
The United Nations debate regarding Portuguese colonial issue
Nov 5, 2018 | Papers, Publications

The United Nations debate regarding Portuguese colonial issue and the development of the idea of self-determination (1961-1975)
- Aurora Almada e Santos
- 2018
- Caderno de Estudos Africanos
- Issue 35
- 13-32
- Language: Portuguese
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/cea.2505
- ISSN: 2182-7400 (online)
Paper included in the thematic dossier “Da Resistência Colonial aos Desafios da Contemporaneidade: 40 anos de independência das colónias portuguesas” [From Colonial Resistance to Contemporary Challenges: 40 years of independence of Portuguese colonies], coordinated by Aurora Almada e Santos and Vasco Martins.
This text intends to approach the relationship between the United Nations and Portuguese government in the period between 1961 and 1975, in particular the debates regarding the Portuguese colonial issue. Self-determination was inscribed in the United Nations Charter as a generic and undefined concept, detached from the dispositions of dependent territories. Due to a long process of institutionalization, the idea gradually became the right of the colonized peoples to freely determine their own destiny. The United Nations intended that Portugal implement the concept of self-determination adopted by the organization to its colonized territories. The continuous analysis of the Portuguese colonial issue influenced the debate regarding self-determination, constraining the United Nations to introduce precisions in the idea, which nevertheless continued to have a controversial meaning.
Key words:
United Nations, Portuguese colonial issue, ideas, self-determination, independence, national liberation movements
Other Publications
Search
Events
setembro, 2026
Tipologia do Evento:
Todos
Todos
Colloquium
Conference
Conference
Congress
Course
Cycle
Debate
Exhibition
Launch
Lecture
Meeting
Movie session
Open calls
Opening
Other
Presentation
Round table
Seminar
Showcase
Symposium
Tour
Workshop
- Event Name
seg
ter
qua
qui
sex
sab
dom
-
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

Detalhes do Evento
José Pedro Castanheira's second work about the political police of the Estado Novo during Caetano’s rule, will be launched at the Camões Secondary School in Lisbon,
Ver mais
Detalhes do Evento
José Pedro Castanheira’s second work about the political police of the Estado Novo during Caetano’s rule, will be launched at the Camões Secondary School in Lisbon, with a presentation by Maria Inácia Rezola and Fernando Mendes.
Histórias da PIDE
Quando era a DGS de Caetano. Volume 2
A «evolução na continuidade» prometida em 1968 por Marcello Caetano nada alterou na temida e execrada polícia política da ditadura. Apenas mudou o nome: a salazarista PIDE passou a chamar‑se Direção‑Geral de Segurança (DGS). A «primavera marcelista», que desabrochara com o fim da deportação de Mário Soares em São Tomé, começou a murchar 18 meses depois, quando o socialista foi compelido ao exílio em Paris. Outra vítima foi Daniel Cabrita, militante clandestino do PCP, fundador e primeiro líder da Intersindical (atual CGTP), torturado, julgado e condenado, cuja mulher se suicidou quando ele estava preso na cadeia de Peniche. À atenção e vigilância da PIDE/DGS continuava a não escapar ninguém: nem os sucessivos patriarcas de Lisboa, nem os sete oficiais que viriam a fazer parte da Junta de Salvação Nacional do 25 de Abril de 1974. A violência da DGS atingiu o paroxismo nas colónias, testemunhada pela Cruz Vermelha Internacional: nas vésperas da revolução, em Moçambique a tortura prosseguia, em massa e até à morte.
Estas são algumas das Histórias da PIDE que José Pedro Castanheira investigou ao longo dos anos para o Expresso, e que ocorreram durante a governação de Marcello Caetano.
Mais informações sobre o livro
Tempo
(Quarta-feira) 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Organizador
Tinda da China and Camões Secondary School
News
IHC renews its governing bodies and coordination teams
Sep 15, 2026
Rui Lopes is the new President of the Board of Directors
PHONLAB gives rise to a permanent exhibition at the University of Coimbra
Sep 10, 2026
‘Armando de Lacerda Wing’ opens on 17 September
Lisbon is hosting the 8th International Conference on Public History
Aug 31, 2026
Under the theme ‘The Public History of Difficult Pasts’
CONTACTS
WORKING HOURS




























































































































