Unfazed, even as far-right MPs waved signs chasing him, Brazilian President Lula da Silva on Tuesday at a welcoming session in the Portuguese Parliament referred to April 25’s role as an engine of “development.” from Portugal, a country where he said he felt at home. As a result, he received an applause from the vast majority of the parliamentary benches and from many present. It was the last ceremony of a five-day official visit, which his Portuguese colleague Marcelo Rebelo de Souza had previously given a “very good” rating. “Brazil is back and we won’t let it go again,” Prime Minister António Costa later concluded.
“It was with great joy that I received an invitation from President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, which coincided with the April 25 celebration. In the past few days, I have had an incredible feeling that I am at home here, a feeling that I am sure is shared by all Brazilians living in Portugal and all Portuguese living in Brazil,” said Lula da Silva.
He said this while watching Chega’s deputies wave placards against him and hearing outside the Assembly of the Republic the applause of the demonstration in his favor and the derision of those who opposed his presence in Portugal.
Faced with the hostility created by André Ventura’s party in Parliament, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva, clearly felt uneasy and furiously declared: Portuguese people.”
MPs, accompanied by several MPs from the PSD, stood on the benches of the leftist parties and applauded Santos Silva in support of Lula da Silva.
Downplaying the incident, the President of Brazil spoke about it before leaving the Assembly of the Republic, showing that “people, when they have nothing to show”, make “those ridiculous scenes”, which he classified as “cardboard”.
Lula added, “I just have to thank the president [da República]President Marcelo and Prime Minister António Costa for their care and treatment.”
Costa later returned the thanks. “Thank you very much for this visit, President Lula. Brazil has returned, and we are not going to let it go again,” the prime minister stressed.
Author: John Maltez
Source: CM Jornal
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