It is possibly the most talked about foreign country in the months leading up to Brazil’s presidential election. Portugal has been a campaign issue and practically all the candidates have already pointed it out as an example, positive or negative. A highlight in part predicted by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa who, in July, after the lunch canceled by Bolsonaro, did not beat around the bush. “What could have been a bitter taste in the mouth was something very sweet, seen in a medium and long-term perspective,” he told reporters from São Paulo, saying that the ‘out’ that the Brazilian president gave him allowed him go to Portugal. “being a subject” — “so covered, so covered by the Brazilian media”.

And it wasn’t just the press. Even among the candidates, the country has been pointed out as a benchmark: Ciro Gomes (PDT) promised a plan to transform Brazil “into Portugal”; Soraya Thronicke (UB) highlighted in a debate that the Portuguese president went to the teleschool to give a class in the middle of the pandemic, Bolsonaro has already recalled the fires that torment the Portuguese to alleviate the responsibilities of his Government for the fires in the Amazon; and Lula – who, unlike the Brazilian president, met with Marcelo in July – took advantage of the racist insults to the children of actor Bruno Gagliasso in Costa da Caparica to make a promise: “We are going to build a world without racism.”

Bolsonaro: “It is common to catch fire spontaneously”

Last week, the Brazilian president was the first in a round of interviews that TV Globo broadcast with the candidates best placed in the polls and referred to Portugal when asked about its environmental policies. The question from the two journalists did not foresee any comparison with other countries — “The annual rate of deforestation in the Amazon has skyrocketed, it is the highest in 15 years. Do you still support this policy of deregulation? In his response, Bolsonaro insisted on using the examples of Portugal, France, the United States and Spain to show how, when it comes to forest fires, it is not his government’s fault.

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