Portuguese cabinet blows president’s whistle on reparations for slavery past | Abroad

Last Wednesday, De Sousa said in conversation with foreign correspondents that Portugal bears responsibility for the slave trade and that it must now pay “a price” for it. For centuries, the country shipped millions of enslaved people from the African continent to South America and the Caribbean. Countries such as Angola, Mozambique and Brazil belonged to the Portuguese colonial empire.

De Sousa’s speech came under a lot of criticism from right-wing parties, including the ruling party CDS-PP. Earlier on Saturday, the president, who has a semi-ceremonial position, again made statements about reparations. For example, De Sousa proposed canceling debts or providing financing as ways to make reparations. “We cannot sweep this (the history of slavery, ed.) under the carpet. We must play a leading role in this process (of reparations, ed.),” said the president.

The government then announced that no process has been initiated nor agreements have been made for reparations. Instead, the government says it wants to intensify relations with the former colonies, cooperate better and do justice to history, reports Reuters.

Portugal’s colonial rule did not end until 1974. That year, authoritarian leader António de Oliveira Salazar was deposed in a coup. That event is known as the Carnation Revolution.

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