The coordinator of the Bloc de Esquerda, Mariana Mortagua, expressed this Saturday her “disappointment but also concern”, given that the President of the Assembly of the Republic (AR) Aguiar-Branco “legitimized racist speech”.
During a visit to the Fondao Migration Center, accompanied by the head of the party list for the European elections, Catarina Martins, coordinator of the Left Bloc, said that it is one thing to be complacent when the Chegi bench shouts and reveals “poor education and disrespect for the institution”, another “when the president AR legitimizes racist speech.”
Mariana Mortagua stressed the importance of distinguishing what she considers racist or xenophobic comments from what constitutes freedom of expression.
“Saying that race is worse, that skin color is worse, that a person is lazy just because he is Turkish is not an opinion, it is racism, it is a crime, it is a hate crime and then it justifies all the horrors that are happening,” Mariana emphasized Mortagua.
The BE coordinator added that she hopes the leadership conference can “discuss this topic and make decisions that are appropriate to the gravity of what happened.”
“It never occurred to me that the President of the Assembly of the Republic, a lawyer who knows the law, a person who claims to be a democrat, would thus legitimize the statements of the extreme right,” censored Mariana Mortagua.
The BE leader added that slavery or the Holocaust occurred because “people believed that there were inferior races, that there were inferior human beings.”
“The Holocaust was based on the idea that others are inferior, dehumanized and therefore we can rape, criticize and insult them without any consequences and call it freedom of expression,” Mariana Mortagua compared.
The BE director explained the visit to Fundan as “a good example of welcoming and integrating immigrants” and that the municipality was “teaching a lesson to the country.”
It’s important to spend more time showing examples of how immigrants contribute to the economy, help combat desertification, bring children to schools in areas where they are closing, and “spend less time talking about violence and hatred,” Mariana Mortagua said.
“Portugal does not want to be a country of violence, it wants to be a country where everyone lives in safety, which welcomes and integrates because it is necessary, and not just because we are a country of emigrants, because we are fleeing war, because we are already escaped poverty because we have already escaped poverty in many countries and now it is also time for us to integrate those who are looking for us,” the BE coordinator emphasized.
On Friday, Aguiar-Branco told the AP that the use of racially derogatory language falls under freedom of expression and is acceptable, after the Chegi leader said Turks are “not known as the hardest working people in the world.” “
The Fundão Migration Center houses 140 migrants, including students, seasonal workers and refugees. The structure accompanies 270 people who have already become autonomous, and about 300 migrants have passed through the space, which has existed since 2016.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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