Jump to navigation

Vol 56 No 12

Published 12th June 2015


Hair shirts of the Atlantic

After 40 years of Independence and political change, the government is continuing the revolutionary tradition of low pay for its leaders

The idea was simple, attractive and at one with the socialist sensibilities of the country's liberators 40 years ago: the President would earn no more than, say, a doctor. Yet the Marxist-inspired nationalist movement that fought for liberation from Portuguese colonial rule in Guinea Bissau and Cape Verde, the Partido Africano para a Independência de Guiné-Bissau e Cabo Verde (PAIGC), no longer exists (AC Vol 52 No 19). After a coup in Bissau in 1981, its Cape Verdean branch split off and dropped the 'G'. The Partido Africano da Independência de Cabo Verde is currently in power and in trouble for abandoning its egalitarian principles. Yet the PAICV has a capacity for renewal and may yet regain lost ground by the time of next year's elections.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 1214 words.

End of preview

Subscribers: Log in now to read the complete article.

Account Holders: Log in now and use your Account Credit to buy this article. No Credit? Top up your Account now.


If you are logged in, but still cannot access the full text of this article, email customer services or telephone us on +44(0)1638 743633.