New york: Angola's permanent representative to the United Nations, Francisco da Cruz, highlighted the severe negative impact of 'radicalized slavery', which associated African populations with a permanent condition of subordination, exploitation, and exclusion. The diplomat, who was speaking at the II Days commemorating Africa Day, at the invitation of the Student Association of the Federal University of Piau, Brazil, stressed that the impacts of this system remain visible to this day in the economic, social, and racial inequalities that affect millions of Africans and people of African descent in various parts of the world. According to Angola Press News Agency, the Angolan representative at the UN stated that the transatlantic slave trade constituted the largest forced migration in human history. For around four centuries, millions of Africans were captured, forcibly displaced, and subjected to inhumane conditions of exploitation. Speaking on the topic in a virtual format, he mentioned that this system des troyed communities, separated families, weakened African political structures, and contributed significantly to the enrichment of colonial economies and the consolidation of modern capitalism. He recalled that African societies had complex political, economic, and cultural structures before European colonization. He specified that slavery and colonialism interrupted many of these historical processes, contributing to the marginalization of the African continent in the international system. In this context, he highlighted the relevance of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of Resolution A/80/L.48. The aforementioned document formally recognizes the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and racialized slavery as crimes against humanity and reaffirms the need to confront their persistent legacies, including structural racism, social exclusion, and economic inequalities. For the diplomat, by officially recognizing the historical and contemporary impacts of slavery, the international communit y reinforces the legitimacy of the demands for reparatory justice presented by African states, African diaspora organizations, and social movements. The resolution also emphasizes the importance of education, historical memory, and the promotion of racial equality as fundamental instruments to prevent the repetition of these injustices. He noted that the debate on historical reparations in the international arena is increasingly growing, highlighting that reparatory justice is not limited to financial compensation. It also includes historical recognition, formal apologies, restitution of cultural heritage, institutional reforms, and social inclusion policies. In this sense, he highlighted the emphasis that the issue has received at the level of the African Union, which defined 2025 as 'The Year of Justice for Africans and Peoples of African Descent through Reparations', as well as the initiative to establish the period 2026-2036 as the 'Decade of Action on Reparations and African Heritage'. He highlighted t hat the advances are equally important on a diplomatic and symbolic level, recalling that, recently, French President Emmanuel Macron defended the deepening of the debate on reparations linked to France's historical role in the transatlantic slave trade, in cooperation with Ghana. In parallel, the High-Level Conference on Reparatory Justice, scheduled for June 2026 in Accra, constitutes another step in the attempt to convert historical recognition into concrete actions. On the other hand, he made it known that Pope Leo XIV made, on May 25th, a historic request for forgiveness for the role of the Holy See in legitimizing slavery, recognizing this past as a 'wound in Christian memory'. Despite this, he highlighted that important political and legal challenges persist related to the definition, implementation, and effective scope of historical reparations. He pointed out that the preservation of historical memory is essential for the construction of fairer and more inclusive societies. Education plays a centra l role in this process. He considered that teaching African history and slavery allows us to combat incomplete or Eurocentric narratives and contributes to valuing African and Afro-descendant cultures.