Private Story
PREC
When I explained to the people of my generation what I was doing, about the mythical places of the PREC and of the agrarian revolution, they didn't even know what had happened in their own land, and that shows that we are born in a country with no collective concern to preserve the memory of the historical events of our recent past.
We remain prisoners of our distant history, of the eternal greatness of the age of Discoveries, without looking at what identifies us today as a country in the World, which made us get to where we are, so we can understand what happens to us in the present and think about the future.
It was a great honor being able to get to know some of the main actors of such an important period in the Alentejo region. I am deeply grateful to everyone who decided to share their story and let themselves be photographed, without trying to impose any demands.
Thus, the balance of this experience, which was so enriching to me, is that Alentejo has a social, economic and political potential that has been slowly, but steadily, developing itself.
I feel that even though almost all of "April's dreams" have disappeared with the end of the PREC in 1975, the few examples that still survive, knew how to adapt themselves to the present, to a market economy, and the political concerns of the people I knew are not closed in orthodox and outdated ideals.
If we take another look at these places some years from now, I believe that we will still find people with strong values, who discuss their ideas and fight for what they believe in, be that a part of a collective dream or not.
I think democracy is the most beautiful dream that Alentejo may be living.
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