Pedro Pires

Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires ( born April 29, 1934 in São Filipe on Fogo ) was from March 2001 to September 2011 President of Cape Verde.

Life

Pires studied at the University of Lisbon and arrived there together with the future leaders of liberation movements fighting for the Unäbhängigkeit the Portuguese colonies of Portugal. With the beginning of the fighting in Angola in 1961, he left Portugal and founded together with Amilcar Cabral, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. Until the Carnation Revolution he fought for independence and was then spokesman of the negotiations with Portugal.

After the Declaration of Independence of Cape Verde on July 5, 1975, he became Prime Minister, a position he held until 1991, when after he initiated with the introduction of multi-party system, the MPD of Carlos Veiga became the majority. In 2001, he finally kicked Veiga as a presidential candidate and won in the ballot with twelve -vote lead. On March 22, 2001, he was sworn in as successor António Monteiro.

In the presidential election on February 12, 2006 Pires was re-elected by a narrow margin against his only rival candidates Veiga.