The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said on Tuesday night (23) that his country is responsible for crimes committed during transatlantic slavery and the colonial era and stated that there is a need for reparation.
At an event with foreign correspondents, the social democrat said that Portugal “takes full responsibility” for the mistakes of the past and that these crimes, which include massacres, had “costs”. “We must bear the costs,” he said.
In April last year, Rebelo had already said that the country should apologize and assume its responsibility for the transatlantic slave trade. At the time, he was the first leader of a southern European nation to suggest such a move.
“Apologizing is sometimes the easiest thing to do. You say sorry, turn your back and the job is done,” he said at the time, after a visit from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT). This Tuesday, when going further and mentioning reparations, he repeated that “apologizing is the easy part.”
“Are there actions that were not punished and those responsible were not arrested? Are there assets that were looted and not returned? Let’s see how we can repair this,” he said.
Out there
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For more than four centuries, millions of Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported on ships by mainly European traders and sold into slavery. Those who survived the trip ended up working on plantations in the Americas, especially in Brazil and the Caribbean.
Portugal played an important role in this system, as it trafficked almost 6 million Africans, more than any other European nation. So far, however, he has failed to confront his past.
Critics say that little is taught in schools about the country’s role in slavery — the colonial era, in fact, during which countries like Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde and East Timor were subjected to Portuguese rule, is often perceived as a source of pride.
Rebelo’s own statement last year was marked by a contradictory consideration that romanticizes the slavery model. On the occasion, the Portuguese president said that the colonization of Brazil also had positive factors, such as the spread of the Portuguese language and culture. “But, on the bad side, the exploitation of indigenous peoples, slavery, the sacrifice of the interests of Brazil and Brazilians,” he said.
The idea of paying reparations or making other corrections has gained traction around the world. In 2022, for example, the Netherlands apologized for colonization and slavery in Africa and Asia and announced the creation of a 200 million euro fund aimed at measures that raise awareness among the population about the issue.
In one of the most recent initiatives, the United Nations Permanent Forum on People of African Descent recommended, in June 2023, the creation of an international tribunal to address atrocities dating back to slavery.
The scope of any tribunal has not yet been determined, but the group recommended in a preliminary report that it should address reparations for slavery, apartheid, genocide and colonialism. The court would help establish legal standards for complex international and historical reparations claims, supporters say.
