‘Portugal Day - celebrating Camões and the Portuguese Communities under the banner of diplomacy’ by Francisco Pinto Mouraz

‘The Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities, which is celebrated on 10 June, the date of the death of Luís Vaz de Camões, is a moment of celebration and homage to Portugal, to Lusophone culture, to the Portuguese language and, above all, to the Portuguese, who carry their homeland around the world.

2024 marks the 500th anniversary of Camões, the greatest poet of the Portuguese language, who in Os Lusíadas sang of the ‘peito ilustre lusitano’, mythologising the deeds of a collective hero: the Portuguese people. Today, we are starting from this premise to affirm our cultural heritage across borders, sharing with the Lusophone communities the values that unite us and the sometimes complex path we have travelled together.

For this reason, 10 June is today a date on which we celebrate not only the universality of our language and culture, which is based on Camões' worldview, but also an ephemeris on which we remember our history, recognising the invaluable role of the Lusophone, binational and Lusodescendant communities, in all their richness and diversity.

As a diplomat, Portugal Day is a particularly symbolic date because of my dual status as an expatriate and as a representative of the Portuguese state. In the first case, it is a special moment in which the various dimensions of Portuguese identity are publicly manifested and this experience is shared with the communities. In the second case, it's a source of pride to represent Portugal and serve those same communities, whose commitment and labour are the mainstay of the diplomatic service. It is therefore both an extremely enriching experience and an important institutional responsibility.

According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, there are five functions of a diplomatic mission: to represent, protect, negotiate, inform and promote. The scope and complexity of each of these requires diplomats to have a variety of skills, including communicating effectively, articulating their country's interests and policies, understanding and respecting the host country or multilateral mission where they are posted, as well as building personal relationships that allow them to carry out their mission within the guidelines defined by the government. It is important to have a keen strategic sensitivity that allows you to anticipate and mitigate conflicts, as well as identify opportunities and creative solutions to the challenges that arise in each scenario. Above all, it is essential to cultivate an open and flexible mindset that allows for successful adaptation to the demands of different international contexts.

I can say that I developed many of these skills in the rooms of the Institute for Political Studies at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP), and that it was there that my interest in diplomacy and international relations began. However, more than having skills or an interest, being a good diplomat requires integrity, ethics and an unwavering commitment to democratic values and human rights. These values only emerge in a culture that fosters freedom, defends justice, promotes tolerance and recognises diversity, something I was privileged to experience at UCP. This culture is undoubtedly the central aspect that guides the way I carry out my duties today.

For those who wish to follow the path of diplomacy, Portugal Day is an important holiday to remember and seek inspiration from the crucial role that diplomats play in promoting and defending the interests of Portugal and Portuguese communities, as well as in building a fairer and more equitable world. Camões would surely have labelled it a ‘valiant deed’, so there could be no better time to celebrate it."

Francisco Pinto Mouraz
Political Counsellor at the Portuguese Embassy in Angola