The Brazilian government has responded for the second time in less than 48 hours to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s proposal for reparations for crimes committed during the colonial era. The president’s statements were made at a dinner with foreign correspondents. Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira cited the domestic policy of “compensating the Brazilian population for African descendants” as an example, but referred the matter to Portugal. On Wednesday, Brazil’s Racial Equality Minister Aniel Franco rushed to demand “concrete action” and announced contacts “with the Portuguese government” to determine next steps. “This is the first time we are holding a debate of this scale at the international level,” he welcomed.
The controversy flared up following statements by the President of the Republic on Tuesday. “We have to pay the expenses. Are there actions that have not been punished and the perpetrators have not been arrested? Are there assets that were looted and not returned? Let’s see how we can fix this,” he said.
The position taken by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the attacks of the majority of right-wing parliamentary parties on the President of the Republic at the solemn meeting dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of April 25 found a response in the international press. The Brazilian newspaper Globo mentioned this Friday the “toxic topic”, while the French Libération recalled “the call of several organizations for the former colonial empires to take responsibility.”
Author: Miguel Bravo Morais This Diogo Carreira
Source: CM Jornal
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