Cape Verde: the independence that still stings in Portugal

Cape Verde: the independence that still stings in Portugal

The Cape Verde archipelago, discovered uninhabited by Portuguese navigators in the 15th century, became a Portuguese colony and was settled with African slaves to grow cotton. Today, 45 years after independence, an uncomfortable debate resurfaces: should the Portuguese have kept it?

The relationship between Portugal and Cape Verde is a peculiar one. On 5 July 1975, the African country gained independence peacefully, yet with a historical bond many consider indissoluble. In revisionist circles it is argued that, having been uninhabited before colonization, the archipelago 'is a Portuguese creation' and that independence was a mistake orchestrated by a minority. Some even mention the original plan of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), which sought to unite both territories, but the distance from the mainland coast made it impossible.

Colonial nostalgia blends with geopolitics. Some argue that Portugal made a mistake by prioritizing Angola and Mozambique in the colonial war, neglecting a territory that was more accessible and easier to defend. Others point out that independence was the result of pressure from a population mostly descended from Africans, and that any irredentist discourse has little real traction.

Curiously, the debate also drifts toward the Iberian Peninsula's own history: some note that Portugal, thanks to its alliance with England, avoided being absorbed by Castile, and that this same 'imperial' logic is what some apply to its former colonies.

The truth is that there is no organized movement in Portugal today calling for the reintegration of Cape Verde. The matter remains in the realm of historical reflection and poorly digested resentment. But the uncomfortable question lingers: what would Cape Verde have become as the 'Canary Islands of Portugal'?