President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced on Monday that he intends to travel to Guinea-Bissau this November with Prime Minister António Costa to celebrate the country’s independence.
Speaking to reporters in Cape Town, South Africa, during a meeting with the Portuguese and the descendants of the Portuguese, the head of state expressed his readiness to celebrate the independence of all Portuguese-speaking countries, former colonies of Portugal, if they were invited.
“I am already ready to go on November 15, and the Prime Minister will also go to the celebration of the independence of Guinea-Bissau, which was the first,” Marcelo Rebelo de Souza said.
Guinea-Bissau was the first Portuguese colony in Africa to gain independence. Independence was unilaterally declared on September 24, 1973, after a decade of armed struggle, but a celebration is planned for November.
The United Nations immediately recognized the independence of Guinea-Bissau, and Portugal only a year later, in September 1974, after April 25.
Regarding the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the independence of Angola in 2025, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa added: “In the case of Angola, in the conversations I had with President João Lourenço, the hypothesis of this invitation has already been accepted. And if you understand that the parliament and the government will also leave, I think that’s great.”
In his opinion, the presence of the head of the Portuguese state at these celebrations is “symbolically very strong.”
In this regard, the President of the Republic recalled his speech at a formal meeting on April 25 this year in Parliament, in which he defended that Portugal should not only “apologize – without a doubt” for exploitation and slavery during the colonial period, but also “take on take responsibility” for everything you’ve done in the past.
That there was “an apology, but more than that, the assumption of historical responsibility for colonization, and what was bad about it, and not just a historiography of what would be good or would be good, steps have already been taken,” said He.
“Now it is clear that it becomes stronger if the former colonizer goes to independence and celebrates there,” he said.
At the same time, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed the desire that “countries that have become independent through centuries of colonization on April 25, 2024” celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, which “accelerated what was inevitable”.
The President of the Republic mentioned that Prime Minister António Costa had arranged with him to convey this invitation to the President of Angola, João Lourenço, and that it also extends to Timor-Leste, in addition to Portuguese-speaking African countries.
When asked about the controversy surrounding the presence of Brazilian President Lula da Silva in parliament on April 25 this year, the head of state replied that “the celebration of the 50th anniversary will be wider” than usual.
However, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa admitted that “if this is the case, which the Assembly of the Republic understands”, the invited presidents will be present in the parliament: “It is not possible that they should all be speakers, but something symbolic.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa arrived in South Africa this Monday, where he will stay until Thursday to celebrate the Day of Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese Communities.
On Tuesday, he will be received in Pretoria by the President of the Republic of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, as part of an official visit, qualified by the South African authorities as a state visit.
On Wednesday, Portugal Day celebrations will continue in Johannesburg and Pretoria, also counting on the participation of Angolan Prime Minister António Costa along with Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho.