"(...) Above all, Portugal must assume full responsibility for exploitation and slavery in the colonial period", said Rebelo de Sousa, at the commemorative session of the 49th anniversary of the 25th of April, in the Assembly of the Republic, regarding the session welcome to the Brazilian President, Lula da Silva. "It's not just apologizing – due, no doubt – 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 should mean assuming responsibility for the future of what we did in the past, good and bad", he said.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the colonization of Brazil also had positive factors, "the language, the culture, the unity of the Brazilian territory".
"On the bad side, the exploitation of native peoples, denounced by António Vieira, slavery, the sacrifice of the interest of Brazil and Brazilians", he pointed out.
Apologies and possible compensation from Portugal have also been raised by representatives of civil society in the Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP), comprising Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe, due to the "immeasurable damage" caused by the ex-colonial and scatist power. Officially, Portugal remains frighteningly silent.
