DATE: 2 p.m. Nov, 19, 2007.

EVENT: His Excellency Antonio Manuel Mascarenhas Gomes Monteiro, former president of the Republic of Cape Verde, will speak about “The Obstacles of Leadership and Prospectives for the Future.”

Monteiro served as president of the Republic of Cape Verde from 1991-2001 and played a crucial role in making Cape Verde one of the more viable democracies on the continent of Africa. During his term in office, he was active in the international arena as well, serving as chairman of the Third Conference on Regional System of Human Rights Protection in Africa and Europe and participating in the OAU goodwill mission to Angola following the country’s first free elections in 1992.

In 1993, he was chairman of the Colloquium on Constitutional Transition in Africa, and from 1994 to 1997 he served as president of the Inter-State Committee for Struggle Against Drought in Sahel. In his role as deputy president of the OAU Ad-Hoc Committee for Southern Africa, he attended the signing of the Lusaka Protocol on Peace in Angola in 1994. He was elected president of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries in 1998.

Monteiro will reflect on his view of leadership influencing the former and current obstacles his country and the continent face in development and diplomatic affairs. Organizers say the event will be an important reminder of the progress that has been made, in addition to being a resource for ideas on the necessary changes that must be made to provide a basis for reform in Africa.

PLACE: Pendleton Room of the Michigan Union, 530 S. State St., University of Michigan Central Campus, Ann Arbor.

SPONSOR: Center for Afroamerican and African Studies.