Mobility and rights in the Portuguese-speaking world : a Lusophone citizenship in bits and pieces

Abstract

Enhanced international mobility has been a goal of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries since its inception in 1996. The Community (here in after, CPLP) was established to foster cooperation among states which have Portuguese as official language, also known as Lusophone states–Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe (founding members), Timor-Leste and Equatorial Guinea (admitted in 2002 and 2014, respectively). Despite the geographic dispersion and significant disparities in levels of socioeconomic and institutional development among the member states, there was always much emphasis on a sense of community and belonging, with CPLP appearing as the institutionalisation of a pre-political reality based on affection, as the ‘political face’ of the Lusophone world, and the like. CPLP’s Constitutive Declaration made abundant references to the bloc’s historic ties and distinctive identity, while stressing the need to strengthen the solidarity and fraternity bonds among all Lusophone peoples through inter alia the promotion of measures designed to facilitate the mobility of member states’ citizens within the CPLP area.