Cape Verde ruling party congress to pay tribute to ex-president

The 13th ordinary congress of the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAIVC), which has been in power since 2011, opened on Friday in the capital Praia with participants paying tribute to the country's third president, Pedro Pires. Pires, who left power after serving for two terms, had initially served as Cape Verde's prime minister before becoming the second person to lead PAIVC after Aristide Pereira. The party's vice-chairman, Basilio Ramos, said the three-day conference will be attended by 507 delegates and nine representatives of foreign political parties, including the Communist Party of China. The party will be held with two themes including "Which party for the 21st Century" and "the Cape Verde Vision 2030". The congress is expected to endorse the March 10 re-election of the party chairman, Jose Maria Neves, who envisages an increase of per capital income from an average 3,000 U.S. dollars to 12,000 dollars by 2030. The delegates will debate and approve a report of the National Council, propose a review of PAIVC statutes and choose new leaders for the national positions during the congress, officials said. Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 km off the coast of West Africa. The islands, covering a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square km are of volcanic origin. The country has an estimated population of 500,000.