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Cape Verde is a cluster of islands home to just 500,000
people. With beaches and a dramatic mountain landscape, it has long
relied on tourism to build its economy.
  Â
(http://news.yahoo.com/ex-leader-cape-verde-wins-5m-african-prize-101025547.html) c1450Â Â Â The Portuguese brought
slaves to the uninhabited Cape Verde Island.
   (SFC, 8/5/98, p.A8)
Â
1487Â Â Â Â Â Â Bartolomeo Dias,
Portuguese explorer, set out from Lisbon in August, and sailed south
to the Cape Verde Islands and past Cape Cross. Storms forced him out
to sea and when the winds moderated he continued east but found
nothing. He turned north and then sighted land.
   (V.D.-H.K.p.173)
1956Â Â Â Â Â Â Aristides Pereira
(1924-2011) co-founded of the African Party for the Independence of
Guinea and Cape Verde, or PAIGC, which operated in secret in
Guinea-Bissau and in Cape Verde.
   (AP, 9/22/11)
1974Â Â Â Â Â Â Mario Soares, the foreign
minister of Portugal, helped negotiate a cease-fire that led to
independence.
   (SFC, 4/19/00, p.A10)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â May 25, ECOWAS Treaty1 was
signed. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was
formed in Nigeria with 15 members that included: Benin, Cape Verde,
Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali,
Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Upper Volta (later
Burkina Faso).
  Â
(www.sec.ecowas.int/sitecedeao/english/achievements.htm)
1975Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 5, The Cape Verde
Islands officially became independent after 500 years of Portuguese
rule. Aristides Pereira, a former guerrilla fighter against the
Portuguese colonial administration, became head of state following
independence. Pedro Verona Pires was appointed as the first prime
minister and remained in the post for 16 years, then lost his
country's first democratic elections in 1991.
   (SFC, 8/5/9, p.A8)(AP, 7/5/00)(AP, 9/22/11)(AP,
10/10/11)
1992Â Â Â Â Â Â Singer Cesaria Evora
recorded her album "Miss Perfumado." She was discovered by producer
Jose Da Silva who established her in Paris.
   (SFC, 9/13/99, p.)
2001Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 22, Pedro Verona
Rodrigues Pires began ruling as the President of Cape VerdeÂ
and continued to September 2011. He was Prime Minister from 1975 to
1991.
   (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Pires)
2006Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 21, Cape Verde PM Jose
Maria das Neves said Africa must stop blaming its colonial past for
its problems and instead point the finger at the continent's
leaders.
   (AFP, 12/21/06)
2007Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 8, In Cape Verde 3
Italian women, aged 17-33, were brutally attacked while vacationing,
dragged into the woods, pelted with stones and left for dead at the
bottom of a hole. One woman survived. 3 local men were arrested.
   (AP, 2/10/07)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 14, Hillary Clinton
ended her whirlwind seven-nation African trip at Cape Verde, with a
tough love message that Africans must tackle their own problems.
   (AFP, 8/14/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 17, Russian media
reported that the Arctic Sea has been found near Cape Verde and that
the ship's 15-man Russian crew has been taken aboard a Russian naval
vessel.
   (AP, 8/17/09)
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 27, In Venezuela Pres.
Hugo Chavez proposed that South American and African nations unite
to create a cross-continental mining corporation to keep control of
their resources. Chavez made diplomatic inroads in Africa at a
summit of South American and African leaders where he offered
Venezuela's help in oil projects, mining and financial assistance.
Venezuela signed agreements to work together on oil projects with
South Africa, Mauritania, Niger, Sudan and Cape Verde.
   (Reuters, 9/27/09)(AP, 9/28/09)
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 28, West African
leaders Boni Yayi of Benin, Sierra Leone's Ernest Bai Koroma and
Pedro Pires of Cape Verde met with incumbent Ivory Coast leader
Laurent Gbagbo to deliver an ultimatum from the ECOWAS regional bloc
to step down or face removal by force. But Gbagbo's government
signaled he was unlikely to agree to cede power to Alassane
Ouattara.
   (Reuters, 12/28/10)(SFC, 12/29/10, p.A4)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 7, Cape Verde
islanders voted for a new president as Pedro Pires wrapped up two
terms at the helm of a nation hailed for its stable democracy. His
ruling party faced a split vote. A run-off was scheduled for August
21.
   (AFP, 8/8/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Aug 21, In Cape Verde, one
of Africa's most stable and prosperous nations, liberal opposition
candidate Jorge Carlos Fonseca unseated the party which held the
presidency for a decade. Fonseca, a former foreign minister, won
54.90 percent of the vote, besting his socialist rival Manuel
Inocencio Sousa, who garnered 45.91 percent of the vote.
   (AFP, 8/22/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 22, Former Cape Verde
president Aristides Pereira (87), who fought Portugal's colonial
rule, died in Portugal. He was the West African country's first
post-independence president.
   (AP, 9/22/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 10, The $5 million Mo
Ibrahim award for good leadership in Africa, withheld the previous
two years because of a lack of qualified candidates, was bestowed to
Cape Verde's former Pres. Pedro Verona Pires (77) for promoting
democracy and development on his archipelago.
   (AP, 10/10/11)
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 17, Cape Verdean
singer Cesaria Evora (70), nicknamed the "barefoot diva", died in a
hospital in her native country. Her 1992 album, “Miss Perfumado,”
earned her 5 gold records.
