Portuguese American Journal

Portuguese American Journal

Featured Stories
Community | Diaspora mobilizes to join storm relief effort Teolinda Gersão | Narrative talent transcending literary boundaries Social Media | Parliament proposes bill requiring parental consent for minors Update | Persistent severe downpouring forces evacuations Election’26 | Diaspora vote count shows strong support for André Ventura
 

Community | Diaspora mobilizes to join storm relief effort – Portugal

The Portuguese American communities across the United States are mobilizing in solidarity with families and municipalities in Portugal, affected by a succession of severe rainstorms that have caused fatalities, widespread flooding, infrastructure damage, and displacement across several regions.  Relief authorities in Portugal report significant impacts on housing, local businesses, agriculture, and public infrastructure, underscoring the […]

Teolinda Gersão | Narrative talent transcending literary boundaries – Interview

By Maria Duran On the 29th of October, 2025, Portuguese writer Teolinda Gersão became a second-time winner of the APE-DGLAB Romance and Novel Grand Prize. Autobiografia não escrita de Martha Freud (2024), [The Unwritten Autobiography of Martha Freud], published by Porto Editora, earned her the 43rd edition of the award, organized by the Portuguese Writers […]

Social Media | Parliament proposes bill requiring parental consent for minors – Portugal

Portugal’s parliament has approved legislation that would restrict minors’ access to social media platforms by requiring parental authorization for users under the age of 16, making it one of Europe’s most concrete legislative steps toward regulating youth activity online. The proposal, introduced by the Social Democratic Party (PSD), mandates explicit, verified parental consent for minors […]

Update | Persistent severe downpouring forces evacuations – Portugal

Heavy and persistent rainfall continues to affect mainland Portugal as successive Atlantic systems prolong saturated ground conditions and heighten flood risk across several regions, forcing evacuations. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro described the extreme weather episodes as a “devastating crisis” affecting communities across the country while emphasizing that emergency coordination and recovery efforts continue nationwide. Mário […]

Election’26 | Diaspora vote count shows strong support for André Ventura – Portugal

Portugal’s presidential runoff election provisional vote count indicates that Chega candidate André Ventura secured the largest share of votes cast by Portuguese citizens living abroad. As final counts are still being compiled from abroad, Ventura has received approximately 51.88% of the diaspora vote, compared with 48.12% for Seguro. These figures reflect global voting and remain […]

Corruption: Portugal dropped three places in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index – Transparency International

28 January 2021

Portugal dropped three places, to 33rd place with 61 points, in the 2020 Corruption Perception Index report, published on Thursday, by Transparency International. With the lowest score ever, Portugal is now “well below the average figures for Western Europe and the European Union, set at 66 points,” it was reported. Transparency International (TI), a non-governmental […]

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Posted in Azores, Featured, Heritage, Madeira, Organizations, People, Politics, Portugal, World

Book: ‘Slave Trade and Abolition: Gender, Commerce’ by Vanessa S. Oliveira – Editor’s Note

26 January 2021

Well into the early nineteenth century, Luanda, the administrative capital of Portuguese Angola, was one of the most influential ports for the transatlantic slave trade. Between 1801 and 1850, it served as the point of embarkation for more than 535,000 enslaved Africans. In the history of this diverse, wealthy city, the gendered dynamics of the […]

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Posted in Angola, Arts&Culture, Azores, Books, Brazil, Cape Verde, Featured, Guiné-Bissau, Heritage, Madeira, Mozambique, People, Portugal, São Tomé and Prince, World

Book: ‘Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die’- Editor’s Note

25 January 2021

From Pulitzer Prize-finalist Steven Nadler, an engaging guide to what Spinoza can teach us about life’s big questions. In 1656, after being excommunicated from Amsterdam’s Portuguese-Jewish community for “abominable heresies” and “monstrous deeds,” the young Baruch Spinoza abandoned his family’s import business to dedicate his life to philosophy. He quickly became notorious across Europe for […]

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Posted in Arts&Culture, Books, Featured, Heritage, People, Portugal, World

Elected: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa President with 61% of votes – Portugal

24 January 2021

Social Democrat  (PSD), 72, was reelected, on Sunday, for a second five-year mandate with 61% of votes above his 52% win in 2016. He takes office officially on March 9, 2021. Center-left Ana Gomes (PS/13%) won a distant second place while populist André Ventura (Chega/12%) won a third place. Other contenders included, Marisa Matias (Bloco […]

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Posted in Azores, Featured, Heritage, Madeira, Politics, Portugal, World

Opinion | Portugal’s presidential election in the time of pandemic – by Len Port

22 January 2021

A surge in Covid-19 to record levels in Portugal has already affected Sunday’s presidential election. Because of the strict lockdown measures throughout the country, and because there are no postal or electronic methods of voting in place, special arrangements were made for elderly citizens in quarantine and in care homes to cast their ballots well […]

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Posted in Azores, Community, Featured, Heritage, Madeira, People, Politics, Portugal, World

COVID’19: Health system in despair on the verge of collapsing – Portugal

21 January 2021

Portugal is registering the world’s highest COVID’19 infections and death rates due to the faster-spreading of a more contagious variant form of the virus first detected in Britain. The country has now the highest seven-day average rate in the world of new cases per 100,000 population and the second-highest rate of new deaths after the […]

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Posted in Azores, Featured, Madeira, People, Portugal, World