Hours before departure for Spain, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was booed in Portugal, first leg of a trip to Europe, where he arrived with the stigma of having sided with China and Russia a few days ago.
The ten Portuguese far-right deputies booed the speech delivered this Tuesday by Lula at the end of a state visit that seeks to revive relations between the South American giant and its former colonial power.
“You get used to it when you do politics,” Lula reacted, e called it a “ridiculous scene” the gesture of the deputies of the Chega party (“Enough” in Portuguese) who displayed proclaiming posters “Enough with the corruption”.
Before returning to power in January, when he defeated his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, Lula had spent more than a year in prison for a bribery conviction later overturned by the courts.
“Democracy in Brazil has recently experienced moments of serious threat. (…) The news I bring you is that the Brazilian democratic forces have demonstrated their strength and resilience,” said the 77-year-old head of state in his speech. , who previously governed Brazil from 2003 to 2010.
Lula was invited to speak in the Portuguese Parliament on the day commemorating the 49th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, which put an end to 48 years of right-wing dictatorship in Portugal and 13 years of colonial wars in Africa.
To protest against the welcome given to him by the Portuguese authorities, a few hundred sympathizers of the Chega e Brazilian immigrants linked to Jair Bolsonaro They gathered near the Parliament.
“Bandit”, “Lula, thief, your place is in prison”, they chanted, while several other pro-Lula protesters were herded by police into another adjacent street and a good distance away.
When Chega’s MPs booed Lula’s speech, they were called to order by the president of the Portuguese parliament, Augusto Santos Silva, who urged them to stop the “insults” and to stop “shaming themselves in the name of Portugal”.
Lula, Spain
At the end of his visit to Portugal, Lula left for Madrid, second and final leg of his first European tour since taking office.
Lula chose Portugal and Spain for his first visit to Europe due to the historical ties that unite both countries to Brazil and because they are the “gateway” to the EU. And she carried it under her pocket two topics to discuss: the Europe/Mercosur treaty and its peace proposal for Ukraine, even if no one sees the Brazilian as an authoritative figure capable of mediating.
In Spain, Lula will be received on Wednesday by Pedro Sánchez just months before Spain assumes the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) on July 1, at which time Brazil will preside over Mercosur.
Through the presidencies of the EU and Mercosur, an agenda of projects and investments is sought to be approved, Moncloa also seeks to strengthen in this visit thebilateral relations with Brazil, while he does not hide that there are differences in the positions defended on the war in Ukraine by the Brazilian and Spanish leaders.
After his visit to China a few days ago, Lula asked the United States and the EU to stop encouraging war in Ukraine, repeating Moscow’s rhetoric. Her words fell ill in Washington and Brussels, where Lula’s arrival to power after the earthquake of the Bolsonaro presidency had opened a horizon of hope.
Lula even called on Kiev to cede part of its territory to start negotiations with Russia, which Ukraine flatly refused.
The first act of the Brazilian president in Madrid was scheduled for this Tuesday, with his participation in a business forum at the Casa América in Madrid, in which he would be accompanied by the first vice president, Nadia Calviño.
AFP and ANSA
ap
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.