   (AFP, 12/17/11)(Econ, 1/7/12, p.86)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 23, Spanish,
Portuguese and British police boarded a ship loaded with nearly two
tons of cocaine destined for sale in Europe and arrested nine
people. The ship was in the Atlantic Ocean, some 700 miles southwest
of Portugal's Cape Verde islands.
   (AP, 3/24/13)
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 4, Cape Verde Islands
Radiotelevisao Caboverdiana reported that Rear Adm. Jose Americo
Bubo Na Tchuto and four other Guinea-Bissau nationals were
apprehended by US authorities aboard a yacht in international waters
in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. The US Treasury Department designated
Na Tchuto as a drug kingpin in 2010 for his alleged role in the
cocaine trade in Guinea-Bissau.
   (AP, 4/5/13)
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Nov 23, In Cape Verde the
volcano Pico do Fogo erupted forcing more than 1,000 people to
evacuate from the Cha das Caldeiras region. By mid-December lava
flow destroyed two villages and threatened a forest reserve.
   (AFP, 12/16/14)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 20, In Cape Verde
Janira Hopffer Almada conceded defeat after the liberal opposition
MPD party took more than 53 percent of the vote with nearly all
ballots counted, ousting the PAICV after 15 years in power.
   (AFP, 3/21/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Apr 26, In Cape Verde a
disgruntled soldier, who had gone missing, was suspected of gunning
down eight soldiers and three civilians, including two Spaniards.
Suspect Manuel Antonio Silva Ribeiro (22) was arrested after a
24-hour manhunt.
   (AP, 4/27/16)
2016Â Â Â Â Â Â Dec 4, The US Pentagon
announced the release of Guantanamo Bay prisoner Shawqi Awad
Balzuhair. The low level militant was sent to the West African
nation of Cape Verde for resettlement. This lowered the number of
prisoners held at the US base in Cuba to 59. Twenty of those
remaining have been approved for release.
   (AP, 12/4/16)
2019Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 2, It was reported
that Cape Verde police have detained 11 Russian sailors for the
suspected smuggling of more than nine tons of cocaine.
   (Reuters, 2/2/19)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jun 12, Authorities in
Cape Verde on a US warrant arrested Alex Saab, a prominent
businessman accused of corrupt dealings with the government of
Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro. Cape Verde has no extradition
treaty with the US. In 2021 the UN put Cape Verde on notice for the
torture, arbitrary detention and violations inflicted on diplomat
Alex Saab.
   (AP, 6/13/20)(Global Newswire, 10/15/21)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 14, It was reported
that the Cape Verde government has approved the extradition to the
US of Colombian businessman Alex Saab. He faced money-laundering
charges in Miami federal court, although the alleged business
partner of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro can still appeal the
decision.
   (Miami Herald, 7/14/20)
2020Â Â Â Â Â Â Jul 31, A court in the
West African nation of Cape Verde approved the extradition to the
United States of Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman wanted on
suspicion of money laundering on behalf of Venezuela's socialist
government. His legal team planned to appeal. In 2021 it was
reported that Saab was carrying a letter from Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro accrediting him to Iran's supreme leader.
   (AP, 8/4/20)(AP, 1/21/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Feb 24, Portugal said it
will send 5% of its COVID-19 vaccine shots to a group of
Portuguese-speaking African countries and to the tiny nation of East
Timor in the second half of the year. Portugal's former African
colonies include Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau,
Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe.
   (Reuters, 2/24/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 15, A regional court
in West Africa ordered the immediate release of a Venezuelan
businessman close to President Nicolás Maduro, finding that his
arrest in Cape Verde on US money laundering charges was unlawful.
The court also instructed Cape Verde to cease all extradition
proceedings against Alex Saab and compensate him $200,000 for
damages. Federal prosecutors in Miami indicted Saab in 2019 on money
laundering charges connected to an alleged bribery scheme that
pocketed more than $350 million from a low-income housing project
for the Venezuelan government that was never built.
   (AP, 3/15/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Mar 17, Cape Verde’s
Supreme Court ruled that Alex Saab, a businessman close to
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro who was arrested last year in
the West African country, can be extradited to the United States to
face money-laundering charges.
   (AP, 3/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Sep 7, Cape Verde's
highest court ruled that Alex Saab, a Colombian businessman who is
wanted by US authorities on charges of laundering money on behalf of
Venezuela's government, should be extradited to the United States.
   (Reuters, 9/7/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, Cape Verde
national radio reported the extradition of Colombian businessman
Alex Saab to the US. The Venezuelan government in September had
named Saab - who was arrested in June 2020 when his plane stopped in
Cape Verde to refuel - as a member of its negotiating team in talks
with the opposition in Mexico.
   (Reuters, 10/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 16, Venezuela said it
would suspend negotiations with the opposition that were set to
resume this weekend, after Cape Verde extradited Colombian
businessman Alex Saab, a Venezuelan envoy, to the United States on
money laundering charges. Hours after Saab's extradition, Venezuela
revoked the house arrest of six former executives of refiner Citgo,
a US subsidiary of state oil company PDVSA.
   (Reuters, 10/17/21)
2021Â Â Â Â Â Â Oct 17, Cape Verde voted
for a new president who faces the task of stabilizing its
tourism-driven economy after the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Opposition candidate and former prime minister Jose Maria Neves (61)
won Cape Verde's presidential election. His main rival, the ruling
party's flagbearer Carlos Veiga, conceded defeat.
   (Reuters, 10/17/21)(Reuters, 10/18/21)
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