Portugal should apologise, confront past role in slavery, says president

FILE PHOTO: Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa speaks during a news conference at Belem Palace, in Lisbon, Portugal, October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on Tuesday his country should apologise and take responsibility for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, the first time a leader of the southern European nation has suggested such a national apology.

From the 15th to the 19th century, 6 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese vessels and sold into slavery, primarily to Brazil.