Portuguese-Sao-Tome relations

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Portuguese-Sao-Tome relations
Location of Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe
PortugalPortugal Sao Tome and PrincipeSao Tome and Principe
Portugal Sao Tome and Principe

The Portuguese-São-Tomeic relations describe the intergovernmental relationship between São Tomé and Príncipe and Portugal . The countries have been closely linked since the 15th century and have had direct diplomatic relations since 1975. They are founding members of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries .

Around 2,500 Portuguese live in São Tomé and Príncipe, where they mainly work in small and medium-sized companies or in development cooperation. Around 10,500 São Tomées live in Portugal.

history

Until 1975

Fortaleza de São Sebastião , built in 1575 and now the residence of the National Museum of São Tomé and Príncipe

On December 21, 1471, the Portuguese navigator João de Santarém discovered the island of São Tomé and on January 17, 1472 the island of Príncipe . Since then, the archipelago has belonged to the Portuguese Empire .

Initially, the island was primarily a transshipment point for the international slave trade , but from the 16th century onwards it was increasingly cultivated in plantations . Since then, monocultures have determined the island's colonial economy. Sugar cane prevailed until the 18th century, followed by coffee until the middle of the 19th century . Since around 1850, cocoa has dominated the economy of the islands, which around 1900 became the largest cocoa producer on earth.

After the peak of cocoa production on São Tomé and Príncipe after 1908 was exceeded and the international criticism of the slave-like situation of the contract workers on the cocoa plantations increased, the economic conditions on the islands deteriorated significantly. At the latest after the Batepá massacre in 1953, a national consciousness awoke and strengthened here . Unlike in other African colonies in Portugal, there was no armed war of independence here. Political resistance against the Portuguese colonial power was organized by exile São Toméers from neighboring African countries and Portugal, above all the Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe (MLSTP), which operated from Gabon .

After the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974, São Tomé and Príncipe gained independence on July 12, 1975, which was immediately recognized by Portugal.

Since 1975

President Fradique de Menezes (2003), son of a Portuguese and a São Tomé woman

The country's first president was Manuel Pinto da Costa , general secretary of the MLSTP, which now ruled the country as a unity party.

On July 16, 1975, the first Portuguese ambassador to the young Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe was accredited by Amândio Mourão de Mendonça Corte-Real da Silva Pinto .

Until 1990 the country had more intensive relations with the Soviet Union , Cuba , the GDR and the People's Republic of China than with the former colonial power Portugal, with which, however, good relations continued after the liberating revolution and the end of the repressive regime.

From 1991, São Tomé and Príncipe turned away from the formerly socialist states and oriented themselves towards the west. After the parliamentary elections in 1991 , the democratic multi-party system was established and the former leader of the independence movement, Miguel Trovoada , became president. Since then, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe have grown even closer, and the country has increasingly become a target of Portuguese development cooperation . In 1996, both countries were founding members of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries .

In 2001 Fradique de Menezes became president of the country. The son of a Portuguese had previously given up his Portuguese citizenship. Shortly beforehand, oil reserves were found in the Gulf of Guinea , in which, in addition to Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe are involved. Since then, the country's economic importance has increased. As a result, a number of countries developed or intensified relations with São Tomé and Príncipe. The already good relations with Portugal also intensified and now also developed a growing economic dimension.

economy

Fabric and clothing store in São Tomé (1899)

Since a Portuguese-Sao-Toméian agreement from 2009 with effect from January 1, 2010, the Sao-Toméian Dobra has been permanently linked to the euro . The exchange rate is now at a euro for 24,500 Dobras.

In 2015, São Tomé and Príncipe imported goods and services from Portugal worth 70.1 million euros (2014: 73.3 million, 2013: 59.6 million, 2012: 58.7 million, 2011: 59.3 million), of which 22.3% food, 20.9% agricultural products and 15.3% machines.

In the same period, Portugal imported goods and services from São Tomé and Príncipe to the value of 15.0 million euros (2014: 15.7 million, 2013: 8.8 million, 2012: 6.9 million, 2011: 4 , 2 million), of which 60.5% metals, 15.5% food and 13.3% chemical products.

This means that São Tomé and Príncipe is the target for 0.05% (2014: 0.07%, 2013: 0.04%, 2012: 0.06%, 2011: 0.07%) of Portugal's exports and the country of origin of 0.11 % (2014: 0.12%, 2013: 0.07%, 2012: 0.05%, 2011: 0.03%) of Portugal's imports.

With over 65%, São Tomé and Príncipe obtains by far the most of its imports from Portugal, followed by China with around 8% and Gabon with around 7%.

diplomacy

The Portuguese Embassy in São Tomé

The Republic of Portugal has its diplomatic mission in São Tomé and Príncipe in Avenida Marginal 12 de Julho in the capital São Tomé .

The Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe maintains its embassy in the Portuguese capital Lisbon at 35 Avenida 5 de Outubro. This is also the country’s representation to the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries .

There are also two consulates of São Tomé and Príncipes in Portugal, one in Porto , in Avenida de Boavista no.1203, and one in Coimbra , in Avenida Fernão Magalhães no.170.

Twin cities

Despite the small size of São Tomé and Príncipes, there are now 31 city ​​and community friendships with Portuguese municipalities or are being initiated (as of 2015). They are a sign of the close Portuguese-São-Tomeic relations since the partnership realignment of Portuguese foreign policy after the far-reaching Carnation Revolution in 1974 and the subsequent end of Portugal's colonial dictatorship. The first Portuguese-São-Tome city friendship was established in 1983 in the two capitals of São Tomé and Lisbon .

Culture

Institutions

The Instituto Camões has a cultural center and language institute in the capital, São Tomé.

The Portuguese fortress Fortaleza de São Sebastião , which was first completed in 1575 , houses the National Museum of the Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. The plant is listed in the Portuguese list of monuments SIPA under the number 11773.

At the birthplace of the Portuguese artist Almada Negreiros on the Roça Saudade estate near Trindade , the Casa Museu Almada Negreiros has been a museum with an artist workshop in his memory since 2015 .

Cinema from the Portuguese era in the capital São Tomé

Movie

São Tomé cinema, which is still in its infancy, received a decisive boost from the ASSECOM association ( Associação São Tomense de Entretenimento e Comunicação Multimédia - Cultural e Artístico , port and artistic entertainment and multimedia communication).

The best-known person of the São Tomé filmmakers is probably the actor Ângelo Torres , who is known as an actor especially in Portuguese cinema .

literature

The first noteworthy literature, São Tomé and Príncipes, originated in the 19th century. The poetry of Caetano da Costa Alegre (1864–1890) should be mentioned in particular .

The landowner Marcelo da Veiga (1892–1976), who came from the island of Príncipe, was the first to regularly refer to his black skin color and to São Tomés and Príncipes' situation as a colony and island. These first signs of national consciousness in São Tomé and Príncipe later came to full bloom in the neorealistic work of Francisco José Tenreiro (1921–1963). The anthology Poetas de São Tomé e Príncipe , published in 1963 by the Casa dos Estudantes do Império in Lisbon , was of particular importance for the manifestation of a São Tomé literature, as a sign of an awakened national consciousness . The poets Maria Manuela Margarido (1925–2007) and Alda Espírito Santo (1926–2010) were among the most important names of this phase alongside Tenreiro.

The first novel from São Tomé was Maiá Poçon in 1937 by the noble Portuguese Viana de Almeida (1903–?), Who was born here . The most important novelist São Tomé and Príncipes, however, is the neorealist Sum Marky (1921–2003), since his novel O Vale das Ilusões from 1956. In No Altar da Lei (1960) and in Vila Flogá (1963), for example, he addressed the massacre von Batepá in 1953, when landowners took up state repression and sparked a wave of violence against the black majority in São Tomé and Príncipe. He took up the subject of colonial oppression again in his last novel Crónicas de uma Guerra Iventada (2001).

The period after independence in 1975 was characterized by little literary activity in São Tomé and Príncipe. After two politically and sociologically motivated, literarily not very ambitious collections of poetry in 1977, and the likewise not literarily relevant volume É Nosso o Solo Sagradao da Terra by Alda Espírito Santo, published in 1979, noteworthy works did not appear again until the end of the 1980s. Poets such as Fernando de Macedo , Maria Olinda Beja and Francisco Costa Alegre should be mentioned among them. While Sacramento Neto is considered the most productive novelist in the island republic, the work of Aíto Bonfim (Ângelo de Jesus Bonfim) is primarily characterized by its variety of themes and forms.

To this day, the literary landscape in São Tomé and Príncipe is characterized by difficult conditions. Publishers are rare, and there are no printing houses in the republic itself. The authors are often published in other Portuguese-speaking countries such as Portugal and Angola.

Lecture in February 2014 on entrepreneurship in a lecture hall of the Instituto Superior Politécnico , now a faculty of the UPSTP

education

Until the country became independent from Portugal, there were few secondary schools and no college in São Tomé and Príncipe. After independence in 1975, students had to go abroad on a state scholarship , either to friendly socialist states or to Portugal. In the 1990s, the establishment of a higher education system in the country began with the establishment of two polytechnic universities ( Institutos Superiores , comparable to the German universities of applied sciences ).

