COLONY NOT LEASED TO GERMANY

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22004, 30 January 1937, Page 13

COLONY NOT LEASED TO GERMANY

DENIAL BY PORTUGUESE GOVERNMENT

(Received January 29, 11.55 p.m.)

LISBON, January 29,

The Government has issued a categorical denial of foreign press reports about the lease of any part of Angola (in Portuguese West Africa) to Germany. “Portugal is merely interested in legitimate trade with Germany, as with any other country. We do not sell, lease, or share our colonies.”

GERMANS IN PORTUGUESE AFRICA

ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED AS * PURELY COMMERCIAL

LONDON, January 28

Commenting on the undertaking by German firms of exploitation works in Angola, a Portuguese possession on the west coast of Africa, the diplomatic, correspondent of the “Manchester Guardian” states that the Portuguese Government has assured the British Government that the arrangement is a purely commercial one and without political significance. There is no question of Germany obtaining a foothold in Portuguese Africa. The Berlin correspondent of “The Times” states that the arrangement does not affect Portuguese sovereignty over the properties which are to be exploited.