Marcelo wanted to stay with “Mangito” in front of Belen Palace.

“This is a manifesto of discontent and outrage at the mismanagement, hypocrisy and corruption we face,” says sculptor and ceramist Carlos Oliveira, author of the work, with artistic intervention from the Malibu Ninjas collective.

At the request of the police, the author moved the sculpture to the garden opposite, as it is subject to confiscation by the authorities. In the middle of the day, a member of the Presidium of the Republic informed the artist that Belen was interested in preserving the work. That’s what happened.

The “cuff” – a piece of two meters in height and weighing 70 kg, made of alabaster and polyester resin reinforced with fiberglass – is now in the Jardim dos Teixos, in the Belen Palace. The sculptor hopes that the Portuguese will see themselves in the work and “with a creative approach, they will also slap the back of the head to power.”

The sculpture remains where Leonel Moura’s Mario Soares chair was erected in 2021.