Chega president Andre Ventura on Tuesday refused to make “racism a topic in Portugal” over alleged abuse of Brazilian actors’ children and reaffirmed that Portuguese society is “not racist”.
“We attach importance to this because they were Brazilian actors, but every day there are people, Portuguese on the outside, Brazilians on the inside, Africans on the inside, Ukrainians on the inside, Indians on the inside, who have situations in life. those that are less positive are not necessarily racism or xenophobia,” the Chegi leader defended.
At a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Lisbon, Ventura was asked about Brazilian actress, model and TV presenter Giovanna Eubank’s complaint that her children were victims of racism in a restaurant on the Costa de Caparica.
A family of Angolan tourists at the site was reportedly also the victim of racism by an alcoholic woman who was detained by the authorities but released in the meantime.
“What came to my mind in terms of information is that this lady, when she got involved with these Brazilians, was already connected with a number of other people before, and therefore she was not even directly related to it. But I don’t know, we don’t know,” Chegi’s president said based on “what was circulated” and “online videos” he saw, noting that the matter should now be investigated by the authorities.
President Chega indicated that the party maintains its position that Portugal is not a racist country.
“I think that we should not make racism a problem in Portugal, because I believe that Portuguese society is not racist,” he defended, pointing out that “it is not a political problem in the country.”
And he said that the President of the Republic “said that too, said that Portugal is not a racist country”, but that “there are sections of society more prone to racism”.
“Now we have Portuguese communities all over the world, and Portugal is also increasingly becoming a country of immigration with very large Brazilian communities, now with Ukrainian communities, for many years with African communities and communities of African descent,” said André Ventura.
The MP from the far-right party also believes that “the aggravation of the situation for Portugal will only be bad.”
“We must maintain the same firmness as before, we are a society of equals in which everyone must have rights, but everyone must also have duties, whether they are Brazilians, Portuguese by origin, gypsies, Africans, etc. what we defended, equal responsibilities for all,” he added.
Also referring to his intervention two weeks ago in the debate on the revision of the law on aliens, which led to tensions with the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the departure of Chega deputies from the Chamber, André Ventura defended that “there is nothing to do with xenophobia or racism, it has to do with to a country that must control its borders” in the face of “illegal immigration” and “the consequences that this may have, in whichever country they are from”.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
