Cape Verde History

Every conflict eventually needs a compromise. Ever since Europeans first landed on the islands in 1456, there has been chaos from natural disasters to slave trades. Cape Verde needed to gain their independence from Portugal, so they could become a free country. To do this, Cape Verde partnered with Guinea-Bissau in the PAIGC (African party for the independence of Guinea and the Cape Verdes) to gain their independence from Portugal. Portugal tried to stop this from going on with a secret police force called PIDE, that attempted to stop the alliance between Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau. PIDE is a Portuguese police force that was founded in 1945 and ceased operations in 1969. PIDE stands for Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado, but in English, it means International Police and State Offense. On January 20, 1973, the PIDE killed Cape Verdean and Bissau-Guinean diplomat and politician Amílcar Cabral. Eventually, two years later on July 5, 1975, Cape Verde gained their Independence from Portugal. After, Cape Verde slowly started to become a running, independent country, by electing Aristides Pereira as president and adopted a constitution on September 5, 1980.