The Casa dos Açores de Minas Gerais was founded on July 26, last Saturday, in the state capital of Belo Horizonte. It is the eighth Casa dos Açores in Brazil and celebrates 300 years of Azorean presence in a state with more than 20 million inhabitants.

The founding ceremony was presided over by the Regional Director of Communities, José Andrade, representing the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities. It took place at the Historical and Geographical Institute of Minas Gerais.

The ceremony saw the inauguration of the first governing bodies of the Casa dos Açores de Minas Gerais, chaired by Cláudio Motta, a lawyer, businessman, and journalist from Minas Gerais with Azorean ancestry, and the signing of a cooperation protocol between the Government of the Azores and the new entity.

The Azorean presence in the state of Minas Gerais began in 1723 with the emigration of the so-called “Três Ilhoas” (Three Islands) from the island of Faial, giving rise to numerous families that are landmarks in the history of Minas Gerais, such as Terra, Brum, Silveira, Dutra, Faria, Fagundes, Rosa, Rezende, Cunha, Garcia, Neves, Bittencourt, and Goulart.

Over the last three centuries, thousands of Azorean descendants from successive generations have contributed to the development of a Brazilian state made up of 850 municipalities, with a size equivalent to the territory of France.

Azorean emigrants even founded cities in Minas Gerais, such as Andrelândia, and there are two municipalities in Minas Gerais twinned with two towns in the Azores, namely Ouro Preto with Angra do Heroísmo and Rezende Costa with Vila do Porto.

The Casa dos Açores de Minas Gerais now joins the Casas dos Açores in Rio de Janeiro (1952), São Paulo (1980), Bahia (1980), Santa Catarina (1999), Rio Grande do Sul (2003), Maranhão (2019), and Espírito Santo (2022), almost all of which were represented at the ceremony marking its establishment.

The presence of these Houses motivated the organization of the VIII Azores Brazil Meeting, held on July 27, at the Historical and Geographical Institute of Minas Gerais, which included a conference on the Azorean journeys through Brazilian lands, given by Azorean descendant researcher Vera Lúcia Maciel Barroso, director of the Historical-Cultural Center of Santa Casa de Porto Alegre.

The creation of the Casa dos Açores de Minas Gerais will strengthen relations between one of the largest Brazilian states and the Autonomous Region of the Azores, contributing to the recovery and preservation of the Azorean legacy in Brazil.

The initiative is part of the Azores Government’s political strategy to bring together and promote cooperation between the nine islands of the autonomous region and their emigrant communities and descendants scattered around the world.

From Press Release

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.