300 Portuguese-Americans to Establish 'Congress' in Weekend Meetings Here

Three hundred Portuguese-Americans will establish the first Congress of the Portuguese in the United States in a three-day convention here this weekend. The congress is intended to provide Portuguese in America with a greater voice in U.S. government affairs, an organizer of the convention said yesterday.

Aurelio Torres, director of the Cambridge Organization of Portuguese-Americans (COPA), the organization that is sponsoring the convention, said that that the convention will not only establish a congress but also publicize Portuguese contributions to American government and culture.

All convention meetings are open to the public and membership in the Congress is not restricted to Portuguese-Americans, Torres said. Registration for the convention begins this afternoon in Boylston Hall.

Tomorrow's meetings will mostly be workshops or discussion groups which will provide resolutions for the Congress to act on when it convenes on Sunday afternoon in Gund Hall, Torres said.

Participants in the workshops will discuss employment, immigration, education and the culture of the Portuguese in America.

Cambridge Mayor Barbara Ackermann, State Rep. Ronald A. Pina (D-New Bedford), and a representative from the office of Governor Francis A. Sargent will speak at the convention.

Torres said that members of all branches of local, state and Federal government--including President Nixon--have been invited to the convention. "Although many government leaders are expected, I don't think Nixon will be coming," he commented.

Russ Viveiros, assistant director of COPA, said yesterday that the Congress will not only discuss the resolutions formulated in the workshops but also the future of the Congress of Portuguese in the United States.

"I am certain we will want to continue meeting following the convention this weekend so that the U.S. government will always be informed of our philosophies and political beliefs," Viveiros said.

Cambridge is the site of the convention because it holds many of the Portuguese residing in the United States, Viveiros said.