The portuguese radical right, the end of the empire and neo-colonial aspirations (1976-1980)

Abstract

The end of the colonial war, the recognition of the right to self-determination for the peoples of the African colonies and their independence are central to the narrative of the radical right in the first decade of democracy in Portugal. The meditation on the historical end of Portugal, the trauma of the dissolution of the empire and the rejection of the country's confinement to its European borders is almost omnipresent in the writing in which, especially between 1976 and 1980, this political field was prolific. Always echoing the colonial ideology of the Estado Novo and the nationalist providentialism of Portuguese philosophy, its cadres and publications were committed to formulating and publishing projects of return to Africa. This article aims to discuss and clarify these proposals, which also sought to reaffirm the country's Atlanticist vocation and reject membership of the European Economic Community, which was seen as a major national goal at the time.