In Newark, in the United States, the President of the Republic defended before the North American Ambassador to Portugal that Portugal is “the ideal ally” and a safe country in times of war.
“We are the ideal ally, because we are a respectable and safe ally,” declared Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Friday evening, early this Saturday in Portugal, at the Sport Club Português, in Newark, in the North American state of New Jersey , the latest point of your program in the United States of America.
This meeting with Portuguese emigrants and Portuguese descendants was attended by the US Ambassador to Portugal, Randi Charno Levine, who called the Portuguese president a “good old friend of the American people”.
In his speech said the head of state described Portugal as “a country that is an example from the outside and is peaceful and also safe from the inside”, claiming that “there can be wars in which Portugal is safe to live in – so it was in the Second World War, that’s how it is war after war.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also presented Portugal as a country in which “everyone can have his ideas, his own party”, but everyone is united: “We are united because we have only one party, which is called Portugal”.
“It is the only party we have, it is the only reality that unites us: our homeland, what is our strength, our courage, our determination,” he stressed.
During this meeting in the hall of Sport Club Português, just before returning to Lisbon, the Head of State received the key to the city of Newark from the vice-president of this municipality, Ligia de Freitas, a North American citizen and Cape Verdean. verdiana.
In his intervention, alternating between English and Portuguese, the President of the Republic repeated his usual message of praise for emigrants and the Portuguese in general, describing them as “the best” and as a pioneering people who spread throughout the world, beyond measure.
“Forgive our American friends, because in general they are the best, but there is one exception: we are the best,” he said.
He then praised Portugal’s past: “We did what no one else has done. With less than a million people, we reached America first, we reached Japan first, India, China, all points in Africa, north and south. few of us, but we arrived. And we stayed, and we moved on.”
“We reached the end of the world and stayed, and no one ever defeated us,” he added.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa claimed that the ability of emigrants to start over, “with one hand in front and one behind”, is a hallmark of the Portuguese: “We are like that, of breaking rather than twisting. We don’t twist, and that it is your strength,” he added.
“That is why I say that I am incredibly proud to be president of this nation, because there is no other nation like ours. Being president of this nation is a reason to be proud every day. And even more so beyond that.” he claimed.
At the end of his speech, he promised to return to Newark within two years and exclaimed in English his love for this expatriate community: “I love you.”
The President of the Republic arrived in the United States on Sunday evening, coming from Canada, where he made a five-day official visit dedicated to the Portuguese communities in this country, spending a total of ten days outside Portugal.
During this week he was mainly in New York City, participating in the 78th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.
In addition to his speech in the annual general debate between heads of state and government of the 193 UN member states, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke at summits on sustainable development and climate and in a UN Security Council open debate on Ukraine.
Source: DN
