The president of Chega, André Ventura, refused on Tuesday to make “racism an issue in Portugal”, regarding the alleged insults to the children of Brazilian actors, and reiterated that Portuguese society “is not racist.”
We are giving importance to that because they were Brazilian actors, but every day there are people, there are Portuguese outside, there are Brazilians inside, there are Africans inside, there are Ukrainians inside, there are Indians inside who have situations in their lives that are less positive, that are not It is necessarily racism or xenophobia”, defended the leader of Chega.
At a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Lisbon, Ventura was asked about the complaint by the Brazilian actress, model and presenter Giovanna Ewbank that her children were victims of racism in a restaurant in Costa de Caparica.
A family of Angolan tourists who were also there has been the victim of racism by a female alcoholic, who was detained by the authorities, but has since been released.
What came to me in terms of information is that this lady, since she got involved with those Brazilians, had already gotten involved with a series of other people before, and, therefore, she did not even have anything to do with it directly. But I don’t know, we don’t know”, said the president of Chega based on “what he has circulated” and “videos on the internet” that he has seen, noting that the case must now be investigated by the authorities.
Chega’s president indicated that the party maintains its position that Portugal is not a racist country.
I think we should not make racism a problem in Portugal, because I believe that Portuguese society is not racist,” he defended, noting that “this is not a political problem in the country.”
and mentioned that the The President of the Republic “also said it, he said that Portugal is not a racist country”but that “there are sectors of society more prone to racism.”
Today we have Portuguese communities all over the world, and Portugal has increasingly become a country of immigration as well, with very large Brazilian communities, now with Ukrainian communities, for many years with African and Afro-descendant communities,” said André Ventura.
The far-right party deputy also considered that “it will only be bad for Portugal to escalate this.”
We must maintain the same firmness that we have had, we are a society of equals in which everyone must have rights, but everyone must also have duties, whether they are Brazilians, Portuguese of origin, gypsies, Afro-descendants, and that is what we have defended their equal duties for everyone,” he added.
Referring also to his intervention, two weeks ago, in the debate on the revision of the immigration law —which led to a moment of tension with the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the abandonment of the Chamber by the Chega deputies —, André Ventura defended that “it has nothing to do with xenophobia or racism, it has to do with a country that has to have control of its borders” in the face of “illegal immigration” and “the consequences that this can have. , whatever country it is”. They are from”.
Source: Observadora
