Chega’s leader confirmed on Thursday that he is organizing a “massive event” to bring together leaders of Europe’s far right in Lisbon, as well as former Brazil and United States presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump.
At a press conference in Lisbon, André Ventura indicated that “the invitations have been extended to both the former Brazilian president and the former US president, Donald Trump”, as well as “several leaders of the European right”, including Santiago Abascal, of the Spanish Vox, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who “would very much like to have Chega in Portugal”.
Asked who has already confirmed their presence, the Chega leader replied that “some European leaders” have already done so, but declined to reveal which ones.
According to Ventura, Chega “is organizing a large-scale event for the month of May in Lisbon” similar to the Conservatives’ political action conference (CPAC), considered the most important gathering of the ultra-conservative movement in the United States of America.
“The idea was to be very similar to the North American CPAC,” with interventions, conferences, moments of interaction and “sometimes meetings with more popular leaders or with greater mobilization,” he said.
André Ventura indicated that the two-day event could take place in mid-May, open to the general public, but he did not confirm the concrete date, location, size or whether access will be granted through the purchase of tickets. ticket. Howeverguaranteed that the initiative “will happen” and wants it to have an impact “especially on a global level”.
As for the target, he pointed to the “definition of alliances and articulation in the fight against socialism, both in Europe and South America and the damage it is doing to the world”.
“In a week, a week and a half we will already have details, which I do not want to give here for reasons beyond my control and which I have been expressly asked not to,” he emphasized.
Asked specifically about the invitation to Jair Bolsonaro – the candidate Chega supported in the last Brazilian election – Ventura indicated that “there were already contacts” and “there is a mutual desire for this to happen”.
Although there is no closed budget yet, Ventura believed that “an event of this nature and magnitude has financial, logistical, political and administrative costs that will be extremely challenging for Chega”, expecting the party to fund “a great deal”.
“We have to be realistic and see if we can make it after this event, keep it in this form, run it more often and even have a certain usual period where it can be held every year or every two years. But this is a test that we are going to do,” he stated.
Speaking to journalists, André Ventura said that he had already informed the government and the President of the Republic of the intention to organize this event, stating that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had told him that “he is available to receive Jair Bolsonaro if he so asks”. if he actually comes to Portugal.
During this press conference, the president of Chega also spoke about the rise in food prices and defended that in order to face this situation it is necessary to “combine three essential measures”, which have already been proposed by the party in parliament .
“The reduction of VAT, i.e. VAT at zero rate for essential goods, coupled with the 15% cap on the gross profit margin of these products and with monthly monitoring of prices” of the food basket, he summed up, while he challenged the government to include these measures in the package it is preparing to support families and the economy, which will be announced on Friday.
The Chega leader also defended that “it was extremely important that wages and pensions really rise along with inflation, to stop the effective loss of purchasing power”.
Source: DN
