Marcelo argues that Portugal has the “obligation” to “lead” the reparations process | Colonialism

The head of state defended this Saturday that Portugal has the “obligation” to “lead” the process of reparation to former colonies, under penalty of losing the “capacity for dialogue” with them. And he noted that this process does not have to involve “paying compensation”, giving as an example reparations already made by Portugal such as debt forgiveness for colonized countries or the “mobility status” of nationals from Portuguese-speaking countries.

“We cannot put this under the carpet or in a drawer. We have the obligation to pilot, to lead this process. Otherwise, what happened to other countries that, as colonial powers, lost the capacity for dialogue and understanding with the former colonies and are being invited to leave, by hook or by crook, the countries where they still have some presence”, he stated, at the inauguration of the National Museum of Resistance and Freedom, in Peniche.

The President sought to frame the statements he made this week at a dinner with foreign correspondents, in which he considered that Portugal must take “full responsibility” for the colonial crimes committed and “pay the costs”. According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, he was asked if Portugal should “apologize” for colonialism and he himself replied “no” because he considered that this was “an easy solution to the problem: apologize and never talk about it again” .

Instead, he argues that we must take “responsibility for what was bad and good in the empire.” Something that, he says, “means removing several consequences”. Firstly, in relation to the “massacres” and, secondly, to the issue of heritage assets. On this matter, the President argued that it is necessary to “know” if there is heritage brought from colonized countries.

The President also once again defended the “importance” of “reparations” to former colonies and explained that this process does not necessarily involve “paying compensation”. “But is the reparation to pay compensation? No, it is a reality that began 50 years ago”, he clarified, giving as an example debt forgiveness for colonized countries or the “mobility status” of national citizens of Portuguese-speaking countries. .

“All our cooperation was, for 50 years, in addition to building the present and the future, a form of reparation”, he stressed, also referring to the “lines of credit”, “financing” or “special programs” established with the former colonies.

“Does it mean going to pay for this and that? It means that the entire basis of our cooperation and what we can do in the present and in the future has an idea that is the journey we have had together and reparation for what we didn’t do, what we did wrong, and that, as far as possible, we have to do it”, he insisted.

For the President, it is true that Portugal left “infrastructures” in the countries, “but in return we also derived benefits from there over a long time, depending on the colony”. That’s why it’s “important to acknowledge our history, our colonial empire, for good and for bad, the weight that the millions who speak Portuguese outside of Portugal have on our projection in the world”, he argued.

Marcelo admitted that reparation “solutions” cannot be “homogeneous”, having to be “found according to the circumstances”. And he argues that other problems also need to be resolved, such as that of former combatants, an area in which he says he is “committed to going further”, or the situation of the “dispossessed” Portuguese, who “in few cases” have had “reparations”. . “It is an issue that, being sensitive, has to be addressed because it is part of our history, because we cannot omit it”, he concluded.