PCP general secretary Paulo Raimundo said this Sunday that the formal session dedicated to Brazil’s president “does not detract” from the April 25 memorial session, noting that Lula da Silva will be “well received” in Portugal.
“It is normal that there is a formal session with a state president. When we were confronted with this issue, we said that it would not be positive to coincide with the April 25 formal session and that it would be better to have a . find another session for this purpose. This was the final result and I am glad it was this. I think it is preferable and does not detract from the formal session dedicated to President Lula or the formal session dedicated to April 25 said Paulo Raimundo.
The PCP secretary general, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a luncheon commemorating the April revolution, also pointed out that the Brazilian president, Lula da Silva, is “very welcome” and will be “well received” in Portugal.
Asked about the demonstrations against Lula da Silva’s presence, Paulo Raimundo said he was unaware of them, noting only that they would only be possible “because it was April 25”.
The presence in parliament of the President of Brazil – who is visiting Portugal between April 22 and 25 – has been shrouded in controversy since Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho spoke explicitly in February in a speech by Lula da Silva at the session of the April revolution in the Assembly of the Republic, which marked the unprecedented character, which the opposition of PSD, IL and Chega deserved.
The parliament finally decided that, instead of an intervention by the President of Brazil during the annual solemn commemoration session, it would hold a separate welcome session on the same day during Lula da Silva’s state visit to Portugal.
At a luncheon that brought together hundreds of party members in the Porto district of Vila do Conde, the PCP’s secretary general defended the need to “open a different perspective for the development of the country” and “break with a policy that sometimes appeals to the pandemic, sometimes war, to deceive and obscure the true causes of the problems.”
Paulo Raimundo also criticized “right-wing policies that endanger health, education, housing and essential goods”, as well as those who want to “rewrite history” and “put the revolution in the back”.
No wonder they attack Abril and the Constitution. No wonder they still have to settle scores with new revisions to the fundamental text of Portuguese democracy. No wonder they want to rewrite history. No wonder they want to leave the revolution behind and love to convince us that it is in the past, obsolete and buried,” he said, saying it is necessary to “bury right-wing politics once and for all.” and the “turn the record and play the same” policy.
Source: DN
