Prime Minister of Portugal Luís Montenegro made a quick but historic stop in Mineola on Sept. 24, furthering Mineola Mayor Paul Pereira’s campaign to bring Portugal and the village closer.
This visit comes after Pereira, who is from Portugal, signed a Sister-City Agreement with Diamantino Sabina, mayor of Estarreja, Portugal. This opened the doors to cultural exchange programs between the two communities.
Montenegro visited Mineola during the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly, which ran from Sept. 10-28.
“Portugal and the United States have a long history of cooperation,” Pereira said. “I absolutely think this visit ties into the sister-city agreement, ties into the bicoastal and bilateral discussions that into promoting investment from Portugal to here and cultural exchanges and academic exchanges.”
The village hosted Montenegro at the Mineola Portuguese Center, which is the oldest Portuguese social club in Mineola, dating back to 1936.
About 130 to 150 community members were in attendance Sept. 24, along with elected officials such as state Sen. Jack Martins, North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena and Town Council Member Dennis Walsh.
“It was an honor and privilege to welcome the Prime Minister of Portugal Luís Montenegro to our beautiful village of Mineola,” Martins said on Facebook. “I was not only proud to showcase our rich culture but also to share the importance of expanding our community. Thank you to my good friend and the mayor of the Village of Mineola, Paul Pereira, members of the Mineola Fire Department and my fellow colleagues in local government for joining in this special occasion.”
Before flying to the county, Montenegro planned to visit a Portuguese-American immigrant community in New York.
Pereira invited Montenegro to visit the village, as it has the largest concentration of Portuguese-Americans in the state.
After a two-day delay in his trip so that had could deal with wildfires in Portugal, Montenegro became the first sitting Portuguese prime minister to visit Mineola.
“He landed in JFK a little bit after 9 p.m. Through the Secret Service, as well as the Nassau County and New York Police Departments, he got a motorcade from the airport to Mineola and arrived in Mineola around 10 p.m.,” Pereira said. “Our fire department, in conjunction with neighboring fire departments, raised the Portuguese flag and the American flag on Jericho Turnpike.”
At the center, Montenegro spoke about how much the Portuguese government respects, honors and holds in high regard the immigrant communities and how important they are to Portugal.
Pereira said Monetengero opened his speech by saying how he considers the United States one of Portugal’s best and strongest allies and they will continue to foster that alliance.
“The theme of my speech was essentially, I gave a brief history of the Portuguese and Mineola, dating back to the 1920s and how the community has grown, the demographics of the community,” Pereira said. “My comments to Montenegro were that we expect and request that the Portuguese government continue to invest in consular services, both through staff and services.”
Pereira said Mineola has many aging Portuguese immigrants who need passports, identification cards, healthcare and property in Portugal that they may have to sell or inherit.
He told Montenegro that the Portuguese community hopes the government continues to invest in the services of the council general and education.
“I also made a point of hope popular and how in Portugal is right now, both for American tourism, for American investment or even for Americans retiring there,” Pereira said.
Pereira said he will be visiting with Montenegro again this week in Portugal.
