Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was supposed to meet with Jair Bolsonaro, but the meeting was canceled by the Brazilian president
The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said on Friday (July 1, 2022) that he is coming to Brazil “with the same program“already agreed and that”nobody dies” if an appointment is unscheduled. The Brazilian Chief Executive, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), decided cancel the meeting and lunch scheduled with the Portuguese representative for Monday (4.Jul).
According to Rebelo de Sousa, “who invites is who can decide whether or not to keep the lunch”. Speaking to journalists at Lisbon airport, before boarding to Brazil, he declared that “it’s not worth wasting a second with lunch when there is friendship between peoples”. This friendship, said the Portuguese president, must last”beyond good and bad cycles”.
Rebelo de Sousa declared that there was “political issues, such as Ukraine, that Portugal and Brazil should talk about”. And he continued: “If lunch is possible [com Bolsonaro], very well, if it is not possible, nobody dies. I leave for Brazil with the same program I had in mind. Regardless of what happens, it doesn’t hurt Portugal’s relations”.
The head of state of Portugal has an appointment with the former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), Bolsonaro’s main opponent in the race for reelection. This commitment would have displeased Bolsonaro. THE CNN Brazilthe Brazilian president confirmed that he had canceled his commitments with Rebelo de Sousa.
“If the President of the Federative Republic of Brazil understands that he cannot, does not want to, it is not opportune, that it does not enter into his programming (…) I respect whoever invites to stop inviting for whatever reasons, for political, personal inopportunity”, said the Portuguese head of state.
Rebelo de Sousa avoided answering questions about the October election. “It is not the role of the president of Portugal to talk about the Brazilian elections“, said. According to him, the meeting with PT will be to deal with issues such as the relationship between the 2 countries and the CPLP (Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries).
BRAZIL
In August 2021, Bolsonaro received Rebelo at the Alvorada Palace, your official residence. At the time, he came to Brazil to participate in the reopening of the Portuguese Language Museum, in São Paulo, and also had meetings with 3 former presidents: Fernando Henrique Cardoso (PSDB), Lula and Michel Temer (MDB).
The president of Portugal was one of those who attended Bolsonaro’s inauguration in January 2019. The Brazilian Chief Executive is the 1st president not to visit Portugal since the beginning of redemocratization.
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