MANIFESTO FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND AN IDEA OF THE FUTURE IN THE AUTONOMOUS REGION OF THE AZORES

To: Portuguese sovereign bodies; Autonomous bodies of the Autonomous Region of the Azores; Public institutions and civil society in the Azores, Portugal, and the world; Citizens of the Azores, Portugal, and the world

We,

writers,  intellectuals, and artists,

independent citizens,

humanists

and autonomists of the Azores and the Azorean space,

propose

the refocusing of the Autonomy of the Region

in human development,

the emancipation of the person

and an idea of the future.

On the verge of celebrating the 50th anniversary of April 25 (the Carnation Revolution that brought democracy to Portugal), we believe that a new regional legislature should not begin – nor should the commemorations of the fiftieth anniversary of the 1976 Constitution of the Republic, which enshrined the autonomy of the Azores and Madeira – without starting a responsible reflection on the reality in which too many Azoreans live.

The Azores must become aware of their painful human development indices, accepting that the numbers that make them up tell a single story: that of a region that, even in a country overtaken by more and more new members of a united Europe, still manages to stand out in the negative.

The Azores must be able to tackle, without sophistry, the imbalances that these first 48 years of autonomy have failed to resolve, promoting the systematic fight against poverty and inequality in a personalistic, inclusive way that promotes social mobility, the reversal of trends in education and an increase in average life expectancy.

The Azores must urgently put an end to the nepotism, clientelism, and laxity that have been eroding the achievements of Autonomy, betting on the qualification of the political class, its ability to attract the best, and its commitment to resist the instrumentalization of the most vulnerable – and of the state machine itself – for electoral purposes.

The Azores must be a region where social solidarity institutions don’t just manage scarcity but are agents of transformation and where civil society institutions resist partisanship.

The Azores must ensure good stewardship of the external resources it enjoys, striving to define an economy planned around strategic priorities – not defined according to the financial expedients established in Lisbon and Brussels – and in which the implementation of European resources is not the sole priority of governance or the sole focus of parliamentary scrutiny.

The Azores must fight the idea of economic monoculture, whatever it may be, and with this in mind, they begin by counteracting the worst effects of the monoculture of tourism – a miracle that we must not exhaust – starting with the hoarding of the housing market by investment funds that generate inflation and gentrification.

The Azores must take care of freedom of expression and the critical mass of its society, promoting a free, viable, independent media capable of bringing intellectuals, writers, artists, researchers, and so many citizens from all walks of life back into the debate, who, at the dawn of Autonomy, were committed to determining the contours of our shared identity.

The Azores must formulate new policies in the areas of education and culture, with which they can promote reading, the arts (scenic, musical, literary, television, and others), and abstract thought, bringing artists and creators to the region’s schools, to foster a culture of participation and cultural consumption from an early age.

In the Azores in the 21st century, except for sporadic statistical fluctuations, one in four young people between the ages of 15 and 34 neither works nor studies. Drug addiction, corruption, and crime in general are growing unchecked. Imprisonment for petty crime, the supreme sign of social inequality, is the highest in the country. On the other hand, consumption of contemporary culture is the lowest in the country, as are (in another context) rates of physical activity and (in yet another) the breastfeeding rate.

Ranked last in competitiveness and cohesion, the region breaks negative records in economic development and the so-called social elevator. The number of homeless people has risen dramatically in the last decade. Even in 2023, new investments continued to be announced in concentric social neighborhoods and in the ghetto policy that has long been abandoned in the Western world.

The rate of institutionalization remains the highest in Portugal, as does the consumption of antidepressants. Abstention figures are unparalleled in Portugal, and women are virtually absent from public life. Seven islands are in a demographic emergency. Average life expectancy is as much as four years below the national average.

We, Azoreans and friends of the Azores, free citizens concerned with public affairs and the common good, have come to demand that the region’s autonomy be refocused on the emancipation of the individual, on human development, and on an idea of the future:

– so that the Azores can regain a sense of proportion and the ability to scrutinize themselves;

– so that poverty in the Azores ceases to be a business, influencing both the management of existing resources and the acquisition of new ones;

– so that, faced with a scenario of such magnitude, politicians cannot limit themselves to discussing a reduction in the retirement age instead of an increase in average life expectancy;

– so that, in a region where institutions, companies, associations, sports clubs, and the state itself exist largely on the various assistance mechanisms available, the poorest are not the only ones anathematized;

– so that never again, in the context of such an emergency, can the national media look at Azorean legislative elections as a mere first round (sic) of national legislative elections;

– so that the Autonomy of the Azores is always, and first and foremost, at the service of people and justice;

– so that, where this cannot be achieved immediately, we can start moving in this direction.

Silence is complicit. Citizenship is never complicit. Not with the powers that be, individual convenience, or the status quo – and certainly not when it is unjust.

Because it’s true, and for the record, they sign below (and open their arms to co-signatures from anyone else who cares):

Joel Neto, writer

José Henrique Ornelas, professor

João de Melo, writer

Álamo Oliveira, writer

Anabela Borba, president of Cáritas Diocesana dos Açores

Avelino Meneses, professor

Carlos Bessa, president of the Azorean Institute of Culture

Carlos Enes, historian

Diniz Borges, professor and writer

Germano de Sousa, medical doctor and professor

João Pedro Porto, writer

José Lopes de Araújo, journalist

Luísa Ribeiro, poet

Luís Avelar, civil aeronautics specialist

Maria João Vargas Moniz, university professor

Osvaldo Cabral, journalist

Pedro Almeida Maia, writer

Renata Correia Botelho, poet

Roberto Rodrigues, president of the Daniel de Sá Association

Vamberto Freitas, literary critic

Vasco Pereira da Costa, writer

FILAMENTOS: As you have read, these are some worrisome facts about the region where many Americans of Portuguese ancestry can trace their roots. Anyone in the Azores and the Azorean Diaspora can sign the petition using this link.

https://peticaopublica.com/pview.aspx?pi=PT119326&fbclid=IwAR2WH3iyJvJzYeGWpLQzBJbdrulYwGkByAy60EG5MutNvr5SnHCelqkPY_c