Mario Soares, father of Portugal’s democracy, dies at 92

Portugal’s former president Mario Soares, widely seen as the father of the country’s modern-day democracy, died Saturday aged 92 in Lisbon, a fortnight after being admitted to hospital, France 24 reported.

The founder of Portugal’s Socialist party, Soares spent decades in politics and spearheaded the country’s entry into the European Union. He was president from 1986 to 1996 after serving as foreign minister and prime minister, and later became a European lawmaker.

Portugal declared three days of national mourning from Monday for the deceased leader.

“We have lost today someone who has so many times been the face and the voice of our freedom, for which he fought all his life,” said the country’s current prime minister and fellow socialist Antonio Costa.

Soares had been admitted to hospital on December 13, and although his condition initially showed signs of some improvement, he later fell into a deep coma from which he never recovered.

The hospital did not reveal the precise cause of Soares’s death, but relatives say he never fully overcame a spate of illness in 2013. His health further deteriorated after his wife’s death in July 2015.

The new United Nations secretary-general, ex-Portuguese premier Antonio Guterres, hailed Soares as “one of the rare political leaders who had real stature in both Europe and the world.”