Francisco César, president of the PS/Açores, announced this Saturday in Montreal his intention to create a dedicated Diaspora Department within the Azorean Socialist Party, aimed at strengthening ties with Azorean emigrant communities and involving them more directly in the future of the Region.

The proposal was presented on the sidelines of the 60th anniversary celebration of the Festas do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres de Montreal Santa Cruz, during an initiative organized by the Associação Saudades da Terra Quebequente, led by Roberto Carvalho.

Speaking before members of the Azorean-Canadian community, Francisco César emphasized the enduring role emigrant communities have played in preserving Azorean identity across generations.

“Our emigrants keep alive the connection to the Azores from one generation to the next,” he said, arguing that diaspora communities allow younger generations born abroad to understand their origins, take pride in them, and recognize themselves as part of “a larger history.”

But César insisted that the diaspora represents far more than cultural nostalgia or the preservation of tradition.

“Our emigrants are much more than guardians of memory and tradition,” he declared. “They are men and women who, through their work, experience, and professional specialization acquired throughout their lives, represent today a fundamental asset in helping build a New Future for the Azores.”

The Socialist leader described the relationship between the Azores and its emigrant communities as “an indispensable human, social, and cultural patrimony” for the Region and pledged that engagement with the diaspora would remain a central priority for the party.

According to César, the proposed Diaspora Department within PS/Açores would seek to institutionalize and organize that relationship more effectively.

“We believe it is important to organize and institutionalize this work within PS/Açores through the creation of a Department for the Diaspora,” he said. “Its purpose would be precisely to strengthen this connection, listen more closely to our communities, and involve Azorean emigrants in the collective future of our Region.”

The proposal reflects a growing recognition within Azorean political circles that the diaspora continues to play a vital role not only culturally and emotionally, but also economically, socially, and politically.

Today, large Azorean communities remain deeply rooted in places such as Montreal, Toronto, Fall River, New Bedford, California’s San Joaquin Valley, and throughout Canada and the United States, sustaining religious traditions, philanthropic networks, cultural organizations, and emotional ties to the islands across multiple generations.

Francisco César also offered public recognition to the Associação Saudades da Terra Quebequente and its president, Roberto Carvalho, praising what he called their “exemplary role” in preserving Azorean traditions and maintaining emotional bonds between the islands and the emigrant community.

Marking the sixtieth anniversary of the Montreal Senhor Santo Cristo celebrations, César paid tribute to the generations of volunteers, families, organizers, and young people who have sustained the festivities over decades.

“Sixty years of dedication, sacrifice, and love for our traditions,” he said.

For the PS/Açores leader, those traditions are not barriers to modernity, but sources of continuity and resilience.

“Our traditions do not imprison us in the past,” he stated. “On the contrary, they give us strength to face the future without losing what defines us.”

He concluded by addressing younger generations directly, encouraging them to continue preserving the cultural and emotional inheritance passed down through emigrant families while maintaining pride in their Azorean roots and a living connection to the islands of origin.

In many ways, the announcement in Montreal reflected a broader reality increasingly visible throughout the Azorean world: that the future of the islands may no longer be imagined solely within the geography of the archipelago itself, but across a transatlantic community whose identity has long existed between memory, migration, and belonging.

translated and adapted from a Press Release.