Portugal's president suggests debt cancellation to repair colonial, slavery legacy

Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa addresses the nation from Belem Palace to announce his decision to dissolve parliament triggering snap general elections on March 10th, after Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned due to an ongoing investigation on the alleged corruption in multi-billion dollar lithium, green hydrogen and data centre deals, in Lisbon, Portugal, November 9, 2023. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo

By Sergio Goncalves

LISBON (Reuters) – President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Saturday Portugal could use several methods to pay reparations for atrocities committed during transatlantic slavery and the colonial era, such as cancelling the debt of former colonies and providing financing.

From the 15th to the 19th century, 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels and sold into slavery, primarily to Brazil.

The president said on Tuesday that Portugal was responsible for crimes committed during transatlantic slavery and the colonial era, and suggested there was a need for reparations.

His words sparked strong criticism from right-wing parties, including the junior partner of the Democratic Alliance government coalition, CDS-Popular Party, and the far-right Chega.

The leader of the parliamentary bench of the CDS-Partido Popular, Paulo Nuncio, said on Thursday that his party “does not need to revisit colonial legacies, reparation duties, which seem imported from outside”.

Chega leader Andre Ventura said that the behavior of the president was “a betrayal of the country”.

“We cannot put this under the carpet or in a drawer. We have an obligation to pilot, to lead this process (of reparations)”, the president told reporters on Saturday.

He said the country must take “responsibility for the bad and good of what happened in the empire and draw consequences.”

The country’s colonial era lasted more than five centuries, with Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor and some territories in Asia subject to Portuguese rule.

The decolonisation of the African countries and the end of the African empire only happened months after the “Carnation Revolution” on April 25, 1974, which toppled the longest fascist dictatorship in Europe and ushered in democracy.

Rebelo de Sousa said that reparations can take several types, “such as debt forgiveness” for countries that were colonised, “credit lines, financing or special cooperation programs”.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; editing by David Evans)