Cabo Verde made a historic debut at this year’s World Cup, emerging as the smallest country ever to reach the tournament’s knockout stages. Coach Bubista, 56, expressed immense pride in his squad’s journey, stating before their round-of-32 match against defending champions Argentina, “We represent our island, but we also represent Africa.” Despite going toe-to-toe with Argentina until a goal deep into extra time led to their defeat, this success resonated globally, reinforcing feelings of solidarity among Africans.
However, within the island nation itself, the relationship with African identity and solidarity is far more intricate. António Tavares, a veteran choreographer and director of the cultural centre in Mindelo, notes a significant divide. “Some Cabo Verdeans identify as Portuguese and not African, presenting their skin colour and that the islands were uninhabited before Europeans came as proof of their origin,” Tavares explained. This perspective is deeply rooted in the country’s history as a Portuguese colony for over 500 years, a period that included its role as one of the world’s largest marketplaces for enslaved people.
Tavares, who is dark-skinned in a country with a predominantly light-skinned population, points to deep-rooted colourism as a lingering legacy of this colonial past. Experts suggest that a hierarchy of enslaved people, instituted by the Portuguese based on labour roles and skin colour, continues to be felt today. Nardi Sousa, a professor of sociology at the University of Santiago, attributes this to a “very Luso-Tropicalism” mentality, referring to Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre’s philosophy that claimed Portuguese colonizers were more “humane” due to their warm climate, leading to race-mixing with the enslaved.
The historical sites on the islands bear witness to this complex past. At Cidade Velha, a Unesco world heritage site on the southernmost tip of Ilha de Santiago, a Catholic church stands where thousands of people captured from mainland Africa were baptised. This ritual was performed to command higher prices during the transatlantic slave trade. Sousa describes Cidade Velha as holding “a very bad memory because it’s here that the African starts to be dehumanised and to lose its identity.” He added, “If my name was Balde, when I come to Cabo Verde, Portuguese give me a name like Manuel or Jose. Cabo Verde was a laboratory for the Latinisation of Africans, for losing your identity.” Tavares echoes this sentiment, questioning, “Why am I Antonio? Why do I have only Portuguese name?”
Even after the abolition of slavery, the oppression continued under dictator Salazar, who established an Auschwitz-style concentration camp in the mountainous city of Tarrafal, on another tip of Santiago. From 1936 to 1954 and again from 1961 to 1974, this camp held detained communists and prisoners from the colonies, subjecting them to inhumane conditions and neglect. A camp doctor infamously quipped, “I’m not here to cure, but to sign death certificates.” Today, the Resistance Museum stands on the camp grounds, seeking recognition as another Unesco world heritage site.
As the global debate on reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism gains momentum, the African Union (AU) has indicated that future efforts could involve “diplomatic pressure or legal actions at international courts.” Cabo Verde’s culture minister, Augusto Jorge de Albuquerque Veiga, affirmed the country’s alignment with the AU’s position. “The past of slavery is something that we’ve been dealing with for more than 500 years … we are trying to dialogue with all the countries involved in this slave trade and especially with Portugal that was our coloniser,” he stated, adding his personal view: “I am in favour of reparations for what was taken and stolen from the African continent.”
Some argue that for Cabo Verdeans to establish a clear identity and contribute meaningfully to this debate, they must first reconnect with their roots. This internal struggle is highlighted by frequent reports of Black Africans, particularly Nigerians and Senegalese, being targeted for profiling at Cabo Verde’s airports. Tavares views this as a contravention of the pan-Africanist ideals of writer Amílcar Cabral, who was instrumental in the independence of Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau.
Further criticism has been directed at the national curriculum, which reportedly offers a tailored version of European history that some say barely details colonial crimes on African soil, leading to a feeling of not being fully African. “The Portuguese created many problems by creating this system … we need to decolonise our soul,” Tavares asserted. “The best way to decolonise is to start educating people on our history … there’s a need for us to recover forgotten memories, stolen memories.”
However, securing an acknowledgment of wrongs from Portugal remains a significant challenge. Cabo Verdean president José Maria Neves noted in 2023 that the reparations debate is slowing due to the rise of the right-wing in Europe. That same year, both countries agreed to a €12 million debt for climate swap, which some critics perceive as a soft form of reparations designed to avoid using the explicit term.
