The leader of the Chega party, André Ventura, voiced strong criticism against the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on Friday. Ventura challenged Rebelo de Sousa’s recent comments describing Portugal and Angola’s relations as “excellent,” following remarks from Angola’s President, João Lourenço, on Portuguese colonialism in Angola.
“When a public television station in Angola, funded with public money and under the direction of the MPLA and its leaders, insults millions of Portuguese by saying that Portugal will be governed with the goats of Beira Baixa and Beira Alta, and yet we have a President of the Republic saying everything went well and embracing the Angolan president, asserting that relations are great… I must say, we’re at a zero point concerning our dignity as a Nation,” Ventura remarked to journalists this afternoon.
“I wish to be a President who assures our Nation’s dignity,” Ventura stated, confirming that his party is determined to proceed with a motion condemning both the remarks made by the Angolan regime during the recent independence celebrations and the words of our President of the Republic.
“Claiming that relations are great and that everything went well is to imply that we are responsible for what is happening in Angola today. We are not. What happens in Angola today is the result of years of theft, looting, and corruption that have ruined the country. Today’s Angola is what was left after the Portuguese left—a poorer, more backwards nation with more corruption than ever,” Ventura asserted.
Ventura further criticized Marcelo for not defending Portugal’s “dignity” outside its borders.
“Today it becomes even clearer what I have always said. How can we think about compensating colonies or peoples from former colonies who claim we enslaved them, robbed them, and were thieves for 50 years? That we were tyrants and slavers? And what do we do? Do we react and affirm the dignity of a nine-century-old country? No. We bow down, kneel, and say yes, we will do that. Don’t count on me for that,” Ventura declared.
Emphasizing that Portugal’s “nine centuries of History” should be acknowledged proudly to avoid becoming a failed nation, Ventura harshly criticized Marcelo: “Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is the symbol of that failed Nation, which bows down wherever it goes, where elites have power, money, and influence. It is wrong. We should not do it, and we are on the wrong side of History when we do,” Ventura concluded.