The first university in the country opened in 2006 with the local branch of the Portuguese private university Lusíada .

In 2014, the Universidade Pública de São Tomé e Príncipe (UPSTP) was inaugurated, the first state university in the country. Since then, the government has needed the help of Portugal and Brazil to run the university.

Sports

Soccer

Nuno Espírito Santo (2015, as coach of Valencia CF )

Football is the undisputed national sport in both countries. Due to the fact that it has belonged to Portugal for centuries, football in São Tomé and Príncipe is strongly influenced by Portuguese football . The São Tomé football championship is dominated by teams that were originally founded as branches of Portuguese clubs, such as record champions Sporting Clube Praia Cruz , a branch of the Portuguese top club Sporting Lisbon .

The Portuguese national soccer team and the national team of São Tomé and Príncipe have not competed against each other, nor have the Portuguese national soccer team of women and the women’s national team of São Tomé and Príncipe played against each other (as of July 2019). One of the main reasons is the precarious financial situation in the small island state of São Tomé and Príncipe, which, for example, led to the extensive standstill of the men's national team between 2003 and 2011.

Players from São Tomé and Príncipe are often committed to Portugal, where they play from lower-class leagues up to the Primeira Liga and the national team, such as the São Tomé national player Luís Leal . They often take on Portuguese citizenship afterwards and also play for the national team of Portugal, such as Gedson Fernandes or Nuno Espírito Santo , who was briefly the Portuguese national goalkeeper and then became a coach, and others. a. from FC Porto .

Other

The São Tomé-born Portuguese Naide Gomes at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin

Athletes from São Tomé and Príncipe often go to Portugal due to the lack of opportunities on the small island nation, where they compete for Portuguese teams. Often they also take on Portuguese citizenship and win titles for Portugal.

Particularly successful examples are the athlete Naide Gomes or the judoka Jorge Fonseca , who won the first world championship title for Portugal at the 2019 World Cup in Tokyo .

Athletes from both countries have so far met at all Jogos da Lusofonia , the games of the Portuguese-speaking world .

Web links

Commons : Portuguese-São-Tomeic Relationships  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Text accompanying a program about Portuguese in São Tomé and Príncipe on the website of the Portuguese public television broadcaster RTP , accessed on January 16, 2017
  2. ↑ Diagnóstico da População Imigrante em Portugal - “Diagnosis of the immigrant population in Portugal” (PDF download), study from 2011, published on the website of the Gondomar city council, accessed on January 17, 2017
  3. ↑ a b Overview of diplomatic relations between Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe on the website of the Diplomatic Institute of the Portuguese Foreign Ministry , accessed on May 4, 2019
  4. ↑ 1 euro equivale a 24,500 dobras - "1 euro equals 24,500 dobras" , article from January 4, 2010 of the São-Tome news portal Téla Nón, accessed on January 17, 2017
  5. ↑ Bilateral economic relations between Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe , Excel file retrieved from the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce AICEP , accessed on January 16, 2017
  6. ↑ Entry on São Tomé and Príncipe in the CIA Factbook , accessed on January 17, 2017
  7. ↑ List of the Consulates of São Tomé and Príncipes on www.embaixadas.net, accessed on January 17, 2017
  8. ↑ List of Portuguese-São-Toméian town twinning at the Association of Portuguese Administrative Districts (ANMP), accessed on May 14, 2020
  9. ↑ Entry of Fortaleza de São Sebastião in the Portuguese list of monuments SIPA, accessed on January 17, 2017
  10. ↑ Casa Museu Almada Negreiros nasce em São Tomé e Príncipe - “The Almada Negreiros museum house is being built in São Tomé and Príncipe” , website of the Portuguese public television broadcaster RTP with a television report, accessed on January 17, 2017
  11. ↑ Fernando Cristóvão (Ed.): Dicionário Temático da Lusofonia. Texto Editores, Lisbon / Luanda / Praia / Maputo 2006, p. 641ff ( ISBN 972-47-2935-4 )
  12. ↑ Lusíada abre primeira universidade em S. Tomé e Príncipe - “Lusíada opens first university in São Tomé and Príncipe” , article dated November 23, 2006 on the website of the Portuguese public television service RTP , accessed on January 5, 2017
  13. ↑ SÃO TOMÉ E PRÍNCIPE CRIA 1ª UNIVERSIDADE PÚBLICA - “São Tomé and Príncipe creates the first public university” ( Memento of the original from May 7, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Article of July 28, 2014 on the website of the Associação das Universidades de Língua Portuguesa (AULP), accessed on January 5, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / aulp.org