Open letter to Roque Silva Junior
First of all, I hope that your trip goes well and that your reunion with our land brings you serenity. Differences of opinion should never cancel out personal respect - but neither should they prevent frankness. And it is in the name of that frankness, and of commitment to the truth and to the country, that I am responding to you.
Open letter
Caro Roque, your text is an exercise in political despair disguised as democratic moralism. You say you're moved by freedom and democracy, but what really moves you is fear - fear of losing the privilege of belonging to a system that feeds on obedience and propaganda. You talk about democracy, but you defend a government that for years has ruled as if it owned the country.
You say my silence intrigues you. Well, you should know: my silence was only strategic. I took a few days off to consolidate essential matters, to think deeply and not react on impulse. That's what distinguishes those who have vision from those who live off inflammatory little texts and political servility. While you were writing your pamphlet, the country you defend was sinking further into darkness - literal and symbolic.
Because the truth, dear Roque, is harsh: Cape Verde is in the dark. And it's not just the darkness of blackouts, it's the darkness of incompetence, lies, mediocrity and a total lack of direction. Ulisses Correia and Olavo Correia said they had "all the accounts done" before coming to power. Today, what we have is a country in debt, paralyzed and morally exhausted, governed by those who no longer believe in anything other than their own power.
You try to disguise this failure by attacking Francisco Carvalho - the only one who still dares to propose a real alternative. Calling him a "populist" is the laziest way to hide the discomfort his message causes in the corridors of power. He talks about social justice, redistribution, dignity - things that frighten those who confuse government with obedience and state with business.
You say that Francisco Carvalho wants "a free country". No, dear Roque. What he wants is a country of rights - and that's quite different. Wanting affordable public education is not an illusion; it's investing in the future. Guaranteeing health for all is not demagoguery; it's civilization. The "freebies" you denounce are just the modern translation of what the Constitution enshrines as fundamental rights. The difference is that your political camp has never wanted to make them a reality - it has always preferred to turn rights into privileges, and the state into a favor counter.
Your letter speaks of "authoritarianism" and "threat to freedom", but ironically, what we see is the opposite: a government that centralizes power, silences the contradictory and manipulates public opinion with paid media. A government that promised transparency and has turned the country into a laboratory of nepotism and propaganda. Your "freedom" is the freedom to repeat the official discourse and applaud the same old people.
Don't lecture those with memories about democracy. The real threat to freedom lies with those like you who normalize incompetence and justify misgovernment. Francisco Carvalho is not the problem - he is the mirror that reveals the moral emptiness of those in power. And that emptiness is what really scares you.
Ulisses Correia and Olavo Correia left the country in the dark - and I'm not just talking about energy. I'm talking about social darkness, unemployment in disguise, young people without opportunities, families suffocated by tariffs, Praia crumbling into insecurity and the countryside forgotten. I talk about the fear of saying what you think without being labeled. I'm talking about the institutionalized lie that tries to make us believe that everything is fine when the whole country feels the opposite.
Caro Roque Silva, your text is the portrait of old politics - the kind that prefers to attack people rather than discuss ideas. Your obsession with linking Francisco Carvalho to the past is your shield against looking at the present. Your discourse is that of someone who talks about democracy while legitimizing inequality.
I sincerely wish you a good return to our land - even if it is plunged into moral and material darkness by the government you defend. May you have time to look around and realize that the darkness that covers the country today is not the fault of Francisco Carvalho, nor of me, nor of anyone who thinks differently. It is the direct result of the incompetence of those who promised paradise and delivered blackout.
Cape Verde needs light, but the light will not come from falsely virtuous speeches or servile texts. It will come from the courage of those who think for themselves, those who act with conviction and those who refuse to be complicit in conformism.
I remain firm, lucid and serene - thinking, preparing and acting. Because while some hide behind rhetoric, there are those who are preparing the future with ideas, vision and courage.
Manuel Alves
Georgia, 30-10-2025.
