Portuguese honor Guterres

The remains of the wife of Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres were laid to rest yesterday at Alto de Sao Joao Cemetery in Lisbon.

Luisa Amelia Guimaraes e Melo de Oliveira Guterres died Wednesday morning at the Royal Free Hospital in London at the age of 51.

The prime minister and their children -- Pedro, 21, and Mariana, 12 -- were by her side.

According to LUSA, the Portuguese news agency, the cause of death was "a serious infection as a result of the surgery she underwent 15 days ago."

Even though the prime minister expressed his wishes for a "private and discrete funeral," the news of her death generated reactions of despair throughout Portugal, leading to numerous postponements and cancellations at the political and public levels.

Her remains arrived in Lisbon on Wednesday night aboard a C-130 of the Portuguese Air Force fleet. Immediately following, the body was transported to Luz Church in Carnide, where it was shown overnight.

Hundreds of civilians, public and political officials and dignitaries paid homage to Luisa Guterres and personally expressed their condolences to the Prime Minister and his family.

Yesterday, thousands of civilians lined the streets to watch the funeral procession and pay their last respects.

Luisa Guterres, a psychiatrist, was very highly regarded by all. She will be remembered as a noble woman characterized by her exemplary courage, strong character and striking personality.Citizen 2000 moves ahead

The assimilation of the Portuguese community in the American life through citizenship is a responsibility that everyone should take, argues the spokeswoman of a recently formed pro-citizenship movement.

"We say 'The other ones should do it.' But, we are the other ones!" said Fatima Martins, coordinator of the Citizen 2000 campaign, whose goal is to unite the Portuguese speaking community around a common goal citizenship.

The official launching of this campaign will take place on March 8, at the Santo Antonio Church in Cambridge.

Meanwhile, Martins will visit the Immigrants Assistance Center in New Bedford on Tuesday, Feb. 3, to "present the structure of the campaign" to the different sectors of the local Portuguese community.

According to Mrs. Martins, Citizen 2000 hopes to motivate people to apply for citizenship and get the support of the local churches, organizations and clubs.

"There is a need for inclusion, union and participation," said the activist, adding that each community has its own structures and "those are the structures we want to use."

The Citizen 2000 project was started last year by a group of about 20 Portuguese-speaking activists in the Boston area.

The group met on two occasions with 40 community leaders and has developed a database of 275 names of possible contacts.

"The contacts will "create an information network and promote citizenship among the Portuguese community," said Mrs. Martins.

The group plans to distribute flyers, give out bumper stickers and publish a monthly newsletter, among other initiatives.

The New Bedford meeting intends to gather local community groups which did not attend the previous meetings.

The campaign will complement the Citizenship Assistance Program introduced recently by the Massachusetts Legislature.