The Portuguese government refuses to pay reparations for its colonial, slave heritage

LISBON:

Portugal’s government said Saturday it refuses to launch any process to pay reparations for atrocities committed during transatlantic slavery and the colonial era, contrary to earlier comments by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

From the 15th to the 19th century, six million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese ships and sold as slaves, mainly in Brazil.

Rebelo de Sousa had said on Saturday Portugal could use various methods to pay reparations, including canceling the debt of former colonies and providing financing.

The government said in a statement sent to the Portuguese news agency Lusa that it wants to “deepen mutual relations, respect for historical truth and increasingly intense and close cooperation, based on the reconciliation of fraternal peoples.”

However, he added that he had “no process or program of concrete actions” to pay the reparations, noting that this line had been followed by previous governments.

He described relations with former colonies as “really excellent” and cited cooperation in areas such as education, language, culture and health, in addition to financial, fiscal and economic cooperation.

On Tuesday, the president suggested the need for reparations, drawing sharp criticism from right-wing parties, including the Democratic Alliance’s junior coalition partner CDS-Popular Party and the far-right Chega.

“We cannot sweep it under the carpet or in a drawer. We have an obligation to pilot, to drive this process (of reparations),” the president told reporters on Saturday.

Portugal’s colonial era lasted more than five centuries, with Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor and some territories in Asia subject to Portuguese rule.

The decolonization of African countries and the end of empire in Africa occurred only months after Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution” on April 25, 1974, which overthrew Europe’s longest-running fascist dictatorship and ushered in democracy.