Presidential candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo has today accused André Ventura of having entered “a whirlwind of xenophobia and racism” reminiscent of the Hitler regime, which “used the Jews as scapegoats.”
“André Ventura has entered a spiral of xenophobia and racism - because that is the right word - which reveals the kind of intolerance that democracy must not tolerate,” said Admiral Gouveia e Melo, speaking to the Lusa news agency after a visit to the Academic Association of Coimbra (AAC).
According to the candidate, who is currently leading in polls across the country, it is possible to disagree with “wide-open-door immigration”, something he himself does not support, without defining “who should or should not remain in Portugal based on their skin colour or clothing.”
When asked about André Ventura’s campaign posters targeting specific communities from Bangladesh and of Roma ethnicity, Gouveia e Melo described such messaging as “pure and simple racism.”
“It reminds me of the Hitler system, which found a scapegoat in the Jews at the time. And now we are trying to find another scapegoat here in Portugal. The Portuguese people have mixed with every nation in the world; we sailed across the globe. We are a people of the world, with nearly half of our population living abroad. So, a bit of common sense is needed when we talk about these matters,” he stressed.
The presidential hopeful also accused Ventura of spreading misinformation and putting “false statements” into his mouth regarding immigration law, later amplifying them on social media and “creating a false impression among the public.”
“He even went as far as to insult me, saying that if I wanted to be president, I should go be president in Hindustan. I do not recognise in Dr André Ventura any form of patriotism superior to my own. I have been on the front line many times, risking my life, so I will not take lessons from someone who has never served, either in the military or as a firefighter,” Gouveia e Melo defended.
He also referred to Ventura’s recent claim that Portugal “needed three Salazars,” questioning whether the Chega leader wished to see “a return to the levels of poverty that existed under the dictatorship, or the removal of citizens’ freedoms.”
Gouveia e Melo warned that “an anti-democratic game” was starting to take root, being treated as normal “when it cannot and must not be.”
“Democracy, which is built on tolerance, cannot permit intolerance, because intolerance undermines democracy itself and puts it at risk,” he declared, urging André Ventura “to play the democratic game.”
Responding to Ventura’s accusation that he was aligning himself with the Socialist Party (PS) and the Left Bloc, Gouveia e Melo remarked that if Ventura were “a bit older,” he might “better understand the role of Dr Mário Soares in consolidating democracy in Portugal.”
“Perhaps he doesn’t like Dr Mário Soares - because he is not truly democratic,” he added.
