In Portugal, the President stirred up the debate on colonial reparations

4 mins read
May 8, 2024

Portugal’s President has called for reparations for the crimes committed by his country during the transatlantic slave trade and the colonial era, sparking a domestic debate that is gaining ground among former colonized countries. It drew the ire of the Portuguese far-right, which considers taking legal action for “treason to the homeland.”

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal | © Presidência da República Portugesa

“We must pay the price” for our colonial past, declared Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal, on April 23, stating that the country should seek ways to make reparation for the crimes committed during the transatlantic slave trade and the colonial era.

Mr. Rebelo de Sousa added that Portugal could use several methods to pay reparations, such as canceling the debts of former colonies and providing funding.

A few days after the President’s public statements, the government issued a press release on April 27 stating that no reparation process had been initiated regarding these colonial crimes.

The Council of Ministers explained that it wished to “deepen mutual relations, respect for historical truth, and a growing cooperation based on the reconciliation of brotherly peoples.” It added, however, that it had “no specific process or program of action” for the payment of reparations, staying in line with the position of previous governments.

It also described the relationship with the former colonies as “really excellent,” quoting cooperation in areas such as education, culture, and health, in addition to financial, budgetary, and economic cooperation.

“Reparations are underway”

The Portuguese head of state nevertheless reiterated his remarks during a visit to Cape Verde for the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Tarrafal concentration camp, on May 1.

Interviewed by several news media, including RFI, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stressed that the reparations granted to former colonies must result from cooperation between them and Portugal.

International institutions have just called for the North to support the South. For Portugal, there was no doubt about giving priority to the Portuguese-speaking states, which gained their independence after being colonies, he explained. Reparations are ongoing, but they will continue to be made. It’s a process, it’s developing.

Returning home after taking part in Portuguese celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the revolution of April 25, 1974, which brought freedom to Portugal and its former colonies, Sao Tomé’s head of state, Carlos Vila Nova, considered that the mistreatment and violence of colonization had not been resolved.

There have been colonizers and colonized countries. In our case, Portugal colonized five African countries, and this colonization is now part of our history. Decolonization may have been resolved, but the abuse, violence and other acts that took place have not,” he said.

In Portugal, the comments made by President Rebelo de Sousa, a member of the Socialist Party, drew strong criticism from far-right parties such as the Chega.

Chega president André Ventura accused Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of “opening Pandora’s box” with the question of colonial reparations. “You have to know that Portugal has been to the four corners of the world (…) I don’t know why we don’t make a list of the dams, universities, roads, and museums we have built in these countries so that they can give them back to us,” Ventura said in an interview with CNN Portugal.

Criminal proceedings for “treason to the homeland”

The Chega leader also said that the party was discussing the possibility of taking unprecedented criminal action against the President of the Republic for “treason to the homeland,” based on Article 130 of the Constitution. The party’s parliamentary group will meet with experts and reach a decision this week.

André Ventura believes that the President’s remarks place him in first place on the podium of the “worst presidents” in the country’s history. The MP also says that he received “dozens of letters and messages” from veterans and returnees who “haven’t received a cent and have lost everything” and who wonder how “we can let the President’s words slide.

Last March, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa invited Luís Montenegro, leader of the center-right Democratic Alliance coalition, to form a government after winning a tight election. The Democratic Alliance won 80 of the 230 seats in Parliament but failed to secure a government majority. The center-right coalition was closely followed by the Socialist Party, with 78 seats, and the far-right Chega party, with 50 seats.

The Portuguese President is referring to the crimes of the colonial period, during which the country owned Brazil, large parts of coastal Africa including Angola, Guinea, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and Sao Tome and Principe, as well as parts of the Asian continent such as parts of India and East Timor.

Although Brazil gained independence in 1822, it wasn’t until April 25, 1974, a few months after Portugal’s Carnation Revolution, which overthrew Europe’s longest-running fascist dictatorship and established democracy, that the decolonization of African countries and the dissolution of the empire in Africa began.

From the 15th to the 19th century, 6 million Africans from Portuguese colonies were abducted and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese ships and sold into slavery on the American continent, including in Brazil.

These statements come at a time when civil society organizations are increasingly demanding that former colonial powers make reparations to the countries they occupied.

A global reparations fund

Last October, in a speech at a dinner in Kenya, King Charles III referred to the “heinous and unjustifiable acts of violence” committed by Britain against Kenyans during their fight for independence, but refrained from apologizing, despite human rights groups demanding it shortly before his visit.

While Kenyan President William Ruto praised the King’s “exemplary courage” in acknowledging “uncomfortable truths,” he added that “much remains to be done to achieve full redress.” The Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC) had urged King Charles to make an “unequivocal public apology” a few days before his visit.

African leaders are leading a growing global movement demanding reparations for the slave trade and colonial injustices. “It is about time that Africa, whose sons and daughters had their freedoms controlled and were sold into slavery, also receive reparations,” said Ghana’s President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo at a reparations conference in Accra last November.

Following the conference, the African Union (AU) and the 20 members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) joined forces to form what Monique Nsanzabaganwa, vice-president of the AU Commission, called “a united front” to ensure the creation of a global reparations fund.

Ms. Nsanzabaganwa stressed that “the demand for reparations is not an attempt to rewrite history or to continue the cycle of victimization. It is a call to recognize the undeniable truth, and to right the wrongs that have gone unpunished for far too long, and that continue to flourish today.”

The modalities for the operation of the global fund have not been defined yet.

Julie Carballo

Julie Carballo is a journalist for Newsendip.

She used to work for the French newspaper Le Figaro and at the Italian bureau of the international press agency AFP.