AMILCAR CABRAL

     Heroes are people who give of themselves to help make the world a better place. Their stories are stories of leadership, vision and hope for a better world.  Amilcar Cabral  was one of them.

     The main conflict is between Amilcar Cabral’s personal life and his struggle to free his people  both in Cape Verde and Guine Bissau and the international intrigue of the Cold War led to the tragic struggle. Amilcar Cabral, a writer, poet, and nationalist anti-colonial leader, led the liberation movement that finally defeated the Portuguese in April 25, 1974 and was followed by independence of Cape Verde and other portuguese colonies.

1924:  Amílcar Lopes Cabral is born on September 12, in Bafatá, Guinea Bissau, West Africa.

1932: He moves to Cabo Verde.

1943: He finished secondary schooling in Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente.

1944: Obtains a job at the National Printing Office, in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on São Tiago Island.

1945: Is awarded a scholarship and begins his studies at the Agronomy Institute, in Lisbon. 

1950: Graduates from the institute and starts working at the Agronomy Center, in Santarém. 

1952: Returns to Bissau under contract with the Agricultural and Forestry Services of Portuguese Guinea.

1955: The Governor demands that he leave the colony; Cabral goes to work in Angola; he joins the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).

1956: The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde and Guinea (PAIGC) is founded in Bissau.

1960:  The PAIGC establishes a delegation in Conakry, capital of the Republic of Guinea; China gives support to the training of members of the PAIGC.

1961: Morocco welcomes members of the PAIGC.

1963: Open warfare breaks out on January 23, with an attack on the military installations at Tite, in southern Guinea-Bissau; the PAIGC sets up a northern battlefront in July.

1970: Pope Paul VI grants an audience on July 1 to Amílcar Cabral, Agostinho Neto and Marcelino dos Santos. On November 22, the Governor of Guinea-Bissau decides to establish a “commando” operation to which he gives the name of  “Mar Verde” (Green Sea), whose goal is to capture or eliminate the leaders of the PAIGC located in Conakry:  it fails!

1973: Amilcar Cabral is assassinated in Conakry on January 20.