Died Joaquim Piló, founder of the Left Block

Unionist died at the age of 76 at the Setúbal Hospital, where he was hospitalized, a victim of prolonged illness.

The unionist and founder of the Left Bloc Joaquim Piló Died on Monday, at the age of 76, a victim of prolonged illness, said the Blockista nucleus of Nazareth.

“It is with immense sadness that the Nazaré Block announces the death of Joaquim Piló, an emblematic figure of our community, fisherman, tireless union and founder of the Left Bloc,” said the Nazaré Center in a statement.

Joaquim Piló died in the hospital of Setúbal, where he was hospitalized, victim of prolonged diseaseconfirmed the official source of the BE to the Lusa agency.

“Leave us a legacy of courage, dignity and solidarity,” says the BE in the statement in which he exhorts “the memory of a man who has not silent, who did not give up and always with fishermen, families, the humblest and most marginalized.”

Born in Nazaré, in the district of Leiria, where it was known by the nickname “Nothing is”Joaquim Piló was born in 1949. He began working in construction at the age of 12 and, at 16, embarked on cod fishing, where he stood out as a against the 1970s.

For more than two decades he led the Free Fishermen and related union, where, according to the BE, “it was a firm voice in numerous conflicts: he denounced the injustices of the slaughter of the national fleet, criticized the inaction of the fishermen’s struggles, and was always alongside communities affected by seizures and maritime tragedies”. He also assumed “the tireless search for the truth about the wreck of the Bolama ship”, one of the greatest disasters on the Portuguese coast.

At the political level, Joaquim Piló was One of the founding figures of the Left Block and an active presence in local politics. In 2005, he headed for the first time the bloc’s candidacy to the Nazareth Chamber, to which he applied again in 2013.

The wake will be held on Tuesday, the 19th, from 17:00, in the chapel of the Church of Amora. The body will be cremated on Wednesday, the 20th, from 10:30, at Quinta do Conde, the BE said.