Artur Santos Silva, honorary president of BPI, recalls the journey of his friend Francisco Pinto Balsemão, in politics and society, highlighting the creation of Expresso, a “remarkable editorial project”.
Francisco Pinto Balsemão died this Tuesday, at the age of 88, “of natural causes” and “his last moments were accompanied by his family”, said Impresa, the social media group he founded, in a statement.
“Francisco Balsemão was a person who had great influence and great importance in the change in our country, from an authoritarian, dictatorial regime, to a democratic regime”, he begins by mentioning.
Augusto Santos Silva remembers the politician and personality who had a decisive influence on social communication, not only for the founding of the weekly Expresso, shortly before the 25th of April, but also for the creation of SIC.
“In addition to Expresso, as soon as there was an opportunity, he also launched a television channel, SIG, which is by far one of the private channels we have, the one that has done the most, for good information and because we all know how to make the decisions we should, at the appropriate times”, highlights the honorary president of BPI.
Founder of PPD/PSD, it was at this stage of life that their friendship was born: “Right after the 25th of April, he launched the PPD, I got to know him better at that time. On the 25th of April, from Francisco Sá Carneiro’s house, I was able to follow what was happening in Lisbon through very regular contacts with Francisco Balsemão and also with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who were on the other side, at Expresso”.
Artur Santos Silva remembers with emotion the friendship and loyalty of Francisco Pinto Balsemão: “A friend whose loyalty was the first mark of his behavior in everything in life. For friends, for commitments, he celebrated, it was really one of the qualities that impressed me most. Afterwards, he was a man with a great sense of mission and also with a very important vision.”
