Fascism in Portugal ended fifty years ago and resulted in the establishment of democracy in the country. It was also the start of negotiations with the African liberation movements to end colonialism. Five decades later, the trajectories of Portugal’s former colonies are quite distinct, with relations between the Lusophone countries markedly different from those between other former colonizers and the colonized.

To understand the political, socioeconomic, and military context leading up to the revolution in Portugal, as well as its relationship with Portugal’s former colonies in Africa, Fredson Guilengue, Senior Regional Programme Manager of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung’s Southern Africa Office (RLS) spoke with Michel Cahen (MC). The interview was conducted on 12 February 2024. Cahen is a historian of Portuguese colonialism in Africa and an analyst whose focus is on Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP).

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