The new United States Ambassador in Lisbon, Randi Charno Levine, completed a three-day official visit to the Azores.
The visit, which took place between May 25-27, highlighted the “unique” and “special” role the Azores play in the context of the long relationship between the United States and Portugal.
Ambassador Charno Levine was welcomed at Palácio de Sant’Ana, in Ponta Delgada, by the President of the Government of the Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, and met with the Representative of the Republic for the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Ambassador Pedro Catarino, and with the Mayor of Ponta Delgada, Pedro Nascimento Cabral.
The agenda for the occasion also included a visit the Sahar Hassamain Synagogue in Ponta Delgada and a trip to Terceira island, where she visited the Cathedral of Angra do Heroísmo and a stop at the Lajes Base.
At the Lajes Base, she highlighted the “strong bilateral relations” between Portugal and the United States and praised the “efforts of the Americans and Portuguese who serve side by side, every day, in the context of collective defence.” At the occasion, she recalled that the US Consulate in Ponta Delgada, 225 years old, is the oldest US diplomatic office in the world.
During her stop at the Azorean Emigrants Association, on São Miguel, Ambassador Levine paid tribute to the Azorean diaspora in the United States, by stressing the importance the Portuguese communities in the country, where more than one million emigrants of Portuguese origin are of Azorean heritage.
Known for her interest for the arts, she proposed the promotion of an agenda of cultural expression between the American embassy in Lisbon and Azorean artists.
In this context, President Bolieiro stressed the relevance of the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) in carrying out “more initiatives founded in the Azores, for the Azores and with the Azores”.
Ambassador Randi Charno Levine was appointed by the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to be Ambassador to Portugal in November 2021, and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in March, having taken up her official duties in April 2022. This was the first official trip outside Portugal mainland since she took office.
An arts advocate and a published author, Ambassador Charno Levine studied Journalism at the University of Missouri. She published her first children’s book, Princess Orlita, The Curious Princess (2020) aimed at teaching the next generation of youngsters how to source healthy food to sustain them in everyday life.
PAJ/Staff
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