alcobaça friars wrote one of the most beautiful formulae of Portuguese monarchy: "The king is free and we are free". Let me proclaim today: "I am free and you are free" because we owe no debt to financial powers or party politics. Together we will be able to renew the Portuguese democracy with the Royal Institution, by the will of the people, and so long as the people wants it.
My Wife Isabel, Myself, and our children Afonso, Maria Francisca and Dinis, solemnly engage in this oath because Portugal must continue democratic and independent! Those who think that the dream of the founders is alive, join us; and if somebody questions this increasing feeling of the power of the people, the reply is always: "The king is free and we are free"
Lisbon, Beato Monastery, November 30th, 2008
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