Background
Gil was born on May 10, 1937, at Bolama across the river from Bissau, the son of a Cape Verdian who rose to be a senior government official at Bissau.
Gil was born on May 10, 1937, at Bolama across the river from Bissau, the son of a Cape Verdian who rose to be a senior government official at Bissau.
He was educated from 1945 to 1958 at the Portuguese High School in Bissau and left with a high scholastic record which earned him a place in the Treasury Department of the government.
His underground activities for the liberation movement landed him in trouble. He was tipped off about plans to arrest him and he fled to Senegal in September 1960. Enrolled at the university, he was preparing to go to Poland on a scholarship when his ability at tennis brought him to the notice of an American diplomat. So instead of being at Cracow in Poland he went in 1962 to the University of New Hampshire, where he was awarded a BA in Political Science in 1965. After two years further study at the American University, Washington, DC, he got his MA.
He resumed his political work in 1967 as a member of the large PAIGC bureau at Conakry, capital of neighbouring Guinea. Six months later in the spring of 1968 he was assigned to Cairo.
He has played an important role in coordinating aid from Egypt. A regular at conferences in the Arab world and Africa, he has also been a very effective petitioner at the United Nations. In November 1971 he shocked the UN Committee of 24 by bringing two witnesses: a peasant badly burned by napalm bombs and another with his ears cut off. A frequent companion of the late Amilcar Cabral, he went with him to the OAU summit at Rabat, Morocco, in June 1972 and the OAU Liberation Committee meeting at Accra in January 1973.
Skilled international advocate of the liberation movement at the United Nations and Organisation of African Unity meetings. Fluent speaker in several languages, widely travelled and well-educated. Sophisticated in style, capable of convincing students as easily as peasants of the rightness of the PAIGC cause. His administrative talents earmark him for an important role in his country’s future.
Spouse Inge Doubrawa, National of Brazil.