Community of Portuguese Language Countries

CPLP is a multilateral forum created to deepen cultural, economic, and political cooperation among the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) nations of the world.[3] The prime objectives of the CPLP are:[3]

• Promotion and dissemination of the Portuguese language
• Political and diplomatic cooperation between the member states of the CPLP
• Cooperation in all areas, including education, health, science and technology, defense, agriculture, public administration, communications, justice, public safety, culture, sports and media

The Executive Secretary of the CPLP (Portuguese: Secretário Executivo da CPLP) is the executive head and highest representative of the CPLP. The Executive Secretary is charged with leading the Executive Secretariat (Secretariado Executivo), the CPLP's executive branch responsible for creating and implementing the CPLP's agenda of projects and initiatives.[13] The Executive Secretary, who must be a high-ranking diplomat or politician from one of the member states, is elected for a mandate of two years at the biennial CPLP Summit, and can be reelected once to a second term.[14] The Executive Secretariat is headquartered at Penafiel Palace in Lisbon, Portugal.

#	Name	Portrait	Country	Start	End	Background
1	Marcolino José Carlos Moco		Angola	July 1996	July 2000	3rd Prime Minister of Angola (1992–1996)
2	Dulce Maria Pereira		Brazil	July 2000	August 2002	President of the Fundação Cultural Palmares (1996–2000)
3	João Augusto de Médicis		Brazil	August 2002	April 2004	Brazilian Ambassador to Kenya (1984–1989) Brazilian Ambassador to Poland (1991–1993) Brazilian Ambassador to China (1994–1996) Brazilian Ambassador to Chile (1999–2002)
4	Luís de Matos Monteiro da Fonseca		Cape Verde	July 2004	July 2008	Cabo Verdean Ambassador to European Community (1987–1991) Cabo Verdean Ambassador to Russia (1991–1994) Cabo Verdean Ambassador to Austria (1999–2001) Cabo Verdean Ambassador to the United Nations (2001–2004)
5	Domingos Simões Pereira		Guinea-Bissau	July 2008	July 2012	16th Prime Minister of Guinea-Bissau (2014–2015) Guinea-Bissau Minister of Public Works (2004–2005)
6	Murade Isaac Murargy		Mozambique	July 2012	January 2017	Secretary-General of the Presidency of Mozambique (1995–2005) Mozambican Ambassador to France and Germany (1985–1995)
7	Maria do Carmo Trovoada Pires de Carvalho Silveira		São Tomé and Príncipe	January 2017	December 2018	13th Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe (2005–2006) Governor of the São Toméan Central Bank (1999–2005, 2011–2016)
8	Francisco Ribeiro Telles		Portugal	December 2018	Present	Portuguese Ambassador to Cabo Verde (2002–2006) Portuguese Ambassador to Angola (2007–2012) Portuguese Ambassador to Brazil (2012–2016) Portuguese Ambassador to Italy (2016–2018)

In 2016, CPLP revised its cooperation protocol in defense, affirming the organization in the promotion of peace and security.[15]

The 2017 Exercício Felino military exercise taking place in Academia Militar das Agulhas Negras, Resende, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, aims for the increased interoperability of the armed forces of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Timor-Leste. The first phase of the exercise, known as Carta (chart) took place in Cape Verde in 2016, in which the operation was planned and executed using computer networks as a war game. The Exercício Felino was established in the year 2000.[16][17]

President Michel Temer of Brazil speaking at the 15th Meeting of Ministers of Justice.

There are nine full member states of the CPLP. Seven were founding members of the CPLP: Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe; Timor-Leste joined in 2002, after achieving independence and Equatorial Guinea joined in 2014.

Macau was the last Portuguese colony to be decolonized, and returned to China in 1999. It still retains traces of Lusophone culture and Portuguese is one of the official languages of the territory. Despite that, the majority of the population in Macau do not speak and understand Portuguese; rather, Cantonese is the main language. In 2006, during the II Ministerial meeting between China and Portuguese Speaking Countries, the CPLP Executive Secretary and Deputy ambassador Tadeu Soares invited the Chief Executive of the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region, Edmund Ho, to request the Associate Observer status for Macau. The Government of Macau has not yet formalized this request.

When the CPLP was formed, Equatorial Guinea asked for observer status. Equatorial Guinea (Portuguese: Guiné Equatorial) was a Portuguese colony from the 15th to 18th centuries and has some territories where Portuguese-based creole languages are spoken and cultural connections with São Tomé and Príncipe and Portugal are felt. In the 21st century, the country has cooperated with Portuguese-speaking African countries and Brazil at an educational level. At the CPLP summit of July 2004, in São Tomé and Príncipe, the member states agreed to change the statutes of the community to accept states as associate observers. Equatorial Guinea then engaged in discussion for full membership.[18] In June 2010, Equatorial Guinea asked to be admitted as full member. At its eighth summit in Luanda in July 2010, the CPLP decided to open formal negotiations with Equatorial Guinea about full membership in the CPLP.[19] At its 10th summit in Dili in July 2014, Equatorial Guinea was admitted as CPLP member.[7]

I Forum of Civil Society of the CPLP; 2010.

