Hugo Almeida says the coalition and the liberals don’t share “the same dictionary.”

Present at the plenary session was the vice-president of IL’s national executive committee, Angélique da Teresa, who argued that, on the mainland, last week saw “the vote on a socialist State Budget, proposed by AD (center-right coalition) and made possible by the PS (center-left party) so that everything stays exactly the same.”

In the region, he considered that the PSD, CDS-PP and PPM are betting on “increasing public debt and indebtedness that puts the sustainability of regional accounts at risk”.

“That’s why I’m calling for the Azores to be a beacon of growth and freedom, so that young Azoreans who are already planning to move to countries with liberal policies can stay here,” he said.

He joked that “we’re going to import liberalism so that Azoreans aren’t exported”.

In the Political Orientation Document, presented for the 2024/2026 period, the list led by Hugo Almeida proposed actions to increase the number of members of the Territorial Nucleus of the Azores.

He promised “recruitment initiatives and valuing the plurality of ideas.”

Hugo Almeida also considered it necessary to invest in “liberal pedagogy,” taking “every opportunity to educate and clarify liberal principles, explaining what we stand for and why we do it, so that everyone can understand and get involved with the cause.”

The aim is to “run in more than one municipality and in several parishes” in the 2025 local elections.

For the region, the Liberals prioritize giving schools more autonomy. They believe it is necessary to “give schools more independence to manage curricula and resources according to local needs, encouraging a more personalized and effective education.”

The motion argues that there should be free choice “between public or private schools, promoting a diversity of educational models and healthy competition between institutions”.

Another idea highlighted is strengthening regional political autonomy, with the transfer of “more powers from the central government to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, allowing for greater self-management in key sectors such as education, health, security, and economic and financial development.”

The list headed by Hugo Almeida was elected with 18 votes in favor and four abstentions. Venício Ponte is vice-coordinator, and Diogo Pimentel is treasurer. Carlos Martins is secretary and Luís Lopes and Helga Nunes are members. Vasco Brandão and Pedro Lopes are alternates.

Gustavo Couto was elected president of the Núcleo plenary, and Ana Amaral and Rúben Reis were elected secretaries.

The region IL coordinator criticizes PS and AD (PSD-CDS/PP-PPM). Privatization of Azores Airlines is urgent.

The new leader of IL in the Azores, Hugo Almeida, argues that this is the only party that “really defends the privatization of Azores Airlines” (SATA Internacional).

Hugo Almeida says this privatization is urgent “to protect Sata Air Açores, which has been the Azoreans’ guarantee of mobility between islands.”

“Neither the PS nor the AD have been capable or competent in air transport policies, but mainly in maritime freight transport,” he accused.

In the opinion of the Economic and Social Council of the Azores (CESA) on the preliminary proposals for the Region’s Annual Regional Plan and Budget for 2025, released at the end of last month, the CESA members warned “about the process of privatizing SATA, which should be speeded up.”

In maritime transport, they pointed out the “inefficiency of the current model, which does not adequately serve the regional economy, often showing non-compliance with stopovers and routes, taking away the predictability of economic agents”.

At the presentation of the 2025 Plan and Budget proposals to the Azores Legislative Assembly, the regional secretary for finance, Duarte Freitas, said that privatizing Azores Airlines remains an objective and announced his intention to start the process of privatizing SATA’s handling next year.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.