"We have to pay the costs," he said. "Are there actions that were not punished and those responsible were not arrested? Are there goods that were looted and not returned? Let's see how we can repair this."
”Apologizing is the easy part.”
Has a head of state of a colonizing nation ever called for real reparations without it being virtue signaling?
Not that I've ever heard of, but damn it would be cool if Portugal decided they wanted to make history and be first.
devolve meu ouro, europeu filho da puta
I wonder what reparations would even be like in this case... money? Returning stolen artifacts?
From what I heard they are talking about stopping the celebration and glorification of “discoveries”, as well as returning artifacts. I really don’t know how any sort of meaningful economic compensation could play out. I feel like it’s impossible to put a number on stolen resources, economic development, lives, etc. Obviously Portugal isn’t the only responsible party, but it’s good to see this rhetoric from a president. Hopefully it can lead to something bigger.
Portugal has to make amends for so much more than the transatlantic slave trade. The cultural genocide of the Americas has to be the most widespread genocide in human history. Two entire continents where virtually no people speak native languages or follow native religions and few native buildings remain. In a just world, western Europe would all be underwater.
Wow can you believe the Portuguese President is giving 90% of Portugal to indigenous Amazonians? And the other 10% to India and China? Wow! Woower! Zoinks!