In July 2006, during the Bissau summit, Equatorial Guinea and Mauritius were admitted as Associate Observers[20] along with 17 International associations and organizations considered as Consultative Observers. On 23 July 2014, Equatorial Guinea was admitted as a CPLP member.[7]

Mauritius, which was discovered by Portuguese explorers and maintains strong connections with Mozambique. In 2008, Senegal, with historical connections to Portuguese colonisation in Casamance, was admitted as Associate Observer.[20]

In July 2014, during the Dili summit, the Heads of State and Government approved a resolution that grants Georgia, Japan, Namibia and Turkey the status of Associate Observers.[7] Japan has had historical contacts with the Portuguese language in the 16th and 17th century, and today has connections to the Lusophone world through Japanese Brazilians in Brazil and Japan. Namibia has had extensive contact to the Lusophone world due to its location just south of Angola.

Three European nations, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, were admitted as observers along with Uruguay at the 2016 summit. Uruguay has historical ties to Brazil and Portugal and has some speakers of Portuñol, a Spanish–Portuguese pidgin. In January 2018 and prior to the 2018 summit, Italy requested the observer status as effort for the consolidation of bilateral relations with all of the Portuguese-speaking countries. In its request, the Italian government referred that due to the increasing number of associated observers in the community, CPLP is becoming a forum for countries in various geographical regions. Earlier in January, Andorra also formalized its candidacy for the same status.[21] Italy shares a legacy of Ancient Rome and Italy is the non-lusophone nation with the greatest number of university chairs in the Portuguese language. Because of immigration and geographic proximity, Portuguese is one of the most spoken languages in Andorra.[22]

In the 2018 summit with all the heads of state present, with the exception of East Timor due to national policies issues, several observers joined the organization: Luxembourg, Andorra, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Serbia, Chile, France, Italy and the Organization of Ibero-American States joined as observers.[23] Uruguay, an observer nation since 2016, admitted in early 2018 a candidacy to become full member of the CPLP.[24]

The status of consultative observer is granted to organizations of civil society throughout the Lusofonia and pan-Lusophone bodies, as well as Lusophone institutions based outside of the Lusofonia, which serve a consultative status to the CPLP.[25]

Country	Consultative observers
Angola	Fundação Agostinho Neto Fundação Eduardo dos Santos Liga Africana
Brazil	Academia Brasileira de Letras Associação Cultural Videobrasil Fundação Rotarianos São Paulo National Council of Health Secretaries of Brazilian States Fundação Alexandre de Gusmão Fundação Getúlio Vargas Fundação Oswaldo Cruz Fundação Roberto Marinho Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading University for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony University of Campinas Federal University of Bahia Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Cape Verde	Fundação Amílcar Cabral Fundação Carlos Albertino Veiga Fundação João Lopes
Galicia ( Spain)	Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language Galician Council of Culture
Germany	Sociedade Alemã para os Países Africanos de Língua Portuguesa
Macau ( China)	Instituto Internacional de Macau University of São José
Mozambique	Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Comunidade Instituto Superior de Estudos de Defesa
Portugal	Lisbon Academy of Sciences Assistência Médica Internacional Associação Caboverdeana de Lisboa Associação Portuguesa de Transporte e Trabalho Aéreo Associação Abraço Associação dos Ex-Deputados da Assembleia da República Associação Saúde em Português Plataforma Portuguesa das Organizações Não-Governamentais para o Desenvolvimento Centro de Conciliação e Mediação de Conflitos University of Coimbra University of Lisbon Fundação Bial Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian Champalimaud Foundation Fundação D. Manuel II Fundação Luso-Americana Fundação Luso-Brasileira Fundação Mário Soares Fundação Oriente Fundação Portugal-África Ius Gentium Conimbrigae Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge Instituto para a Promoção e Desenvolvimento da América Latina Instituto Superior de Agronomia Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas Médicos do Mundo Portugal Organização Paramédicos de Catástrofe Internacional Parceria Portuguesa para Água Lisbon Geographic Society Sociedade Portuguesa de Hipertensão Serviço de Utilização Comum dos Hospitais União das Misericórdias Portuguesas União das Mutualidades Portuguesas Universidade Lusófona
São Tomé and Príncipe	Fundação Novo Futuro
United States	Instituto Pedro Pires de Estudos Cabo-Verdianos
Pan-Lusofonia	Observatório da Língua Portuguesa União das Cidades Capitais de Língua Portuguesa Confederação da Publicidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa Comunidade Médica de Língua Portuguesa Associação dos Comités Olímpicos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa Associação Lusófona de Energias Renováveis Associação de Portos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa Associação de Reguladores de Comunicações e Telecomunicações da CPLP Associação das Universidades de Língua Portuguesa Associação de Supervisores de Seguros Lusófonos Círculo de Reflexão Lusófona Comunidade Sindical dos Países de Língua Portuguesa Confederação Empresarial da CPLP Conselho Internacional dos Arquitetos de Língua Portuguesa Fórum da Juventude da CPLP Fórum das Sociedades Nacionais da Cruz Vermelha de Língua Portuguesa Plataforma de Entidades Reguladoras da Comunicação Social dos Países e Territórios de Língua Portuguesa União dos Advogados de Língua Portuguesa União Internacional de Juízes de Língua Portuguesa

