Praia, Aug. 28, 2025 (Lusa) - Cabo Verde's two opposition parties criticised on Thursday the government's decision to spend €1.36 million on the construction of the Freedom and Democracy National Monument, considering that the "timing is not right".
"The question here is the amounts involved and the timing of this investment, but this is typical of a government that is lost at the end of its mandate and only then is it justified to go down this road," said the secretary-general of the African Party for the Independence of Cabo Verde (PAICV, opposition).
Vladimir Silves Ferreira added that “there is no reason” for a monument on a roundabout in Achada Grande Frente, in the city of Praia, to cost 150 million escudos (around €1.36 million).
"Nobody with any common sense would look favourably on investing in the construction of a monument of this size, at this cost, at this very moment," he said.
The president of the Cabo Verde's Independent and Democratic Union (UCID, opposition), João Santos Luís, considered that in a scenario of "limited resources, in which families face daily difficulties in accessing essential services", the decision to spend this amount, "however noble its intention, seems out of touch with the concrete reality experienced by Cabo Verde's people".
"Given the situation the country is experiencing, we call on the government to re-evaluate this measure. We are not questioning the symbolic merit of the initiative, but rather its appropriateness in a context of so many social and economic demands. Monuments can wait perfectly well; people's dignity cannot," he added.
The government announced on 31 July that the Freedom and Democracy National Monument would be completed in just over six months.
Preparations on site for the start of the work have already begun, generating a lot of criticism on social media and calls for it to be suspended, claiming that the resources should be channelled into solving the problems of the islands affected by the storm of 11 August that caused nine deaths and damage to roads, houses, bridges and commercial establishments.
The MP for the Movement for Democracy (MpD, power) and former Minister of Culture, Abraão Vicente, wrote on Facebook that, in the face of every crisis, "if the response is to suspend structural projects, national symbols and collective references, the country will be acknowledging that it is not capable of thinking beyond the urgent".
According to the MP, poverty and homelessness are not solved by cancelling monuments or works of art, but with structural vision and consistent public policies. He added that the proposal to cancel the monument is "more than a political mistake, it's a symptom of collective immaturity".
"Mindelo [on the island of São Vicente] is not going to be rebuilt with crumbs or money diverted from other budgets. A new, robust budget is needed. It won't be with palliatives that sanitation, drainage or urban systems are restored, nor with spontaneous donations that hundreds of thousands of houses will be built for families in subhuman conditions," he added.
According to the government, in addition to the symbolic aspect, the monument is strategic for the cultural and urban valorisation of the capital. It is part of a strategy to upgrade the road infrastructure and boost socio-economic dynamics.
RS/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
