Welcome to the Week em Breve, a wrap-up of important Portuguese news to keep you up to date and in the know.
Chega member accused to soliciting prostitution from a minor
Right-wing politician Nuno Pardal Ribeiro resigned from his post as Chega’s district vice-president for Lisbon last Thursday, following an indictment from the Public Ministry (Ministério Público) that accused the politician of soliciting prostitution from a minor in the summer of 2023. According to the indictment, Pardal Ribeiro, 54, was fully aware that the boy was 15 years old at the time of their meeting and asked prior to their rendezvous if he had been with a “daddy” before. Pardal Ribeiro admitted to the press that the meeting took place but denied that he was aware of the victim’s age.
Pardal Ribeiro has previously voiced his support for the chemical castration of pedophiles.
The news came a few days after another Chega politician, Miguel Arruda, resigned from the party over allegations that he regularly stole luggage at the airport, and Jose Paulo Sousa, Chega’s regional legislative assembly deputy in the Azores, got caught drunk driving.
As Chega leader Andre Ventura put it, “It’s not a good moment for the party,” according to Reuters.
Odair Moniz: responding officer admits knife may have been planted
New details surrounding the police killing of Cabo Verdean immigrant Odair Moniz last October have come to light following the testimony of one of the responding officers. As reported by Público last Wednesday, the officer told the Judiciary Police (Polícia Judiciária, PJ) that he had not initially seen a knife near Moniz’s body and admitted it may have been planted. Bruno Pinto, the 28-year-old officer charged with Moniz’s murder, had previously told authorities that Moniz had moved to attack him with a weapon, thus justifying the shots fired.
Carris to institute separate lines for tourists, locals, for popular transportation
Carris and the Lisbon City Council have announced plans to introduce two separate passenger queues — one for residents, one for tourists — for some of the city’s most popular transport lines. The newly constructed funicular connecting river-level Martim Moniz and the hilltop neighborhood of Graça will be the first service to experiment with this system, filtering passengers with Navegante passes into one line and those without in the other. Carris acknowledged in a statement that the problem is “quite complex.”
New survey reveals extent of xenophobia in Portugal
Nearly 80% of immigrants in Lisbon have experienced hate speech in Portugal, according to a new study released by the cultural association Casa do Brasil last Monday. Respondents to the survey, most of whom are Brazilian, reported incidents of racism and hate speech in a variety of contexts, including public health centers (15.2%), bars and restaurants (22.8%), and social media (32.4%). The results of the survey also reflected the nationalist, often anti-immigrant right-wing surge affecting Portugal and Europe more broadly, with 77.8% of respondents indicating that hostility towards foreigners has strengthened in recent years.
Death of a Legend: Maria Teresa Horta
Famed Portuguese author and poet Maria Teresa Horta passed away last Tuesday at the age of 87. Regarded by many as a national hero and an icon of Portuguese feminism and anti-fascism, Teresa Horta is best known as one of the authors of Novas Cartas Portuguesas, a collaborative literary project constructed and published with fellow writers Maria Velho da Costa and Maria Isabel Barreno in 1972. The book, openly critical of authoritarianism, imperialism, and patriarchy, was slammed as pornographic and amoral by the Estado Novo dictatorship but found universal acclaim amongst European progressives. The “Three Marias” were summarily imprisoned, sparking international outrage and protests across Europe and the Americas that persisted until the Carnation Revolution in 1974 and their subsequent pardoning. Maria Teresa Horta was the last of the Three Marias still alive, and remained an active author, journalist, poet, and public figure until her death.
