During the Portuguese Colonial War (1961-1974), thousands of Africans fought alongside the Portuguese Armed Forces and risked their lives for a homeland that they believed was their own. But, after the Carnation Revolution, which brought an end to the Portuguese Dictatorship and the colonial war, they were left behind. Persecuted and killed by the new political order. The Guinean African Commandos, the first elite troop of the Portuguese Army composed solely of black men, suffered the worst of Portugal’s abandonment. Nearly 50 years later, the surviving Guinean Commandos tell their story for the first time. They no longer fear reprisals, nor are they scared to speak out. They want their names to be remembered. And they want the rights that they won on the battlefield to be honoured.
