There are 3 didactic volumes launched by the writer Zita Cardoso who intend to show the symbols of the autonomy and independence of the archipelagos of Madeira, Azores and Green Cape.
One of the books you wrote addresses the 42 years of Green Cape independence?
Zita Cardoso: Exactly, there are 42 years of change from the political regime of a dictatorship to an autonomous model, but curiously it is a transverse phenomenon that has joined and was transformed into a parallel administrative system with more or less achievements. Green Cape had a stage that wanted to be autonomous like the Portuguese autonomous regions, but with the formation of the PAICV(African Party for the Liberation of Green Cape) party that is a dissident of the PAGC ( African Party if independence of Guinea Bissau and Green Cape), when the separation occurs they intend to be an independent country. It is necessary to contextualize this question of Green Cape and Guinea Bissau they were both colonies and Madeira and the Azores were not.
In the case of Azorean autonomy, the book focuses on what aspects?
ZC: It is a pedagogical and didactic book, it is patriotic and aims to bring people closer to their democratic institutions. It is also a work on citizenship and is a fundamentally an educational one. This is one of the books that addresses the three archipelagos in the Atlantic, I have the first edition that focuses on Madeira, I will now, resume a second publication soon. On the Azores is already a second edition and the third volume is on the independence of Green Cape which is a different situation because it is a former African colony.
For the book of Green Cape did you have to make an exhaustive survey?
ZC: Yes, I had to go to this archipelago and talk to the authorities, I did an investigation in place and I went to all the islands of the archipelago, traveled from one point to the other, took photographs and found that the autonomy in this case means a transformation society and had to be represented in the book. In the case of the Azores the works are mainly on the coast, the Azorean wager was more to create maritime infrastructures, while in Madeira the interventions were more on land, tunnels, for example.
Regarding Green Cape, what are the main symbols of its independence?
ZC: I met the family of Amilcar Cabral, his wife and also this coumarate in the independence that is the commander Honório Chantres, who lives on the island of Santo Antão and it was he who encouraged me to do this work. He provided me with all the data and despite his 76 years of age he is a perfectly lucid person and his testimony in the book addresses the signs of independence. He accompanied the separation between the party of Guinea Bissau and Green Cape. I have known the root of the independence of this archipelago and this testimony should be passed on to the new generations and to the schools, because society in general has to know how democracy was reached in the countries where they live.
So what are the symbols of Cape Verde's independence?
ZC: The writers who through their writing questioned the independence of their country, then I approach the different ministers of each island, the assembly as it was elaborated and the various changes it had over time. São Vicente was the scene of several political rallies for the freedom of Green Cape. It is above all a political and libertarian work.
And education is another great symbol?
ZC: A lot and also the two parties in power and that has taken turns in different governments and I must say that Cape Verde is a country turned to modernity. It is very close to European culture.
So, unlike the Atlantic autonomies whose symbols of autonomy are infrastructures, in Green Cape, are they people?
ZC: Yes, it's the people who made the country. The works are not as expressive as in the autonomous islands. There is also another factor, there were currents that only defended the autonomy of Green Cape, but since it was a Portuguese African colony and Madeira and the Azores were not, it did not happen. There is a European institution for the outermost regions, such as the Caribbean, Guadeloupe and Martinique, which were French settlements, are still French "autonomous" colonies, then the island of Réunion and French Guiana, which are French, they have not obtained independence, but are autonomous regions, never disconnected from the umbilical cord that is the mother country. Then there are the Canary Islands, Madera, the Azores and Green Cape is just an observer country, not integrated into the concept of the outermost region.
