2nd International ICAH Symposium
50th Anniversary of the independence of Portuguese Africa (1976-2026)
The roughly one-thousand-year-old ties between Portugal and Great Britain have also left their mark on Gibraltar. Exactly 50 years ago (1976), the Portuguese colonies of Madeira and the Azores were declared autonomous regions of the Republic of Portugal. This marked the end of a political process that began in 1971 with the designation of Mozambique and Angola as autonomous states, but which led to a bloody war between the colonial power and its African colonies: Guinea-Bussau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Angola (and Cabinda). In mainland Portugal, this process culminated in the Carnation Revolution of 1974. While independence was finally achieved in 1975, long civil wars ensued. The 2nd International Symposium of the Centre for Atlantic History, Gibraltar (ICAH) will take place on Saturday, February 28, 2026, in the Conference Room of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses, 122 Irish Town, Gibraltar. The opening speaker will be the Gibraltar historian Tito Benady, who himself spent five years interned in Madeira during the Second World War. The event will be held in a hybrid format.
The second ICAH International Symposium took place at the Conference Room of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses, 122 Irish Town, Gibraltar, on Saturday, February 28, 2026. Titled 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Portuguese Africa (1976–2026), the event drew around 20 participants in person and was conducted in hybrid format. The symposium opened with remarks by historian Tito Benady, who introduced the topic, followed by the main proceedings led by Christian Cwik. It focused on the historical processes of decolonisation in Portugal’s African territories, the Carnation Revolution, the colonial wars, and the subsequent independences of Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Angola, and related regions, while also touching on Portugal’s long-standing ties to Gibraltar and the broader Atlantic context.
- Tito Benady MBE (Gibraltar)
- Amílcar Cabral
- Antero Veiga (Centro de Estudos Globais da Universidade Aberta, Portugal)
- Celso Carminatti (Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Brasil)
- Christian Cwik (International Center for Atlantic History, Gibraltar - ICAH, Austria)
- Fernando Correia (Centro de Estudos Globais da Universidade Aberta, Portugal)
- Gabriel Maia (Universidade Lusíada, Portugal)
- Inocência Mata (Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal)
- João Carlos Marques Simões (Centro de Estudos Jurídicos, Económicos, Internacionais e Ambientais da Universidade Lusíada, Portugal)
- João Conduto (Centro de Estudos Globais da Universidade Aberta, Portugal)
- João Relvão Caetano (Universidade Aberta, Portugal)
- John Cann (Marine Corps University, EUA)
- José Eduardo Franco (Centro de Estudos Globais da Universidade Aberta, CEG-UAb)
- José Francisco Lynce Pavia (Universidade Lusíada, Portugal)
- Lídia Biai (Universidade Lusíada, Portugal)
- Luísa Paolinelli (Universidade da Madeira, Portugal)
- Regina Brito (Universidade dos Mackenzie, Brasil)
- Teresa Ruel (Universidade Lusôfona, Portugal)