Portugal: National Pride and Imperial Neurosis

Portugal’s journey, from a minor colonising power to a member of the European Union, transformed its sense of national belonging and citizenship. African colonial possessions, which under the Salazar-Caetano regime had been formally incorporated into the nation as a ruse to offset international criticism of Portugal’s prolonged imperialism, were later disavowed, along with those Africans who had become Portuguese citizens under the earlier arrangement. As a result, Portugal has failed to recognise the existence within its borders of a black community, its history and its exclusion, which continues to the present day