The candidate for the presidency of Brazil, Lula da Silva, considered this Friday “important” the presence of Portugal in the celebrations of the independence of Brazil, but stressed that the president of the Portuguese Republic “deserved more respect” from his counterpart Jair Bolsonaro.
“I thought it was a lack of respect from the president of Brazil towards the president of Portugal. The president of Portugal deserved more respect and not that pathetic scene caused by the president of the Republic,” Lula da Silva told reporters.
Campaigning in Rio de Janeiro, Lula da Silva, who is leading the polls for the October presidential elections, spoke before foreign journalists, commenting on the participation of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in the bicentennial celebrations of independence that took place this week.
“I never confuse the personal relationship with the relationship between heads of state,” said the former president of Brazil, adding that he even invited “several heads of state to participate in 7 de Setembro.”
On Wednesday, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa witnessed the civic-military parade on September 7, on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, in Brasilia, right in the center of the gallery, along with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
It was an institutional ceremony with an electoral campaign atmosphere, before a crowd dressed in green and yellow, during which shouts of support for Bolsonaro and slogans against former Brazilian President Lula da Silva, his opponent in the October presidential elections, were heard. . two.
After the ceremony, the Portuguese head of state affirmed that he was in Brazil “in a historic gesture” and denied discomfort for having witnessed the parade with Jair Bolsonaro.
Speaking to the media at a hotel in Brasilia, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that “from where he was he could not hear” the slogans shouted by the crowd in support of the Brazilian president and against Lula da Silva.
Asked if he felt comfortable having been at this ceremony, the Portuguese president replied: “Yes, yes.”
“I am here to represent Portugal in a historical moment, whoever the president was. People have to understand the following: the electoral campaign lasts X times, the president’s mandate lasts much longer and the history of 200 years lasts much longer And what remains for history is that Portugal was present at a historic moment,” he declared.
Source: TSF
