A situação colonial, o 25 de Abril e a independência de São Tomé e Príncipe: revisitar as histórias

Abstract

In the 1960s, while insurrections erupted in other colonies, São Tomé and Príncipe was characterized by social and political immobility. Given the control of the people by the police regime, political alienation prevailed.

April 25th and, later, the declared "struggle" constituted an unexpected change, not because of the predictable end of colonialism, but because of the alteration in local hegemonies and the consequent, seemingly radical, change in political ideologies. These changes did not occur without tensions, particularly regarding the independence of the São Tomé and Príncipe Liberation Movement. Despite the freedom resulting from April 25th, the country was born with the imposition of a party hegemony, based, in the name of the "people," on coercion over citizens.

In this text, we address the final years of colonialism, the history of the "struggle," and, after April 25th, the favoritism shown to the MLSTP by the resigning colonial authorities. To what extent did the international situation, the "struggle," and the dissensions between islands after April 25th shape the archipelago's independence? What changes were adopted with independence? What constraints and inertias survived?