Fifty years is a significant passage of time, both in the lives of individuals and in the history of institutions.

Five decades of resilience.

For that very reason, reaching the milestone of half a century deserves a celebration worthy of its significance.

In 2026, two golden anniversaries intersect, converging here in a particularly meaningful way.

On the one hand, the 50th Annual Conference of the Luso-American Education Foundation.

On the other, the fiftieth anniversary of the Autonomous Region of the Azores itself.

This fortunate coincidence makes the commemoration of fifty years of Azorean Autonomy one of the central themes of this year’s conference, particularly for this opening session, with special emphasis on its enduring relationship with the Azorean communities of North America.

That is precisely what I propose to address, but not before offering two well-deserved expressions of congratulations.

First, I wish to congratulate the Luso-American Education Foundation, through its President (…), on fifty years of conferences devoted to the noble mission of preserving, celebrating, and promoting Portuguese culture in California.

I also wish to commend the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute at Fresno State University, through its Director, Diniz Borges, for the exceptional dedication and organizational excellence it has consistently demonstrated in bringing these conferences to fruition.

As we celebrate fifty years of these conferences, we turn, therefore, to fifty years of Autonomy.

The Autonomy that brought political emancipation to Portugal’s two Atlantic archipelagos: the Azores and Madeira.

The Azorean archipelago was discovered by Portuguese navigators in 1427. Next year, we shall commemorate six centuries since the beginning of its settlement.

Situated in the heart of the North Atlantic, almost midway between the Old Continent and the New World, the Azores lie approximately 1,400 kilometers from Lisbon, on the European mainland, and 2,400 kilometers from Nova Scotia, on the American continent.

The archipelago has approximately 240,000 inhabitants, occupying a territory of 2,322 square kilometers distributed across nine islands: Santa Maria, São Miguel, Terceira, Graciosa, São Jorge, Pico, Faial, Flores, and Corvo.

Administratively, the Region is divided into 19 municipalities and 155 civil parishes, including six cities: Ponta Delgada, Ribeira Grande, and Lagoa, on the island of São Miguel; Angra do Heroísmo and Praia da Vitória, on Terceira; and Horta, on Faial.

The Azores lie 930 kilometers from Madeira.

The Madeiran archipelago was discovered by Portuguese navigators in 1419, eight years before the Azores.

It is situated 978 kilometers from mainland Portugal and 700 kilometers from the African coast.

Madeira has approximately 250,000 inhabitants within a territory of 801 square kilometers, distributed between two inhabited islands: Madeira and Porto Santo.

The island of Madeira comprises 10 municipalities, while Porto Santo has only one, making a total of 54 civil parishes.

The city of Funchal is the capital of the Region.

These, then, are the two archipelagos, shaped by six centuries of Portuguese history and identity, that attained political maturity fifty years ago.

Indeed, 2026 is a year of profound significance for the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira.

We have reached, and now celebrate, half a century of Political Autonomy.

It was in 1976 that we finally secured our right to be different — our right to a distinct political identity:

On April 2, with the constitutional recognition of the autonomous regions in the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic;

On June 27, with the first regional legislative elections in the Azores and Madeira;

On July 20, with the inaugural session of the Regional Assembly of the Azores, presided over by Álvaro Monjardino. In Madeira, the corresponding ceremony took place on July 19, under the presidency of Emanuel Rodrigues;

On September 4, with the official inauguration of the Azorean Parliament by the President of the Portuguese Republic, António Ramalho Eanes. In Madeira, this took place on October 23;

And on September 8, with the swearing-in of the first Government of the Azores, headed by João Bosco Mota Amaral. In Madeira, the first Regional Government took office on October 1, under the leadership of Jaime Ornelas Camacho.

From that moment onward, it may rightly be said that the Azores and Madeira advanced further in five decades of self-government than they had in five centuries of government from afar.

From the very beginning — and consistently ever since — the governments of the Azores and Madeira have regarded their respective diasporas as strategic pillars in affirming the global presence and identity of both autonomous regions.

Our diasporas are distinct.

Azorean emigrants settled predominantly in Brazil, the United States, and Canada.

Madeiran emigrants established particularly significant communities in Venezuela, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Interestingly, however, the two diasporas share certain destinations, especially in the United States — in New Bedford, Massachusetts; San Diego, California; and Hawaii.

From the earliest years of Autonomy, the regional governments established institutional structures dedicated to maintaining and strengthening their relationships with emigrant communities.

In the Azores, a Directorate of Emigration Services was created as early as 1978, within the Regional Secretariat for Social Affairs. In 1989, GEACA — the Office for Emigration and Support to Azorean Communities — was established, reporting directly to the President of the Regional Government.

These two successive services were directed by Duarte Manuel Bettencourt Mendes for nearly two decades.

In 1998, the Seventh Government of the Azores established the Regional Directorate for Communities, which has since had five successive directors:

• Alzira Maria Serpa Silva, appointed on May 14, 1998;
• Rita Nazaré Soares Bettencourt Faria Machado Dias, on January 30, 2009;
• Maria da Graça Borges Castanho, on October 13, 2010;
• Paulo César Câmara Teves, on November 29, 2012;
• And I myself, José Maria de Medeiros Andrade, since December 24, 2020.

Over these three decades, the Regional Directorate for Communities has operated successively under the direct authority of the President of the Regional Government, Carlos César; the Regional Secretary of the Presidency, André Bradford; the Regional Undersecretary of the Presidency for External Relations, Rodrigo Oliveira; the Deputy Regional Secretary of the Presidency for External Relations, Rui Bettencourt; the Vice-President of the Regional Government, Artur Lima; the President of the Regional Government, José Manuel Bolieiro; and, under the Fourteenth Regional Government, since 2024, the Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities, Paulo Estêvão.

Throughout fifty years of Autonomy in its relationship with the communities, the Regional Government — indeed, every regional government, from João Bosco Mota Amaral to José Manuel Bolieiro, including those led by Alberto Romão Madruga da Costa, Carlos César, and Vasco Cordeiro — has upheld and honored Azorean identity throughout the Diaspora.

This work has always been undertaken in partnership with the representative institutions of the communities themselves, including the World Council of Houses of the Azores, the Azorean Diaspora Council, the International Network of Social Service Organizations, and the Azores Diaspora Media Alliance.

The worldwide network of Houses of the Azores (Casas dos Açores) now comprises 24 associations across six countries: Portugal, Brazil, the United States, Canada, Bermuda, and Uruguay.

Only two were established before Azorean Autonomy: the Casa dos Açores of Lisbon, founded in 1927, which will celebrate its centenary next year; and the Casa dos Açores of Rio de Janeiro, founded in 1952, which will mark its seventy-fifth anniversary in 2027.

Eight Houses of the Azores were established during the first twenty years of self-government:

• The Casa dos Açores of Hilmar, California, founded in 1977, which will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary next year;
• The Casa dos Açores of Quebec, in Montreal, in 1978;
• The Casa dos Açores do Norte, in the city of Porto, in 1980;
• The Casa dos Açores of São Paulo, also in 1980;
• The Casa dos Açores of Bahia, likewise in Brazil, also in 1980;
• The Casa dos Açores of Ontario, in Toronto, in 1985;
• The Casa dos Açores of New England, in Fall River, in 1991;
• And the Casa dos Açores of Winnipeg, Canada, in 1992.

Six additional Houses were founded over the following twenty-four years:

• The Casa dos Açores of Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 1999;
• The Casa dos Açores of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, also in Brazil, in 2003;
• The Casa dos Açores of Uruguay, in 2011;
• The Casa dos Açores of Bermuda, in 2015;
• The Casa dos Açores of Maranhão, in 2019;
• And the Casa dos Açores of Madeira, also in 2019.

And eight Houses of the Azores have been established in just the past four years:

• One in the United States — the Casa dos Açores of Hawaii (2025);
• One in Canada — the Casa dos Açores of Alberta (2026);
• Two in Portugal — the Casa dos Açores of the Central Region (2024) and the Casa dos Açores of Alentejo (2026);
• And four in Brazil — the Casa dos Açores of Espírito Santo (2022), the Casa dos Açores of Minas Gerais (2025), the Casa dos Açores of Ceará (2026), and the Casa dos Açores of Amapá (2026).

The continuing expansion of this worldwide network of Houses of the Azores projects and strengthens the institutional presence of our Region throughout our Diaspora.

To coordinate the work of these representative associations, the World Council of Houses of the Azores was established on November 13, 1997, in the city of Horta.

This year, we also established two national networks of Houses of the Azores: one in Portugal, bringing together Lisbon, the North, the Central Region, Alentejo, and Madeira; and another in Brazil, encompassing Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Maranhão, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Ceará, and Amapá.

The Azorean Diaspora Council, meanwhile, was established in 2019 by unanimous resolution of the Azorean Parliament, as an advisory body to the Regional Government.

It comprises 19 councilors elected by the various Azorean communities:

• Five from Brazil: four representing the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, and one representing the remaining states;
• Five from the United States: three representing Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and California, and two representing the remaining states;
• Five from Canada: four representing the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and British Columbia, and one representing the remaining provinces;
• One from Bermuda;
• One from Uruguay;
• One representing mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Region of Madeira;
• And one representing the Rest of the World.

These councilors were elected in 2021 and reelected in 2025. They participate in plenary sessions convened every two years, as well as in thematic and territorial committees.

For its part, the International Network of Social Service Organizations of the Azores and the Diaspora was formally established through an agreement signed on April 14, 2025, in Ponta Delgada.

The network comprises 18 organizations, eight based in the Azores and ten in the Diaspora.

Six of these organizations operate in the United States — four in Massachusetts, in the cities of Fall River, New Bedford, and Cambridge, and two in California: POSSO, in San Jose, and VALER, in Turlock.

The remaining four are based in Canada: three in Ontario, serving communities in Toronto and Mississauga, and one in Quebec, headquartered in Montreal.

Finally, there is the Azores Diaspora Media Alliance (ADMA), the most recently established of these four international networks.

It was formally constituted through an agreement signed between the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities and the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute on September 25, during the Fourth Gathering of Media Directors from the Azores and North America, held at California State University, Fresno.

Previous gatherings took place in the Azores, in Ponta Delgada and Angra do Heroísmo, in May 2022; in New England, in Fall River and New Bedford, in October 2022; and in Canada, in Toronto and Montreal, in July 2025.

These four examples illustrate the collaborative networks we have developed with our Diaspora — bringing together institutions, resources, and collective efforts in the service of a shared purpose.

They are also part of the journey through time we have undertaken today, tracing fifty years of relationships between the Government of the Azores and the Azorean communities dispersed across the world.

One wish alone remains to be expressed:

May the past fifty years be nothing less than a promising source of inspiration for the fifty years yet to come.

José Andrade Regional Director for Communities Autonomous Region of the Azores

Translated by Diniz Borges