Marcelo to grace 60 more April Captains next week

The President of the Republic announced this Wednesday that he will award 60 more April Captains next week, reiterating that everyone deserves distinction, no matter what they have done before and since.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke at Capela do Rato in Lisbon during an action held there in December 1972 and organized by the Coordinating Commission on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974, commemorative events that will last until 2026.

“Another 60 April captains will be awarded next week and therefore all captains until 2024 will be awarded, who, according to the Association’s poll on April 25, really played a role, and there were hundreds of them,” he said.

The head of state said that “there were specific awards that seemed very unfair, some were awarded because they were, and others were not awarded because they were not”, and considered that this “does not make sense.”

“I know how controversial this is, especially since they argue about those who were on April 25 and before that had a past, and then had a future, and not so much the past as the future then causes controversy, but historically they were on April 25, this undeniable and undeniable,” he said.

Present at Capela do Rato were the Executive Commissioner of the Mission Structure for the 50th Anniversary of April 25, 1974, the historian Maria Inacia Resola, the Minister of Culture, Pedro Adão e Silva, who preceded her in these functions, and the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas.

At the end of this session, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa presented Chaplain Antonio Martins with the insignia of the title of honorary member of the Order of Liberty, attributed to the community of Capela do Rato, noting that the proposal came from Pedro Adao e Silva. before becoming a minister.

On March 24 of this year, at the opening ceremony of the celebrations dedicated to the 50th anniversary of April 25, in the Patio da Gale in Lisbon, the President of the Republic awarded the soldiers of April 30 with the Order of Freedom.

Speaking before the Assembly of the Republic on April 25 this year, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa praised the captains of Abril and defended that their “gesture of rebirth” should be thanked: “Think what you think about who they were before and after this gesture.”

“Whatever you think about what happened before and after this gesture, it was unique, unique and decisive. Without it, today there would be no free Assembly of the Republic with free votes. rewriting history,” he said.