Open letter to the MINISTER OF FINANCE, Dr. Olavo Correia e Silva

DANIEL GOMES MIRANDA, divorced, over 61 years old,

born in the parish and municipality of S. João Baptista, on Ilha Brava, and currently residing in the town of Nova Sintra, in that municipality, hereby, with the respect he deserves, submits the following request to Your Excellency:

1. First of all, however, the signatory considers it appropriate to give a brief overview of his career as an emigrant, as follows

2. At the age of 23, he was one of the pioneers of his generation on the island of Flores who saw emigration as an outlet for his dissatisfaction with the injustices of the time,

3. First, to Sweden, in 1987, where, above all, he was able to assimilate and internalize the adventures of the emigrant, working, like all self-respecting people, hard to acquire what was necessary, not only for his immediate survival, but above all, to plan other flights, so

4. A year later, in 1988, he left Sweden for the USA, where he has been legally resident for more than 36 years, only failing to obtain an American passport here for personal reasons.

5. Through him, all his family members emigrated to that country, and they still live there;

6. As a result of this condition of permanent residence, their descendants, their children, have all graduated today (in Engineering, Economics, etc.), thanks to God and the country where they were born and educated, but above all

7. A corollary of this emigration is his personal wealth, here in Cape Verde, more specifically on Ilha Brava, through various companies he has set up, which employ a large number of people,

8. Among them, and above all, the so-called Deportees from the USA, their country of emigration, in which neither the government nor any other Cape Verdean organization has any project for the reinsertion of these people who, due to their misfortune, live in abandonment and to their fate!

9. He points out that, with these new living conditions, he moved, for personal and professional convenience, but above all, for love of the land that saw him born, but also for the land that provided him with these conditions, Finally, ahead,

10. In accordance with the facilities granted by the government, from 1990 onwards, all emigrants, on their return to Earth, were entitled to exemption from importing their furniture and a car for personal use, provided they met the requirements regulated at the time,

11. These guarantees were denied to him personally and obviously caused him considerable damage, amounting to more than 15,000 escudos (including cars, furniture, storage, transport, rented containers, and the dispatch of the vehicle alone at 3,060,000$00),

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12. With the local customs services claiming that, roughly speaking, proof of habitual residence abroad for more than four years as a result of a personal or professional relationship!

13. When the customs office itself contradicts itself by stating that, *from the analysis of the file*, it was found that the applicant holds a Reentry Permit, valid until November 2025, thus maintaining the status of resident* (emphasis added)!

14. It is even more serious when it overrides the authority and entity competent to define the status of the emigrant, which is the MNEC, through the consular and emigration authorities, which are subordinate to it, acting like ISIS in guaranteeing, saying that the signatory is not an emigrant and, therefore, rejecting his request, causing him this great inconvenience!

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15. The signatory is astonished to learn of the reasons that led to this rejection, given that what was said in the decision does not appear to be an act of discrimination, but rather a hybrid war with emigrants like the signatory, in favor of those who are "protected"!

16. Because he is able to cite at least three (03) vehicle registration plates that have been exempted this year alone, all of them, as the applicant, with the same emigration history (living here and there and with companies, just like the signatory, registered in the system, too)!!!

17. Situations and behavior of institutions and agents of the customs administration, which reinforces and greatly increases the degree of distrust in this State institution and even increases, perhaps exponentially, the level of perception of corruption in the country!

18. The signatory is left with the unpleasant impression that this is, quasi a contrario, an award to an emigrant who is practically answering a patriotic call to come and invest in his homeland, on the most devastated island in the country, where there is no air transportation, where maritime transportation is scarce, very irregular even, and where the population decreases, roughly, by 1,000 individuals every 10 years, in a more than clear evasion, abandoning a region (of the country CV) full of opportunities!

19. It is also an award to someone who has been selling and selling the country's image abroad and who has already convinced several foreigners to invest in Cape Verde and obtain Cape Verdean citizenship,

20. But it's also a prize for those who have invested in their children's studies so that one day they can take over the business, but also participate in the (re)construction of this country of ours, full of contradictions, as well as someone who has been working for a long time, both here in the country and in the diaspora, to prepare the processes for emigration!

21. Finally, to say that his return was defined by himself, but in duly coordinated stages, with a kick-off in the creation and implementation of ventures,

22. Here in Cape Verde, with the spirits industry, whose brand, *Cova do Touro*, is now known and appreciated worldwide, not only by Cape Verdeans, but also by Americans, precisely because, with the creation of this enterprise, it targets the foreign market,

23. As in the USA, intentionally selected as an export location for your product, since it has allowed you to comply with the legal requirement of permanent residency,

24. Operating, both remotely and in person, with promotional marketing work for the sale of these and other drinks produced in Cape Verde under the said brand, *Cova do Touro*!

City of Pawtucket United States on 08/11/2025

Daniel Gomes Miranda.

Emigrant and Cape Verdean citizen