Protesters interrogate Minister Ana Catarina Mendez at the entrance to a PS party in Porto.

Deputy Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Ana Catarina Méndez was questioned this Sunday by demonstrators who demanded entry to announce their demands at the PS 50th anniversary party taking place at the Cristal Palace in Porto.

The meeting took place at the side door of the Palacio de Cristal, where some demonstrators gathered from the Together for Portugal movement, which this Sunday organized a protest march that brought together several sectors to try to negotiate with socialist leaders.

To the question “why can’t we enter if we are in a democracy?” one of her interrogators, Ana Catarina Mendez, said that “you have the right to demonstrate because of democracy.”

The minister entered the gardens of the Palacio de Cristal and walked about 200 meters, always “under” the questions of the demonstrators and next to the cameras and microphones of journalists, but did not give any further explanation other than that “people can and have the right to manifest”.

Luse, after Ana Catarina entered, one of the people who interrogated her, the teacher Aurora Leal, said that “the teachers are not heard, despite the fact that they are on the street every day.”

“We are in a democratic country. We fall asleep in a democracy and wake up in a dictatorship,” the teacher said.

Shortly before this, the general secretary of the socialists, António Costa, was also interrogated by two demonstrators upon arrival at the fence, but did not enter into dialogue, continuing to move inside the Rosa Mota pavilion.

Thousands of people from various sectors, from education to local housing, including justice, demonstrated this Sunday in Porto to celebrate the party and 50th anniversary of the Portuguese Socialist Party.

Inside the Pavilhão Rosa Mota, various speeches are expected from socialist leaders, including PS General Secretary and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa.