It was the general commotion when the president of Portugal went to Brasília, on September 7, for the celebrations of the bicentennial of Independence and watched, alongside Jair Bolsonaro and his supporters, the parade on the Esplanada dos Ministérios.
Soon many people —Portuguese and Brazilians— hastened to detonate the Portuguese sovereign. He doesn’t show respect, he’s going to serve as a poster boy for the incumbent’s campaign, he’s being manipulated into participating in a rally. Which didn’t even happen.
There was tension in the air because, in early July, on the occasion of the opening of the São Paulo Book Biennial, in which Portugal was the honored country, Bolsonaro, in an apparently inelegant way, unannounced the Portuguese for an official lunch.
When he found out that the Portuguese had met with former President Lula —then already a candidate—, he set the agenda with public acrimony, causing a mini-diplomatic incident, but with no more notable consequences than the ink spilled in the newspapers.
Gossip aside, a statesman —even when he is wrong— quickly finds his place; and then Rebelo de Sousa was quick to say that countries and their historical relationships are always more important than the men who, at a given moment, run them. Which is always true.
Brazil will always be bigger than Bolsonaro, Temer, Dilma, Lula, FHC, Itamar, Collor, Sarney and so on until Dom Pedro 2nd; as Portugal will always be bigger than Rebelo de Sousa, Cavaco Silva, Jorge Sampaio, Mário Soares, Ramalho Eanes and so on until Dom Sancho 1st.
Dom Pedro 1º and Dom Afonso Henriques are left out of the list because it was in their happy lives that the two nations were founded, which makes them as historic (but not more important) than their countries. There is no shortage of dead founders from countries that have disappeared.
Details aside, the story goes to a Portuguese president who came to Brazil three times; and a Brazilian president who has never been to Portugal, despite the fact that, on the day of his inauguration (January 1, 2019), Marcelo invited him —”Between the end of 2019, more likely the beginning of 2020, President Bolsonaro will eventually go to Portugal”, he said. But it was not!
In his entire term, the president of Brazil has not visited any Portuguese-speaking country, and just this week, almost four years later, Jair and Marcelo were able to briefly coexist in a European city — which was not Lisbon.
The two traveled to London, but for “another” historic occasion: the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Perhaps, for Bolsonaro, a dead queen deserves more attention than a living president, but for Rebelo de Sousa, a law professor and constitutionalist, an incumbent head of state —whatever he may be—is always more interesting than a departed one. As truly important as the dead are.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
