Camila Vitorino, born in Setúbal, 26 years old, 5’9″ tall, and stunningly beautiful, represented Portugal in the Miss Universe 2025 pageant, which took place in Thailand last week. In one of the parades, Camila wore a dress adorned with red carnations, in homage, according to her, to Celeste Caeiro.

Celeste Caeiro was the woman who, on the morning of April 25, distributed carnations to the soldiers climbing Carmo to surround Marcello Caetano. This simple gesture inadvertently became a symbol of freedom and of the revolution itself. A few days ago, when my youngest daughter asked me for suggestions for a school project on great women who changed history, I told her about this woman, so often forgotten and anonymous, who in a “whole and clean” gesture gave a name to the most poetic of revolutions.

Last week, I also had the pleasure of attending part of a colloquium, timely organized by the Ponta Delgada Public Library, on 1975, bringing together the archipelagos of Macaronesia in a historical reflection on their independence and autonomy. In this highly commendable initiative, although overly focused on the famous June 6, the deep and still very much alive pain that throbs in those who participated in the events of that year was evident. The country, and the Azores, remain marked by ideological divisions that cut across families and memories, with the weight of a scar that refuses to heal. These wounds are even more visible these days in the divisions we are witnessing in the spurious controversy of November 25, which rekindles confrontations that we would hope were over. The Carnation Revolution, celebrated by the foreign press as “the gentlemanly revolution,” managed to avoid a bloodbath, but left behind a trail of grief. The end of the regime and the arbitrariness of the PREC, on both sides, continue to echo in lived or inherited memories. Fifty years later, the country continues to stumble in its own shadows.

One of the most poignant moments of the colloquium was the dialogue between António José de Almeida, son of the charismatic and passionate leader of the FLA, and Joana Borges Coutinho, granddaughter of the then Civil Governor, who resigned on June 6, pressured by the large popular demonstration, driven by the farming community, near the Palácio da Conceição, an episode that continues to generate interpretations as diverse as they are intense emotions. This meeting between descendants of opposing sides, in a rare gesture of harmony in a time of division, shows that it is possible, after all, to bring us closer together through listening and mutual recognition and, who knows, perhaps even heal these wounds.

Unfortunately, the failure of the 50th anniversary celebrations of April 25, marked by disinterest and revisionism, shows that we remain stuck in the divisions of the past. And in the Azores, too, the 50th anniversary of Autonomy seems to be heading for yet another missed opportunity, more likely to fuel dissent than to promote encounters such as that between Tó Zé and Joana.

Because, deep down, despite everything that has separated us and still separates us, there is still a common dream that unites us in our desire for the best for our land. That dream is inscribed in the pure joy of red carnations, a symbol of a freedom that should unite us. At a time when so many are striving to accentuate divisions, this was also the meaning of Camila Vitorino’s gesture in wearing her dress, reminding us that what is essential is what unites us and not what separates us.

At a time when so many are striving to rekindle invisible borders, perhaps we should pause for a moment and listen again to the silence of these small but significant gestures. Celeste’s flower, Camila’s smile, the unlikely reconciliation of two children and grandchildren from opposite sides.

For the more curious among you, it was Miss Mexico who won the title. But the story that really matters to us wore red carnations.

Pedro Arruda is a regular contributor to Azorean newspapers. We are thankful that he agreed to have his op-ed translated and available to our readers.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, providing the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores with a sense of the significant perspectives on some of the archipelago’s issues.

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).

You can follow his writings in Portuguese online on: https://azoreansplendor.blogspot.com/