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Minister of Indigenous Peoples calls for combating ‘racism and xenophobia’ against Brazilians in Portugal after country talks about historical reparations | Policy

Minister of Indigenous Peoples calls for combating ‘racism and xenophobia’ against Brazilians in Portugal after country talks about historical reparations | Policy
Minister of Indigenous Peoples calls for combating ‘racism and xenophobia’ against Brazilians in Portugal after country talks about historical reparations | Policy
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Sonia Guajajara talks about the importance of Portugal talking about reparations

“It is also necessary to implement serious policies against racism and xenophobia that many Brazilians still suffer in Portuguese lands”, stated Guajajara.

The minister also said that the recognition of responsibility and the willingness to promote reparation for damages bring to international public debate “in an unprecedented way the urgent relevance of advancing an agenda for ethnic-racial equality”.

On Tuesday night (23), Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, president of Portugal, stated that his country “assumes full responsibility for the damage caused” to Brazil, such as massacres of indigenous people, the slavery of millions of Africans and looted goods.

“We have to pay the costs [pela escravidão]. 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 fix this”, declared Rebelo.

“Reparation is a premise for citizenship,” said the Minister of Indigenous Peoples.

It was the first time that a president of Portugal — who is the country’s head of state — acknowledged guilt. Last year, Rebelo de Sousa said Portugal should apologize for transatlantic slavery and colonialism, but stopped short of offering a full apology.

“Our government is open to dialogue and contribution in the construction of actions, measures and recovery and reparation plans that can be implemented by Portugal”, stated Guajajara.

Portugal was the country that trafficked the most Africans in the colonial era. There were almost 6 million of them, almost half of the total number of people enslaved at the time by European countries.

The article is in Portuguese

Portugal

Tags: Minister Indigenous Peoples calls combating racism xenophobia Brazilians Portugal country talks historical reparations Policy

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