Aristides Maria Pereira (; 17 November 1923 – 22 September 2011) was a Cape Verdean politician. He was the first President of Cape Verde, serving from 1975 to 1991.

Biography

Pereira was born in Fundo das Figueiras, on the island of Boa Vista. His first job was chief of telecommunications in Guinea-Bissau. From the late 1940s until Cape Verde's independence, Pereira was heavily involved in the anti-colonial movement, organizing strikes and rising through the hierarchy of his party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (Partido Africano da Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde, known as PAIGC). In clandestine activity he often used the pseudonym Alfredo Bangura.

On 19 September 1959, leaders of the PAIGC, including Pereira, Amilcar Cabral, Luís Cabral, Fernando Fortes and Rafael Barbosa, met in secret in the capital city Bissau, declaring a struggle against Portugal ‘by all possible means, including war’. This followed on from the Pidjiguti Massacre, which saw the murder of 50 striking dock workers by police officers. Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde restored bilateral relations in 1982, when Mozambican President Samora Machel managed to bring together the two leaders (Vieira and Pereira) in Maputo, and a Cape Verdean ambassador was sent to Guinea-Bissau in 1983.

Another major difference between the two countries was the difference between the political tranquility of Cape Verde, which would later become multiparty in an extremely peaceful way, and the constant authoritarianism and strong instability in Guinea-Bissau.

The country's policies during Pereira's rule tended toward Cold War nonalignment and economic reforms to help the peasantry. Pedro Pires served as prime minister for the duration of Pereira's presidency.

left|thumb|[[Aristides Pereira International Airport]]

After PAICV decided to introduce multiparty democracy in February 1990, Pereira stepped down as General Secretary of PAICV in July 1990 and was succeeded in that post by Pires. Pereira was the PAICV candidate in the February 1991 presidential election, but António Mascarenhas Monteiro defeated him by a large margin.

While hospitalized in Portugal, Pereira died on 22 September 2011. Rabil Airport on the Cape Verdean island of Boa Vista was officially renamed as Aristides Pereira International Airport in tribute to him on 19 November 2011. His widow, Carlina Pereira, the former first lady and a leading figure in the country's independence movement, died on 11 December 2011, at the age of 87.

Cold War

In September 1975, the Soviet Union announced it had established diplomatic relations with Cape Verde, setting up an embassy in both Cape Verde and the Soviet Union.

In 1979, Edward Marks, the US Ambassador to Cape Verde, discussed Pereira’s commitment to his policy of non-alignment between when it came to the ongoing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Marks mentioned that Pereira had kicked out a number of people from the PAIGC who were deemed to be “young radicals” that he called “Trotskyites” who were believed to be funded by the Soviets.

The Soviet Union was believed by the United States to have a great interest in Cape Verde in 1979. From 1977, the Soviets had been providing military assistance to Cape Verde, through equipment to the army and navy, as well as military advisors. However, Pereira declined further support of equipment like aeroplanes and air force crews, as well as refusing Soviet access to surveillance in Cape Verde’s waters and airspace. It showed that Pereira was a leader willing to work with both sides of the Cold War but was not willing to sell out his government or his country to either side.

In the 1980s, the United States believed that Pereira would begin to align with the United States for military and financial aid due to the constant pressure from Libya and the Soviets, who were trying to influence the country’s military and trying to get access to military bases in Praia.

In 1983, the CIA described Pereira as ‘an experienced, pragmatic and realistic politician’ as well as a ‘respected nationalist’

Pereira’s government was described as ‘more pragmatic and social democratic than socialist ideological'. It was believed that the idea of Socialism was disliked by the Cape Veridian people as ‘they were a people long accustomed to roam the world, seek employment abroad, freely to use their earnings and invest their savings’. Despite being more left-wing and ‘socialist’ in nature, the Cape Verdean people were accustomed to a more capitalist and free way of life, which was seen in Pereira’s lenient social democratic left-wing rule

In 1983, Pereira addressed UNESCO at the 22nd session of the General Conference. The main reason for his address was to talk about Cape Verde as a nation, which was still extremely young; by addressing UNESCO, a global organisation, he build ties with the rest of the world

In his speech, Pereira talked about many issues concerning Cape Verde and Africa:

Pereira condemned colonialism and Apartheid, two prominent issues in the 1980s. Pereira credited UNESCO for its work towards ending these issues. Pereria stated ‘its (UNESCO) firmness in defence of the right of peoples to live in freedom and in peace. This scheme created jobs for those living in more rural parts of the islands, focusing on building general infrastructure, that developed more rural areas. This left a positive impact on the islands, providing support to the more impoverished regions. It provided well-paying jobs for those who did not have one, as well as creating infrastructure for areas which previously did not have any.

Pereira built up Cape Verde’s maritime sector, including publicly owned companies such as EMPA (Empresa Pública de Abastecimento), which allowed for better transport of supplies and food between the country’s islands, creating a government-run system of importing and exporting goods, helping to build the nation’s economy.