Portugal pays ample tribute to the 200th anniversary of the Independence of Brazil celebrated this September 7th. The local press publishes special commemorative supplements, congratulates Brazil and echoes the bilateral meeting of the Portuguese head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on Tuesday night (6), with President Jair Bolsonaro, at the Itamaraty headquarters, in Brasilia.
The Portuguese media had some expectations as to whether Rebelo de Sousa would be able to dissociate his visit from Bolsonaro’s electoral use of Independence Day celebrations and consider that he passed the first test.
Bolsonaro received Rebelo de Sousa for a bilateral meeting more than an hour late, but, on his way out, the Portuguese president said that the meeting “went very well” and that he took advantage of the approximately 20 minutes of conversations to tell the story of the life from D. Pedro to Bolsonaro. The Portuguese president guaranteed that there was no talk about politics or the electoral campaign, only about how “Brazil has been asserting itself over the 200 years of Independence and the projection it has today”.
“And I obviously said what I had to talk about”, added Rebelo de Sousa, referring to the “weight of Brazilians in Portugal, who are on their way to 250,000 immigrants, which, for 10 million inhabitants, is a very appreciable weight “, in the assessment of the Portuguese head of state.
He again said that it would be “incomprehensible” for Portugal not to be present at the celebrations of 200 years of Independence, due to the historical ties of brother peoples and the importance of Brazil to the Portuguese economy and foreign policy, an argument relatively consensual among the population.
Investment manager Manuel Luis, 61, believes that the Portuguese head of state will know how to protect himself from the electoral instrumentalization of his image during his visit to Brazil. “I think that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is intelligent enough and a very astute politician to, within the maneuvering capacity he has, even if he is an institutionalist, that he will not allow himself to be totally instrumentalized by Bolsonaro”, he said in an interview with RFI.
“And I am convinced that since he is a profound democrat, he will find channels to convey a message clearly not in line with Bolsonarista thinking”, opined the manager.
symbolic presence
After the bilateral, Rebelo de Sousa visited the exhibition “An ardent heart: life and legacy of Dom Pedro I”, at Itamaraty, where the heart of the emperor who proclaimed the country’s Independence can be seen immersed in a solution with formaldehyde. He defends this symbolic presence of the emperor in the commemorations of the Bicentennial.
But in the opinion of historian Maria Antónia Lopes, from the University of Coimbra, it was a mistake for Portugal to have given up its heart at Bolsonaro’s request for a loan. “I think Portugal should never have given in to a government like Bolsonaro’s, because Bolsonaro is betraying everything that is progressive in D. Pedro’s mentality, both when he gave the Constitution of 1824 to Brazil, and that of 1826 to Portugal. , which is based on that of Brazil”, said the historian.
“D. Pedro’s ideals are not Bolsonaro’s”, highlighted the expert. She also criticizes that political use can be made, one month before the elections, with the country’s founder: “I don’t think it’s correct, it’s not correct at all”, said the historian from the University of Coimbra.
This Wednesday, Rebelo de Sousa attends the military parade on the Esplanada dos Ministérios, alongside the presidents of Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau. The Brazilian government invited all the leaders of former Portuguese colonies that are now part of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, but only three made the trip. Angola and Mozambique sent diplomatic representatives to Brasilia.
The page has already turned for the Portuguese president, the embarrassment he experienced in early July, when Bolsonaro canceled a lunch he had planned with him, in Brasília, annoyed that Rebelo de Sousa had met with former president Lula in São Paulo.
Portugal places historical ties with Brazil above circumstantial governments, with which it has a less expressive relationship intensity. The Portuguese says he has his bags ready to return to Brazil in January, to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new Brazilian president who will be elected in October.
Speech in Congress
The President of Portugal is in Brazil accompanied by the Speaker of Parliament, Augusto Santos Silva —number 2 in the Portuguese State—, and by the Mayor of Coimbra, José Manuel Silva, who has an extensive agenda with business leaders in São Paulo, and diplomats.
The highlight of the stay for Rebelo de Sousa, when he intends to reinforce his political capital, will be the speech he will make tomorrow at the Plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, at the solemn session commemorating the 200th anniversary of Independence organized by the National Congress. It will be the occasion for Rebelo de Sousa to outline long-term perspectives for bilateral relations and recall the benefits of waves of migration in both directions.
Brazil is considered an essential partner for Portugal both internationally and domestically. The wave of Brazilian immigration in recent years fulfills fundamental investment needs for the Portuguese economy and labor shortages in various sectors.
Portugal exalts Brazilian culture at Bicentennial events
There are many cultural events and debates with artists, historians taking place since the beginning of the month in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and other Portuguese cities. The program runs until the end of the year.
This Wednesday, the Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra, which premiered last night in Porto, will play a free concert at the Lisboa na Rua Festival, in Jardim da Torre de Belém. Conductor Fabio Mechetti will be at the head of around 80 musicians, who will present a variety of styles and the influences of Brazilian roots in orchestral music. Works by Alberto Nepomuceno, Francisco Mignone and Carlos Gomes, among others, will be performed.
Espaço Cultural Talante, also in Lisbon, located inside a bookstore, in an old industrial facility transformed into a center for artistic creation and conviviality, with bars and restaurants, hosts an event with Brazilian artists. There will be an exhibition of photos, installations, a reflective reading of the play “Colônia”, by Gustavo Colombini, to question whether Brazil actually won its Independence.
Starting today, the University of Coimbra offers a multidisciplinary program that highlights the century-old connection between the institution and Brazil. And it opens an exhibition of historical documents from the period of Independence, in 1822. In the late afternoon, at the Machado de Castro National Museum, there is a concert in honor of Tom Jobim.
Far from the climate of violence that can mark the 7th of September in Brazil, Portugal will exalt Brazilian culture on the 200th anniversary of Independence.
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