The presence in the parliament of the President of Brazil – who is visiting Portugal between April 22nd and 25th – has been controversial because, in February, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, spoke clearly in a conversation with Lula da Silva to. the regional ceremony of the April Revolution in the Assembly of the Republic, showing its unprecedented nature, which had to be opposed by the PSD, IL and Chega.
Parliament was able to decide that, instead of taking action with the President of Brazil at the annual commemorative meeting, the same day will have a special meeting during the official visit of Lula da Silva to Portugal.
This is the answer that was found to resolve the controversy surrounding the invitation of the Brazilian president to participate in the ceremony of April 25, but it did not please the opposition that was revived after the recent position of Lula da Silva on the war in Ukraine.
Lula’s message to the United States and the European Union is Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Brasilia
This Saturday, April 15, the President of Brazil defended, at the end of the visit to China, that “the United States must stop promoting war” in Ukraine and “the European Union must start talking about peace”.
In addition, on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil announced a meeting that will bring, on Monday, in Brasília, the leaders of the Brazilian and Russian negotiations, and their main topics will be the war in Ukraine and the development of potential relations. This is the first visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Brazil since 2019.
This Sunday, the first vice president of the PSD, Paulo Rangel, urged the Government to “take a public and legitimate role” by distancing itself from what the Brazilian President said to the European Union, NATO (Atlantic Alliance) and the United States of America. (USA) is starting a war in Ukraine.
“The Portuguese government cannot fail to isolate itself”
“The Government of Portugal – as an independent body in charge of foreign policy -, respecting the sovereignty of Brazil, through the Prime Minister, António Costa, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, cannot fail to isolate itself, through diplomatic means and. publicly, of words it is said that the European Union, NATO and the United States are promoting and promoting war”, said Rangel in the announcement of the political statement made today in Porto.
In response to what Paulo Rangel said, the vice-president of the bench of the PS Jamila Madeira, observed, in a statement in Lusa, that “the position of Portugal, the Government and the PS have been clear from the first moment”, in agreement with the goal. Ukraine is “upholding international law and condemning the attacking country”, Russia.
“What we see – as we have seen promoted in recent days by President Macron and also promoted by President Lula – is right for Portugal”
Jamila Madeira noted that the President of Brazil wanted to encourage the “search for peace” in Ukraine, like the head of state of France, noting that he had not heard the PSD asking for the installation of Emmanuel Macron. “What we’re seeing – as we’ve seen in recent days with the President [francês Emmanuel] Macron and now also encouraged by President Lula – it is acceptable for Portugal, the Portuguese, the citizens of the world, which is the search for peace”, argued the second Socialist.
For Jamila Madeira, “without prejudice to strongly condemn the moment of violation of the international law that started this war with Russia”, it is necessary to “try as much as possible to return to the foundations of peace in the world”.
“I don’t think there is any doubt in this matter and, in relation to the dialogue that any government promotes, all actions that can be peaceful are pursued by us with the tools that we always have. As we have seen President Macron – and I don’t think that the PSD is saying that we should distance ourselves from him – I also believe that this is what is encouraged, what is said at different times, what President Lula is promoting.”, he said.
The PSD was not the only group that questioned the Government’s claims about the Brazilian President’s speech.
“Assembly of the Republic [AR] those who invited Zelensky to speak on April 21, 2022 will not receive Putin’s friend like Lula on April 25”
“Assembly of the Republic [AR] those who invited Zelensky to speak on April 21, 2022 will not receive a friend of Putin like Lula on April 25. And the President of the Republic who gave the Order of Freedom to Zelensky will not be comfortable with the presence of a friend of Putin like Lula in AR on April 25”, wrote the leader of the Liberal Initiative (IL), Rui Rocha, on the social network Twitter.
When asked about the position of IL president, Jamila Madeira said that she did not see “any change in our relationship, or a change in Portuguese culture in this regard”.
The second socialist admitted that there are different positions with Portugal on the war in Ukraine even within the international framework of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), but he insisted on underlining “the increasing strength of the relationship between Portugal and Brazil”, both at the level of States and people.
Regarding the criticism that could be caused by the role of the European Union (EU) in the war, Jamila Madeira defended that the EU wanted to “establish the aid of the citizens and the conditions of opposition so that the war that is taking place” in Ukraine “can end soon”.
On the right and on the left, there were many demonstrations of Lula’s arrival, not all of them just showed the way he showed during the war in Ukraine.
The president of Chega André Ventura, criticized what Paulo Rangel said, thinking that it is “disgusting” that the PSD praises the “presence of Lula da Silva on April 25 in Portugal”, although the democratic authorities today are criticizing the Brazilian president in terms of confusion. war in Ukraine.
“It is disgusting to see a party that should lead the center-right saying that it welcomes the presence of Lula da Silva on April 25, in Portugal, on the day of the victory of democracy”, said André Ventura in a video posted by Chega. to newsrooms.
Full “will also make the biggest show against a foreign dignitary in Portugal”
In the video, the president of Chega confirmed that the party “will organize even the biggest demonstration against the foreign nobility in Portugal”, encouraging “Portuguese and Brazilians, all those who want to join, to show that the center-right and the Right of the Portuguese is not PSD, it is not This PSD”.
The president of Chega defended that Lula da Silva should be criticized for “closeness to Russia”, for “being unable to see the suffering of the Ukrainian people”, for “his proximity to China”, for “reluctance to oppose South America.” Dictatorship ” and “corruption”, although the elections that challenged the Brazilian president in this area were canceled due to errors and mistakes.
For the general secretary of the PCP, Paulo Raimundo, the special session dedicated to the President of Brazil “does not diminish” the commemorative session of April 25 – everything takes place on the same day, with a duration of one and a half hours. – indicating that Lula da Silva will be “well received” in Portugal.
“It is not unusual for there to be a permanent meeting with the President of the State. When we were faced with this matter, what we said is that it would not be good to coincide with the main part of April 25 and that it would be good. to find another part of this goal. This was the last result and I am glad that it was Paulo Raimundo.
Lula da Silva is “very welcome”
The general secretary of the PCP, who was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the lunch commemorating the April Revolution, also indicated that the president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, “is very welcome” and “will be well received” in Portugal.
When asked about the protests against the presence of Lula da Silva, Paulo Raimundo said he did not know, saying only that it would end “because there was 25 April”.
At a lunch that brought together hundreds of members of the party in Vila do Conde (district of Porto), the general secretary of the PCP defended the need to “open another way of national development” and break the policies that sometimes lead to epidemics, sometimes wars, to deceive and hide the real reasons that it is at the beginning of the problems”.
Paulo Raimundo also criticized the “right-wing policy that endangers” health, education, housing and basic goods, as well as those who want to “rewrite history” and put the “Revolution behind”.
“No wonder they are attacking Abril and the Constitution. No wonder they still have a lot to solve with the new revision of the important text of the Portuguese democracy. No wonder they want to rewrite history. No wonder they want to put the Revolution behind them and love us. make sure it’s old, old and buried”, he said, saying that it is important to “bury the politics of the hands once and for all” and “the strategy of ‘turning history and playing the same'” .