The government of the African island of Sao Tome and Principe will ask Portugal to repair the moral damage caused by colonialism, the country’s education and culture minister said on Thursday.
Speaking to Portuguese news agency Lusa, Minister Isabel Abreu said the government of Sao Tome and Principe would develop a plan to negotiate reparations with Portugal, adding that the process would take time.
Abreu said the issue would be discussed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday.
The statement comes after Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, interviewed by Reuters, said last week that his country was responsible for crimes committed during transatlantic slavery and the colonial era, and suggested it was necessary to carry out repairs.
His comments sparked a national debate and sharp criticism from right-wing parties.
Portugal’s center-right government, which holds executive powers, said it would not launch a process to pay reparations, contrary to comments by Rebelo de Sousa, himself a conservative. Instead, he called for reconciliation.
Over more than four centuries, nearly 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese ships, then sold into slavery, primarily in Brazil.
During Portugal’s colonial era, countries such as Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor, and some territories in Asia were subject to Portuguese rule.
Mozambique’s ambassador to the United Nations also reacted to Mr. Rebelo de Sousa’s remarks, welcoming the remarks and saying that confronting the past was “already restorative”, but that “it would be even better if we could go further.
Cape Verde President Jose Maria Neves said Monday that discussions were needed to “achieve understanding and consensus on these issues.”
Brazil’s Minister for Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, told news portal G1 that her team was in contact with the Portuguese government to discuss the issue.
Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary states and institutions should not be held responsible for historical slavery. Advocates say it is necessary to take steps to address the legacy of slavery on impoverished communities and that contemporary states still benefit from the wealth generated by hundreds of years of unpaid labor .
The idea of paying reparations or making amends for transatlantic slavery has a long history and remains deeply contested, but it is gaining ground around the world.
Last month, UN chief Antonio Guterres said reparations were needed to overcome “generations of discrimination”.
