Luanda – Angola Head of State João Lourenço said Tuesday in Luanda that Angola will never request Portugal’s compensation for colonial-era crimes.
Speaking at a joint press conference following the signing of twelve agreements during the official visit the Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro is paying to Angola, the President said that “if Angola never raised this issue during its 49 years of independence, it will never raise it”.
João Lourenço said the compensation issue is a bit like the borders between countries, which have changed over the centuries and if raised today, it would bring a lot of discussion and no solution.
According to João Lourenço, the colonizing countries would never have the real capacity to make reparations of fair value. “It's impossible, not difficult”.
The Angolan statesman said Portugal is not the only colonizing power, there were many others such as Spain, France, England, for example, and this would lead to an “unimaginable revolution”.
The issue of compensation was raised by the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, during the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution on April 25. At the time, he acknowledged Portugal's responsibility for crimes committed during the colonial era and suggested paying reparations for past mistakes.
“It's not just about apologizing - which is undoubtedly due - for what we've done, because apologizing is sometimes the easiest thing to do: you apologize, turn your back, and the job is done. No, it's taking responsibility for the future for the good and bad things we've done in the past,” said the Portuguese statesman at the time.
However, the issue raised a number of controversial opinions in Portuguese political circles.
Luís Montenegro is on a three-day visit to Angola to strengthen bilateral cooperation.ART/AMP
