From Florianópolis and Porto Alegre to Montevideo and San Carlos, the President of the Azorean Parliament will meet political, academic and cultural institutions before joining the 28th General Assembly of the World Council of Houses of the Azores—a gathering that reflects how Azorean identity has long transcended the geography of the nine islands.
The Azores end on a map where the coastline meets the Atlantic. Their human geography, however, continues far beyond it. Between October 5 and 10, Luís Garcia, President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, will travel through Brazil and Uruguay on an institutional visit that brings together politics, academia, culture and diaspora communities, culminating in the 28th General Assembly of the World Council of Houses of the Azores.
The first stage, from October 5 to 8, takes Garcia to Florianópolis and Porto Alegre, regions where Azorean settlement left profound historical and cultural marks. In Santa Catarina, he is scheduled to meet Júlio Garcia, President of the state’s Legislative Assembly, and Florianópolis Mayor Topázio Neto. His program also includes the Center for Azorean Studies at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, the Historical and Geographical Institute of Santa Catarina, the Catarinense Academy of Letters and the House of the Azores of Santa Catarina—institutions that have helped preserve, study and reinterpret an Azorean inheritance that has become inseparable from southern Brazilian identity.
In Rio Grande do Sul, the journey continues through institutional and community encounters. Garcia will meet Sérgio Peres, President of the state’s Legislative Assembly, and Luiz Zaffalon, Mayor of Gravataí, home to the House of the Azores of Rio Grande do Sul. These visits underscore a dimension of diaspora relations that extends beyond nostalgia: communities abroad are not simply repositories of an ancestral past, but living spaces in which Azorean culture has evolved through generations and encounters with other societies.
On October 8, the Atlantic dialogue moves to Uruguay. In Montevideo, Garcia is scheduled to be received by Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi in an audience also attended by Paulo Estêvão, the Azorean Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities. A reception hosted by Portugal’s Ambassador to Uruguay, Conceição Pilar, will follow, giving the visit a broader diplomatic dimension and placing Azorean relations within the historic connections linking Portugal, the islands and South America.
Beginning October 9, five members of the Azorean Legislative Assembly representing different political forces will join the delegation for the 28th General Assembly of the World Council of Houses of the Azores in San Carlos: Paulo Gomes of the PSD, Luís Silveira of CDS-PP, João Mendonça of PPM, José Ávila of PS and António Lima of BE. Their plural political representation gives the gathering particular symbolic importance: the relationship between the Azores and their worldwide communities belongs not to one party or government, but to the Region as a whole.
The assembly will bring together Houses of the Azores from different countries and regions for discussion, cooperation and the sharing of experiences. Its program includes a panel examining the relationship between Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul and their shared Azorean connections, as well as presentations from the organizations that constitute the World Council. This year’s gathering also marks the integration of new Houses of the Azores from Ceará, Alberta, Alentejo and Amapá, further enlarging an international network built around culture, memory and belonging.
Yet the significance of these institutions lies increasingly in what they can become, not merely in what they have preserved. For generations, Houses of the Azores have kept traditions, histories and emotional connections alive thousands of miles from the archipelago. Their challenge now is to transform inherited memory into contemporary engagement—connecting younger generations, universities, cultural institutions and civic life while creating relationships that travel in both directions across the Atlantic.
That may ultimately be the deeper meaning of this journey. An island is defined by the sea surrounding it, but a people need not be. From Santa Catarina to Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay, the Azorean presence has crossed generations, acquired new accents and become part of other landscapes without entirely surrendering the memory of its origins.
The nine islands remain the homeland. But wherever that memory becomes culture, participation and renewed belonging, the Azores continue.
Based on a Press Release-Picture from ALRAA