The President of Cape Verde, Jose Maria Neves, acknowledged that the emergence of right-wing populism has complicated the serious discussion surrounding colonial reparations, but maintained that this should not prevent countries from holding these discussions behind closed doors.

In a Wednesday online interview with the news site Brasil Já, Neves stated that discussing reparations in the “public arena” might exacerbate political polarization in nations like Portugal, the previous colonizer of Cape Verde, where the far-right is becoming more and more popular.

“We see extremist, xenophobic, anti-immigration groups growing in former colonising powers,” Neves said. “There are no political conditions to publicly discuss these questions at the moment.

“But among governments, it is necessary to discuss these matters.”

He added that there were “diplomatic corridors” that could be utilized in place of encouraging the formation of these kinds of organizations, saying it was feasible to “build solutions” for talks to occur.

When questioned by Reuters in April, Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that his nation was accountable for crimes during the colonial era and transatlantic slavery and implied that reparations were necessary. His remarks provoked heated criticism from right-wing parties and a national conversation.

For more than 400 years, Portuguese ships abducted around six million Africans, forced them across the Atlantic, and sold them into chattel slavery, mostly in Brazil. Before sending police officers to Haiti, President William Ruto of Kenya conferred with foreign leaders, security experts, and political advisors.

During the Portuguese colonial era, Portugal ruled over nations including Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor, and certain Asian provinces. Among other reasons, reparations opponents contend that modern states and institutions shouldn’t be held accountable for their history.

Opponents of reparations argue, among other things, that contemporary governments and institutions shouldn’t be held responsible for historical slavery. Proponents contend that action is required to address the legacy of slavery on disadvantaged groups because states are still profiting today from the wealth accumulated by hundreds of years of labour without pay.

The concept of paying reparations or further atonement for transatlantic slavery has gained support worldwide, despite ongoing heated discussion.