Caesar DePaço

César Manuel Cardoso Matos do Paço (born 21 September 1965), also known as Caesar DePaço, is a Portuguese businessman. He was an honorary consul for both Portugal and Cape Verde in the United States, in Palm Coast, Florida. DePaço is the chief executive officer of Summit Nutritionals International, a food-industry company. Despite his life in the US, DePaço is not an American citizen.

Following his tenure as the firstand only Honorary Consul of Portugal to Florida, DePaço was appointed to the same position representing Cape Verde. In January 2021, he was dismissed following a scandal which led to the resignation of Cape Verde's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Filipe Tavares.

Early life

DePaço was born in Madalena do Pico, Azores on September 21, 1965.

His father was the head of an Azorean finance department. According to DePaço, his entire childhood was spent in the Azores until he was 11 years old, when he visited the United States, to which he later emigrated in 1994.

Career

According to the Portuguese newspaper ''Expresso'', DePaço has a degree in psychology and two doctorates. He was also a professor of psychology in Bangkok, Thailand, for four years.

DePaço is the chief executive officer of Summit Nutritionals International, a food-industry company.

On 3 October 2014, DePaço was appointed as Honorary Consul of the Portuguese Republic in Florida, based out of the city of Palm Coast. At the time, this was the only Honorary Consulate, with full powers other than the granting of visas, besides another one in Connecticut. He declined state aid from Portugal for the consulate, as he fully paid for the consulate's expenses, which amounted to half a million dollars a year. In 2017, DePaço organized the first-ever raising of the Portuguese flag at a government building in Florida, at the Palm Coast City Hall.

In May 2020, DePaço resigned from his position as Honorary Consul, citing irreconcilable differences with the Portuguese Ambassador to the United States, Domingos Fezas Vital, on matters concerning Portuguese national interest and foreign policy, stating that "I leave because I cannot compromise my principles and I will not overlook unacceptable conduct.".

On 11 January 2021, Portuguese news channel SIC Notícias broadcast a story asserting that DePaço had donated over ten thousand euros to Portugal's Chega party, and highlighted connections of several of its leaders to the DePaço Foundation. This was controversial in Cape Verde due to Chega's opposition to immigration.
The day after the SIC story was aired, Cape Verdean Foreign Minister, who had recently appointed DePaço as Honorary Consul of Cape Verde to Florida, resigned. DePaço was subsequently dismissed, At the time he was appointed, Cape Verde already had a consul in Florida.

His wife, Deanna Padovani-DePaço, remains as honorary consul of Cape Verde to New Jersey. In an article in January 2021, the newspaper '' A Nação'' questioned the case of a husband and wife being both appointed to as consuls, writing "This is the first time Cape Verde has ever nominated a couple, husband and wife, to consulates in the same country, at once, to different states in the U.S.A".

In late January 2021, DePaço's attorney Rui Barreira told Macao newspaper ''Ponto Final'' that DePaço was not dismissed from his position, but resigned on his own initiative on 12 January to avoid becoming a subject of controversy in Cabo Verde. Barreira asserted that DePaço paid for the consular activities out of his own pocket. He also said that DePaço's Wikipedia biographies had been the target of malicious editing.

In June 2021, Portuguese-American newspaper ''LusoAmericano'' reported that DePaço was suing media outlets ''Sábado'' magazine, CMTV and SIC for what he called "attacks on his honour and image, due to the imputation of false facts," specifically that he is the "main financier of Chega," alleging that this claim had come to overshadow his career in international business in the minds of the Portuguese public. DePaço said that he was never a financier of Chega, having made only one donation to the party within legal limits and otherwise uninvolved either as an activist or a party member. He also filed criminal complaints against Cofina, which owns Sábado and CMTV, Cofina director Eduardo Dâmaso and journalist Alexandre Malhado as well as SIC information directors Ricardo Costa and Marta Reis and journalist Pedro Coelho.

In January 2021, his lawyer edited the Wikipedia article about him and threatened legal action if Wikipedia did not remove information DePaço considered fraudulent; this included the mention of a one-time donation he made to CHEGA!, a right-wing political party in Portugal. DePaço subsequently sued Wikipedia and editors. The Wikimedia Foundation characterized this as a strategic lawsuit against public participation. In December 2023, the Supreme Court of Portugal issued an order to Wikipedia demanding the removal of certain content that was deemed to be inaccurate. They also asked for the identification of the editors responsible for that content. On January 25, 2024, the Portuguese Supreme Court of Justice (STJ) reconfirmed the decision. According to ''Sábado'' magazine, the "Conference of judges maintained a decision taken in November 2023. Editors of the businessman's page could be revealed and subject to legal action."

Football

In 2019, DePaço became an official patron of FC Porto, a major Portuguese football club. In 2020, DePaço became the owner and official patron of professional football club CF Canelas 2010. In April 2020, when he announced his intention to invest in Canelas, he said one of the key goals was to move beyond the club's previous reputation for violence.

Personal life

He currently lives with his wife, in New Jersey, where he founded Summit Nutritionals International and where he is known for several philanthropic activities, namely associated to the support of security forces of several US states.

Philanthropy

His charitable giving has primarily centered around sponsoring or donating police dogs to local police forces. In August 2024, DePaço was appointed as a Law Enforcement Liaison Officer at the Somerset County, New Jersey.

References

External links

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Official Twitter

Personal website

{{DEFAULTSORT:DePaço, Caesar
1965 births
Living people
People from Pico Island
Portuguese businesspeople
Businesspeople in the food industry
Wikimedia Foundation litigation