AMILCAR CABRAL

WHEN IT ALL HAPPENED...1924: Amílcar Cabral is born on September 12, in Bafatá, Guinea. – 1932: Moves to Cabo Verde. – 1943: Finishes secondary schooling in Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente. – 1944: Obtains a job at the National Printing Office, in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on São Tiago Island. – 1945: Is awarded a scholarship and begins his studies at the Agronomy Institute, in Lisbon. – 1950: Graduates from the institute and starts working at the Agronomy Center, in Santarém. – 1952: Returns to Bissau under contract with the Agricultural and Forestry Services of Portuguese Guinea. – 1955: The Governor demands that he leave the colony; Cabral goes to work in Angola; he joins the Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). – 1956: The African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde and Guinea (PAIGC) is founded in Bissau. – 1960: The PAIGC establishes a delegation in Conakry, capital of the Republic of Guinea; China gives support to the training of members of the PAIGC. – 1961: Morocco welcomes members of the PAIGC. – 1963: Open warfare breaks out on January 23, with an attack on the military installations at Tite, in southern Guinea-Bissau; the PAIGC sets up a northern battlefront in July. – 1970: Pope Paul VI grants an audience on July 1 to Amílcar Cabral, Agostinho Neto and Marcelino dos Santos. On November 22, the Governor of Guinea-Bissau decides to establish a “commando” operation to which he gives the name of “Mar Verde” (Green Sea), whose goal is to capture or eliminate the leaders of the PAIGC located in Conakry: it fails! – 1973: Amílcar Cabral is assassinated in Conakry on January 20.