Christopher Benítez Cuartas

After refining and editing it for a while, I decided to release the article “Looking for More…” today. The date has an unmissable symbolism for me.

On this day in 1974, the Carnation Revolution shocked the world as Portuguese troops took over Lisbon and overthrew the authoritarian, corporatists and ultraconservative regime that ruled the country for over four decades.

What has particularly captivated me about Portugal and its historical, political, and cultural development since then is the concept of migration and colonialism.

Some very brief context: April 25th was the military overthrow of the Estado Novo, a corporatist, Catholic fundamentalist, authoritarian regime that brutalized the peoples of its many colonies. Likewise, it let economic and political conditions in the Portuguese mainland fall behind as Europe’s post-war boom put the once powerhouse to shame. The new democratic government, anxious to end the brutal series of wars, negotiated their colonies’ independence by the end of the decade.

As a result, Portugal — which already had emigration problems — had a demographic transformation. On the one hand, white Portuguese settlers from the colonies — os retornados — moved back to the mainland. On the other, many immigrants from the former colonies moved to Portugal and helped fortify their communities around major cities such as Lisbon or Porto. Many also fled the civil wars scourging the former colonies, particularly from Southern Africa and Asia. Not all immigration to Portugal is linked to recent colonial history, as proved by a large Brazilian, South Asian and Middle Eastern presence.

Recent trends indicate many young Portuguese today consider migrating for similar economic reasons. Major Portuguese cities have become unaffordable for younger, low-income people and economic mismanagement has resulted in essential services being compromised. Access to the European Union has boosted this trend since Portugal’s accession in 1986.

Again, these are my observations and viewpoints as an outsider. For a more accurate or relevant picture of the history and demographic trends, look into the accounts of professional historians, statisticians, sociologists, or talk to any Portuguese person you know if they are comfortable with it.

My point with releasing the article today is that any single society at a national level can have such nuances with immigration that happen despite ideology and history. Yes, April 25 was a massive turning point in Portuguese, European and even world history. Still, the relationship between the native-born and immigrant, the former colonizer and the formerly colonized, changes and mutates with the times.

The outcome of April 25 ensured that some people would have to juggle the same struggles I have: Having a conscious historic memory as an individual and acknowledgement of the facts on the ground and what you need to do to survive. It’s perfectly possible that there are young people in Portugal today descended from post-colonial immigrants that are actively considering leaving. Today is a good day to think about the balance of identity, reality, moving forward personally and as a society, and how the state can reflect that.

25 de abril sempre, facismo nunca mais!