Identity Cannot Be Measured by Decades – Caesar DePaço

Identity Cannot Be Measured by Decades

The Admiral of the Portuguese Navy, Henrique Gouveia e Melo, candidate for the Presidency of the Republic, recently stated that after ten years an immigrant becomes as Portuguese as we are, or else we possess a special gene. Such a statement, clothed in apparent simplicity, betrays a troubling ignorance of the moral, historical, and spiritual essence that defines Portuguese identity. To suggest that being Portuguese can be acquired merely through the passage of time is to strip the Fatherland of its substance and reduce the mystery of the Nation to the coldness of a civil registry.

To be Portuguese is to partake in a sacred dimension that can neither be imitated nor granted. It is a heritage of blood, of culture, and of spirit, perpetuated through centuries by men and women who, in adversity or in glory, made of Portugal’s name a sacrament of courage and of faith. The true Portuguese gene does not reside in chromosomes, but in the soul; it is the invisible breath that binds us to Afonso Henriques, to Nuno Álvares Pereira, to Luís de Camões, and to all those who, with sword, cross, and word, built the moral body of the Fatherland.

To be Portuguese is to feel within oneself the murmur of the ocean and the weight of History. It is to love the language as one would defend a temple and to carry within the blood the nostalgia of the infinite. It is to understand that the land where we were born is not merely a geographical space but a legacy of values, a pact of honor and a spiritual mission. What we have inherited cannot be learned; it is felt. It cannot be taught; it is transmitted from generation to generation like a flame that never dies.

To claim that ten years suffice to equal centuries of belonging is an offense to the memory of those who, with body and soul, founded Portugal. Time does not create roots; it is the soul and the blood that sustain them. Identity is not an administrative convention; it is a moral truth. To be Portuguese is to belong to a tradition of fidelity and sacrifice, to guard in one’s heart the certainty that the Fatherland is destiny and not circumstance.

Portugal is not a sum of inhabitants; it is a communion of souls. Every Portuguese person inherits the same symbolic blood, forged in labor and faith, in caravels and cloisters, on battlefields and in verses of glory. The Fatherland is not measured by its frontiers but by the honor of those who serve it. It is this spiritual and genetic inheritance that distinguishes us as a people chosen by dignity and bound to eternity.

Whoever believes that being Portuguese can be learned ignores that a Nation is forged by memory and by character. Only one who feels the Fatherland in his veins understands that love for Portugal is not a gesture; it is a form of existence. Citizenship may be granted, but being Portuguese is both gift and destiny, a belonging of the soul and a vocation of eternity.

Portugal was, is, and shall remain an indestructible Fatherland, forged in courage and sustained by faith. And as long as there is a single Portuguese heart that preserves within it the echo of the village litanies, the roar of the Atlantic waves, and the pride of Camões, the spirit of the Nation will remain incorruptible and alive.

I speak with the authority of one who has lived thirty-one years in this great country that is the United States of America, a nation for which I hold the deepest admiration, respect, and gratitude. I have for this country a sincere affection, for in it I have found liberty, opportunity, and justice, values that ennoble the human condition and which I profoundly admire. However, I have never requested American citizenship, not out of disdain nor from any lack of recognition, but because I am Portuguese, and that is the nationality with which I was born. I firmly believe that every man and every woman should feel pride in their origins, for roots are the structure of the soul. Nationalities are not acquired as one acquires a material possession; they are born with us, live within us, and die with us. Fidelity to the land of one’s birth is the purest form of respect for the truth of one’s own being.

As Luís de Camões proclaimed, “This is my beloved, blessed Fatherland.” As Manuel Maria Barbosa du Bocage reminded us, “I love my Fatherland, and my first duty is to honor her.” And as Teixeira de Pascoaes exalted, “To be Portuguese is to belong to the sea and to eternity.”

These voices, which echo through the centuries, remind us that being Portuguese is not a privilege bestowed, but an essence inherited, a pact between soul and destiny that only faith and honor can sustain.

Caesar DePaço
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
Honorary Consul of Portugal (2014 to 2020)
Founder and CEO of Summit Nutritionals International Inc.
President of the DePaço Foundation
Unwavering Defender of Law Enforcement and of Conservative Principles

Identity Cannot Be Measured by Decades – Caesar DePaço

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