25 de Abril Cultural Association
Toronto’s Salgueiro Maia Nucleus was founded in September 1994
Our mission is to maintain the spirit of democracy. Because those born or who live in this democratic and free country have no idea what is it to live under a dictatorship – Carlos Morgadinho.
Since 1994, the Associação Cultural 25 de Abril – Salgueiro Maia of Toronto has been dedicated to commemorating the Carnation Revolution in Canada and educating young Portuguese-Canadians about this historic date in Portugal. Every year this association organizes visits by “April Captains” to Toronto where they visit schools and universities with significant Portuguese-Canadian student populations to talk about their memories and the meaning of the revolution.
History
Incorporated on September 14, 1994, the Associação Cultural 25 de Abril of Toronto is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to commemorating the Carnations Revolution in Canada and educating young Portuguese-Canadians about this important date in Portuguese history. It is the first branch of this network of organizations to be founded outside of Portugal. Among its founders were the late Mário Lebre (its first president), Dr. Tomás Ferreira, Walter Lopes, Odete and Carlos Melo, Mário Corte-Real, Henrique Santos, Maria João Lisboa, and Joaquim Paulo. Many of them had been members of Toronto’s Portuguese Canadian Democratic Association, one of the first and most leftist Portuguese organizations founded in Canada, whose embers fought the Estado Novo and its colonial empire from abroad.
Every year, around April 25th, this association hosts an “April Captain” – an officer of the Armed Forces Movement that in 1974 brought down the dictatorial regime. During their visits to Toronto, these guests of honour visit schools with sizeable Portuguese-Canadian student bodies and talk about their experiences on the day of the revolution and its aftermath. They also participate in commemorative events organized by this small organization, to which Canadian political officials are normally invited.
The Associação Cultural 25 de Abril also participates in other commemorative events, like the annual Portugal Day parade or the campaign to memorialize Aristides de Sousa Mendes in Canada.
Hora dos Portugueses
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