USA | Artur Lima wants more elected officials of Azorean descent in California

The Vice President of the Regional Government defended in California last Thursday “the importance of having more Californians of Azorean descent elected to different public offices” in the largest state on the west coast of the United States.

Artur Lima spoke at a meeting he held with 50 Portuguese elected officials and community leaders, promoted by the California Portuguese American Coalition, in the state capital of Sacramento.

The government official expressed the wish that “more elected officials of Azorean descent may develop regular contacts with the Azores, building new bridges between the Autonomous Region and the State of California.”

In this context, Artur Lima highlighted the need to give “more practical sense” to the 2002 Resolution that proclaimed California as a sister state of the Azores, “developing new forms of cooperation in areas such as technology, sustainable energy, tourism and cultural affinities.”

The Vice-President of the Government took the opportunity of his meeting with Californian politicians and leaders of Azorean descent to highlight the strategic importance that the Azores have for the United States of America, namely with the Lajes Base on Terceira Island.

In turn, Artur Lima also highlighted the importance of the Azorean community itself in California, “the largest in the United States,” since “more than 90% of the 350 thousand Californians who identify themselves as Portuguese have roots in the Azores.”

The Vice-President of the Regional Government was the guest of honour at the lunch that brought together the main elected politicians and association leaders of the Azorean community in Sacramento, following the approval of a resolution by the Legislative Assembly and State Senate that proclaimed May 29 as Azores Day in California.

The California Portuguese-American Coalition, which organised the meeting, was praised by Artur Lima for the project it is developing as part of its recently created “Friends of the Azores” group, promoting opportunities for cooperation at political, educational, technological, energy and cultural levels, “with mutual benefits for both parties.”

Artur Lima is establishing institutional contacts in the cities of Sacramento, San Francisco and San José, on behalf of the President of the Government of the Azores, accompanied by the Regional Director for the Communities, José Andrade, the Councilor of the Azorean Diaspora elected by the State of California, Zeto Carvalho, and the president of the California Portuguese-American Coalition, Diniz Borges.

GRA/RÁDIOILHÉU