Portugal: reparations for former colonies?
On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has called for his country to pay reparations to its former colonies, for example by cancelling their debts. Of all the colonial powers, Portugal is the European country with the longest involvement in the slave trade. The topic is sensitive, as a glance at the commentaries shows.
Give back what does not belong to us
There can be no hiding from the consequences of colonial history, writes commentator Luís Delgado in Visão:
“History cannot be rewritten. It is unchangeable. ... It cannot be erased. Like everyone else, I am immensely proud of our collective history whose imperial grandeur was manifested in the great epic of the discoveries. We made countless mistakes, behaved reprehensibly and subjugated various indigenous peoples. This is true. As a nation that has also been severely oppressed, we have sincerely apologised to each and every one of these peoples. We have walked the painful path of redemption. Sensibly, serenely, openly, we must now give back what does not belong to us.”
Blame hard to measure
The crimes of the slave trade were mostly committed by private enterprises, historian Lourenço Pereira Coutinho explains in Expresso:
“There is a risk of judging the past through the eyes of the present, and of encouraging a collective process of self-flagellation that contributes little to healthy societies and relations between states. ... In the specific case of the slave trade operated by the Portuguese between the 15th and 19th centuries, trade was mainly with Brazil and carried out by private individuals. ... The crown, which is to say the state, did not interfere in the process, although of course it benefited indirectly from this trade, since the Brazilian economy was based on slave labour. In other words: How can the blame be determined and measured?”
Facing up to the past as an act of liberation
The military dictatorship and its myths continue to cast a shadow to this day, anthropologist Miguel Vale de Almeida writes in Público:
“On the basis of the colonial economy, it constructed a narrative that mystified the experience of the expansion of the Portuguese state and its colonialism, while at the same time excluding the trade in enslaved people from the national narrative. ... The state, which represents us as a historical community, must apologise to the victims, to us, and to the world for the crimes of the trade in enslaved people and for colonialism and its violence. ... Our national identity will not suffer if we have the political courage to move forward with these 'gestures'.”