“It is essential to monitor everything happening in the world today to understand whether what is happening with Venezuela is pure coincidence or not,” stated Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The President of the Republic noted that the situation with Venezuela “coincides with the presentation of a peace plan by the greatest superpower to meet at least partially the claim of another very strong regional power, Russia.”
“What happens is that the great powers, as they did in the past, drew lines. Look, this is mine, this is yours, this is my sphere of influence, that is your sphere of influence. There is a coincidence in time, yes,” he declared.
In his view, “what one power does in one place is related to what it does or does not do in another. And when it comes to relations among two or three great powers, the United States of America, China, and on a different level, but also a very strong regional power, the Russian Federation, one must look to understand if what is happening in one place is or is not related to what is happening or might happen in another.”
“And if this is addressed at the level of great powers, to what extent do they talk to each other to say, look, I am going to act here in a particular way. Do you accept it or not? And then, in return, I will act in another place differently, and that might interest you,” he added.
However, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considers this “a topic where a President of the Republic, a head of state, must be very careful. Firstly, because international relations are at stake, secondly, because there is a large Portuguese community in the United States and an even larger Portuguese community in Venezuela.”
“There must be great caution in everything that is said. Clearly, any political instability, with the notion that there may be a confrontation, or a clash, or an open conflict between such countries, concerns us greatly because of the Portuguese who live in those countries, particularly in Venezuela,” he stated.
Therefore, he stressed, “we must carefully monitor various elements that are pieces of the puzzle. You know that today, everything in the world is interconnected.”
The President of the Republic was speaking on the sidelines of the Manuel António da Mota award ceremony, held at the Alfândega do Porto.
