In an interview ahead of the January 18 presidential elections, André Ventura stated that he would sit down with Lula da Silva as a diplomatic necessity but would have “some difficulty” welcoming him to the Palácio de Belém.
“If the Portuguese State, Portuguese companies, and communities were at stake, and if I had to do it, I would, maintaining the stance that I do not enjoy being with thieves. He himself probably wouldn’t want to be with me either,” remarked the leader of Chega.
“That’s one thing; another is the relations between states, which have to be respected, whether it’s Brazilian companies in Portugal or Portuguese companies in Brazil. We know how to distinguish, and I think we would know how to distinguish that,” he added.
Ventura assured that “he would not refrain from speaking his mind, even while representing the Portuguese State,” because “the President of the Republic is the first to have the duty to defend the nation when it is attacked.”
Regarding visits to other countries, the presidential candidate asserted that the highest magistrate of the nation “should go everywhere, without fear, where there are Portuguese communities, as he is the representative of the Portuguese communities and the country.”
Ventura, who has criticized Presidents like Lula da Silva or João Lourenço, mentioned that other countries can block the entry of a head of state but is confident that the head of state, whether Angolan or Brazilian, would know how to differentiate political opinion from state relations.
The presidential candidate stressed that “Portugal has its dignity and does not bend or bow down to any country in the world,” and those “who do not want to respect that history should not invite us to be present.”
Ventura gave the example of the former King of Spain’s comment directed at Hugo Chávez during the Ibero-American Summit in 2007, when Juan Carlos asked him “why don’t you shut up” following criticisms from the then-President of Venezuela.
“Do you know why he did it? To defend Spain. I am not saying it is an example because I do not have a particular fondness for him. But he defended his country, did not bow down. As President of the Republic, I would do the same,” he indicated, using the example of the 50th-anniversary independence ceremonies in Angola, in Luanda, attended by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
In this interview, the candidate for Belém mentioned he would veto any law proposing compensation payments to former colonies, as it would be “denying the most basic history” and “calling into question the dignity” of the country.
“If that happened, it would also mean that we would have to make a list of what they owe us for hospitals, roads, dams, some of the largest on the continent, the investments we made there, including human resources, and the healthcare we provide here for many of those PALOP countries, that come here for treatment,” he argued.
A supporter of Jair Bolsonaro during the campaign for the 2024 legislative elections, André Ventura said that if he were prime minister, he would not allow Lula da Silva into the country and threatened with imprisonment.
In the previous year, when the Brazilian President spoke in the Portuguese Parliament, Chega’s deputies stood up, banged on the table in protest, and held signs with messages like “Enough of corruption” and “Thief’s place is in prison.”
Recently, the candidate and leader of Chega also criticized the speech of the Angolan president during the 50th independence anniversary celebrations of the country, as João Lourenço stated that Portuguese colonialism “oppressed and enslaved his people for centuries.”
