The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, explained this Saturday the controversial statements on the issue of colonialism reparations, considering that this is "a reality that began 50 years ago".

"The question was whether I thought we should apologize. I said no. I have always thought that apologizing is an easy solution to the problem, you apologize and never talk about it again. You take responsibility for what was bad and good in the empire", he told reporters, during the inauguration of the Resistance and Freedom Museum, in Peniche.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considered that "you cannot assume only the good or only the bad", explaining that "assuming" means "withdrawing the various consequences". "I spoke about the issue of assets. We do not have much real estate brought from the colonies, but it is a question of knowing what there was", he said.

On the issue of "reparation" to former colonies, Marcelo was assertive: "Reparation is a reality that began 50 years ago and people have no idea how it began".

The President of the Republic then explained that the fact that Portugal forgives debts to countries of former colonies and gives a "mobility status" to citizens of Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) "is already a form of reparation".

"All our cooperation has been for 50 years, in addition to construction and the future, a form of reparation and it continues to be", he added.

"We left what we built there, but, in return, we also benefited from there for a long time, depending on the colony. There are no homogeneous solutions. Solutions must be found taking into account the circumstances", he said.

The President of the Republic stressed that "there is a very important point" that has been highlighted throughout his presidency: "We cannot put this under the rug. We have an obligation to lead, to lead this process. If we do not lead it, what happened to other countries will happen to us, which lost their capacity for dialogue with former colonies".

For Marcelo, this is an issue that "must be assumed because it is part of our history and we cannot omit it".

At issue are statements by the President of the Republic at a dinner with the Foreign Press Association, where he stated that Portugal must "pay the costs" of colonialism.

"Are there actions that have not been punished and those responsible have not been arrested? Are there goods that have been looted and not returned? Let's see how we can fix this", said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

At the event, Rebelo de Sousa said that Portugal "assumes full responsibility" for the mistakes of the past and recalls that these crimes, including colonial massacres, had costs.

[News updated at 2:40 pm]

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