Marcelo on reparations to former colonies: “We cannot sweep this under the carpet. We have an obligation to lead this process” – News

During a dinner, on Tuesday, with foreign correspondents in Portugal, the President of the Portuguese Republic stated that Portugal “has to pay the costs” of its colonialism.

“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”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The statements were met with criticism from various parties, with the theme being part of the speeches given during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April.

Now, Marcelo has come to clarify his position, speaking to journalists, during the inauguration of the Resistance Museum in Forte de Peniche.

“I always thought that apologizing is an easy solution to the problem”, began by saying Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, explaining the context in which he had made his previous statements. “I take responsibility for what happened, good and bad, in the empire and then consequences are drawn.” Among these consequences, “I addressed the issue of reparations”, which ended up being at the center of the controversy.

According to the President, “reparation is a reality that began 50 years ago and people have no idea how it began. When we in Cahora Bassa forgave part of Mozambique’s debt, that is a form of reparation. When we led the countries that forgive part of debts to former colonies or convert them, as happened in Cape Verde, this is a form of reparation. When we give Portuguese-speaking nationals a mobility status, this is a form of reparation. Our cooperation in the field of education and culture was, for 50 years, in addition to building the present and the future, a form of reparation”, listed the President of the Republic.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted that in the field of repair, “there are no homogeneous solutions, solutions have to be found according to the circumstances”.

However, Portugal cannot “put this under the carpet or in a drawer. We have an obligation to lead this process, because if we don’t lead it, it will happen to us, sooner or later, what happened to other countries that, having Once colonial powers, after several years they lost the ability to dialogue with former colonies and are being asked to leave, by hook or by crook, the countries where they still have some presence”, he reiterated.

“It is so important for us to embrace our History, our colonial empire, for good and for bad. (…) It is an issue that, being sensitive, has to be assumed”, he concluded.

Repair marks speeches on the right on the 25th of April

During the speeches of the solemn session of the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April in the Assembly of the Republic, Marcelo was criticized by the CDS-PP, the Liberal Initiative and Chega, which accused the President of betraying the Portuguese for having recognized Portugal’s responsibilities for crimes committed during the colonial era, suggesting the payment of reparations for past mistakes.

Paulo Núncio, parliamentary leader of the CDS, rejected “revisiting colonial legacies” and “duties of reparation”: “We do not want historical controversies or duties of reparation that seem imported from other contexts outside the Lusophone framework.”

Rui Rocha, leader of the Liberal Initiative (IL), considered that anyone who declares that Portugal is obliged to “compensate third parties” for the past is attacking “the country’s interests” and said to Marcelo: “And no, Mr President, History It’s not debt. And History does not require penance.”

The most violent critic was André Ventura, from Chega. “The President of the Republic betrayed the Portuguese when he said that we have to be guilty and held responsible for our History, that we have to compensate other countries for the History we have with us”, he criticized.

By left-wing parties, the issue was secondary, although Mariana Mortágua, from Bloco de Esquerda, said it was important that Portugal, as happens in other countries, debate its colonial past and rejected the right-wing narrative that “blames the democracy for all the bad things that happened.”