Since its formation, the CPLP has helped to solve problems in São Tomé and Príncipe and in Guinea-Bissau, because of coups d'état in those countries. The CPLP helped these two countries to take economic reforms (in the case of São Tomé) and democratic ones (in the case of Guinea-Bissau).

In the early 21st century, the leaders of the CPLP believed that peace in Angola and Mozambique, as well as East Timor's independence, favored the development of the CPLP and a strengthening of multilateral cooperation.

The 7th Meeting of Ministers of Culture at Sintra Palace; Portuguese Riviera, 2010.

Since many children in rural areas of Lusophone Africa and East Timor are out-of-school youth, the education officials in these regions seek help from Portugal and Brazil to increase the education to spread Portuguese fluency (like establishing Instituto Camões language center branches in main cities and rural towns), as Portuguese is becoming one of the main languages in Southern Africa, where it is also taught in Namibia and South Africa.

Angola has not yet signed the most recent accord on the orthography of the Portuguese language, and has asked other PALOP countries to support it in discussions on various points of that accord with Portugal.[26]

In many developing Portuguese-speaking nations, Portuguese is the language of government and commerce which means that Portuguese-speaking people from African nations can work and communicate with others in different parts of the world, especially in Portugal and Brazil, where the economies are stronger. Many leaders of Portuguese-speaking nations in Africa are fearful that language standards do not meet the fluency required and are therefore making it compulsory in schools so that a higher degree of fluency is achieved and young Africans will be able to speak a world language that will help them later in life.

Easing citizens' cross-border movement between the member states was proposed at the 2017 CPLP Summit.[27] This proposal by Portugal and Cape Verde to Brazil was thought by some to conflict with Europe's Schengen area. However, this free movement is based on a different model: as residence permits, associated with the recognition of academic degrees and professional qualification, and maintenance of social rights including pension systems. It would henceforth establish the Lusophone citizenship, the cidadania lusófona.[28]

Conference of Heads of State & Government of the CPLP CPLP Summit
The 12th CPLP Summit; Cabo Verde, 2018.
Host country	Rotates every two years between CPLP member states Most recent:  Cabo Verde 2018
Website	Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da CPLP

11th CPLP Summit; Brasília, Brazil, 2016.

22nd Meeting of the Council of Ministers.

The Conference of Heads of State and Government of the CPLP (Portuguese: Conferência de Chefes de Estado e de Governo da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa; CCEG), commonly known as the CPLP Summit (Cimeira da CPLP) is a biennial meeting of heads of state and heads of government of the member states of the CPLP. It is considered one of the fundamental pillars of the CPLP's structure.

Objectives

The mission of the CPLP Summit is to:[29]

• Define and focus the CPLP's strategy and general policy
• Adopt and implement the agenda agreed upon by member states
• To create institutions of the CPLP or delegate powers to the CPLP Council of Ministers
• Elect a rotating presidency of the CPLP
• Elect the CPLP Executive Secretary

Conferences of Heads of State
and Government of the CPLP[11]

Summit	Host country	Host city	Year
I	Portugal	Lisbon	1996
II	Cape Verde	Praia	1998
III	Mozambique	Maputo	2000
IV	Brazil	Brasília	2002
V	São Tomé and Príncipe	São Tomé	2004
VI	Guinea-Bissau	Bissau	2006
VII	Portugal	Lisbon	2008
VIII	Angola	Luanda	2010
IX	Mozambique	Maputo	2012
X	Timor-Leste	Dili	2014
XI	Brazil	Brasília	2016
XII	Cape Verde	Ilha do Sal	2018