By Mario Dujisin
LISBON, Feb 6 1996 (IPS)

The new president of a body established to promote world interdependence and solidarity took up his position Tuesday, amid expectations his presence will see an expansion of its role.

Former president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Miguel Angel Martinez, assumed the presidency of the North-South Centre based here by underlining its “important role”.

He stressed the centre’s role in supporting campaigns undertaken by the Council of Europe in favour of the struggle against racism and xenophobia.

Martinez, ex-leader of the Spanish Workers Socialist Party (PSOE), was elected to the new position in October. He replaces Vitor Crespo, a Portuguese Member of Parliament with national prestige but who is practically unknown abroad.

Portuguese analysts specialising in development cooperation affairs believe the activities of the NSC will considerably increase under Martinez.

“The North-South Centre will shift into high gear” with Martinez as its new president, says the influential Lisbon morning paper ‘Diario de Noticias’.

According to its own definition of its principles, the centre, which depends on the Council of Europe for support, is a centre for world interdependence and solidarity.

Members of the centre are Cyprus, Spain, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Holland, Portugal, San Marino, Sweden and Switzerland.

Lisbon was chosen as headquarters at the moment of its foundation in 1990 because it was considered the capital possessing the most characteristics which would enable it to act as a convincing “bridge” between North and South.

In his first declaration to the press on his arrival in Lisbon, Martinez said his ambition was to increase the number of member countries.

North-South Centre activities in the last few years have been concentrated more and more in this area of the world, to the point where it has been transformed “into a kind of centre of the Mediterranean,” despite the actual geography of its location, explained Martinez.

Its new phase will enable the centre to take advantage of Portugal’s long experience with Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and Santo Tome-Principe, as well as increase its relations with Latin America.

The North-South centre “has already completed its initial running-in stage, and Martinez’ election demonstrates that the Council of Europe has decided to show its determination to give it more importance” commented the “Diario de Noticias”.

Another relevant aspect noted by observers is the fact that Martinez knows Latin America well and was one of the first Sandinista guerrillas to enter Managua in 1979.

The local press also recalled that the youthful Spanish revolutionary, Miguel Angel Martinez, fought side-by-side with the Dominicans against the U.S. Marine Corps when they invaded the Dominican Republic in 1965.

At the same time, his administration as president of the Assembly of the Council of Europe over the past four years has been distinguished by his tenacious action in favour of admitting the countries of the former East Bloc to membership of the Council.

Martinez’ performance in Portugal will be facilitated by the privileged relationships he enjoys with present government circles.

The Portuguese socialists of Prime Minister Antonio Guterres won last October’s parliamentary elections and repeated their victory a month ago by electing as President of the Republic the ex-mayor of Lisbon, Jorge Sampaio, who takes office Mar. 8.

Martinez’ busy programme for this Tuesday includes meetings with Guterres, with the Speaker of Parliament Antonio de Almeida Santos, with the new Mayor of Lisbon, Joao Soares, and finally with Foreign Minister Jaime Gama, all top Socialist Party leaders.

As is his habit, Martinez will be dispensing with the formality of wearing a tie despite the evident importance of these meetings. For him, a bare neck is a symbol he still keeps alive to remind himself that he once was “with a rope around his neck” in the prisons of the late Spanish falangist dictator Gen. Francisco Franco (1939-1975).

In 1959 he escaped from the franquist prison after having been sentenced to 19 years, a term longer than his own age at the time.

Martinez doesn’t easily give up his convictions. On a recent visit to London, not even the British conservatives succeeded in convincing him to put on a tie before being received by Queen Elizabeth II.

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