7th CPLP Summit
The VII Conference of Heads of State and Government of the CPLP, commonly known as the 7th CPLP Summit was the 7th biennial meeting of heads of state and heads of government of the Community of [Portuguese Language Countries], held in Lisbon, Portugal, on 24–25 July 2008.
Outcome
At this Summit, Senegal become the third associate member of CPLP. Senegal has a strong community of people that came from Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. Senegal also includes the Casamance territory that was Portuguese until the 19th century, when it was ceded to France. Even today, the people of Casamance are more linked with Guinea-Bissau than with Senegal itself and some of the citizens of the territory even want an independent Portuguese-speaking Casamance country.Participants
Members
- *President Aníbal Cavaco Silva
- *Prime Minister Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos
- *President Luiz [Inácio Lula da Silva]
- *President Pedro Pires
- *President João Bernardo Vieira
- *Minister of [Foreign Affairs] Oldemiro Balói
- *President of [São Tomé and Principe|President] Fradique de Menezes
- *President José Ramos-Horta
Associate observers
- *President Teodoro [Obiang Nguema Mbasogo]
- *Representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jacques Balyon
- *Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheikh Tidiane Gadio
Organizations
- African Union
- *Chairperson of the [African Union Commission|Commission Chairperson] Jean Ping