The President of the Regional Government of the Azores Dr. Carlos Cesar said yesterday that the lack of a Portuguese Consul in Bermuda could be addressed as soon as next week.

Dr. Cesar arrived in Bermuda in time to celebrate the Portuguese National Holiday yesterday. His visit was arranged by the Vasco da Gama Club which represents Bermuda?s Portuguese community

His itinerary included a meeting with the Premier, the Governor, the House of Assembly, the Mayors of Hamilton and St. George?s and Mount Saint Agnes. The lack of a Portuguese Consul in Bermuda is an issue the Club hopes the Portuguese President will address. interviewed him outside the House of Assembly and Dr. Cesar said a solution to the lack of a Portuguese Consul could be addressed soon. ?We have some problems about this because we don?t have a very good representative service in Bermuda.

?I spoke with the Portuguese Foreign Affairs Minister the day before yesterday and I think we can have a solution next week,? Dr. Cesar said.

The Azorean President emphasised the close ties between the Azores and Bermuda.

?We have strong ties with Bermuda because we have been here as immigrants since the nineteenth century with a long tradition of good relationships but I think it must be stronger.?

He added: ?The Portuguese like to be here and feel welcome here and work well as we do all over the world. Naturally we have some problems because they bring their children, and have to learn Portuguese and English and be in school.?

He said these issues have been discussed with the local authorities, the Premier Alex Scott and the Minister of Education Terry Lister and it is possible to address them and find solutions for the Portuguese and Bermudians.

The Azorean President and his wife Dr. Luisa Cesar are guests of the Governor Sir John Vereker and joined the Governor and his wife, Lady Vereker, for a commemorative dinner at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess Hotel.

?It is particularly appropriate that your visit to this British Overseas Territory should take place on Portugal Day. It is often said ? and correctly said ? that Portugal is Britain?s oldest ally,? the Governor said.

The Governor said Dr. Cesar?s visit to Bermuda recognises the close historic links between Bermuda and the Azores.

?This is the year of Juan de Bermudez? discovery of Bermuda. Henry the Navigator, your most famous explorer, had inexplicably overlooked Bermuda a hundred years earlier. So this is the year of our Quincentennial.?

The Governor said Azoreans have been an important part of our history for over one and a half centuries of the five hundred years since the voyages of discovery and about one in ten of our present population can claim Portuguese descent.

He also added that Azoreans arrived in large numbers in the second half of the nineteenth century, and they have kept on coming.

?The Bermuda census of the year 2000 found that some 860 of our residents were born in the Azores, over 100 of them having arrived in the previous five years,? the Governor said.

He added: ?Azoreans have brought new skills to Bermuda and they have helped to shape the physical landscape of the island.?

Without the Azoreans, he said, there would be many fewer businesses listed in the Bermuda yellow pages, many of our charities would be immeasurably weaker and there would be far fewer Bermuda onions.

The Governor said Bermuda has learned much from the Azorean community and much more to learn.

?I hope in the course of your short visit you have been able to see first hand something of this close connection between our islands, and perhaps also to understand why so many Azoreans have chosen to make their homes here.?