By Roboredo Garcia
Africa-Press – Angola. Ventura’s attack on JLO, calling the President a “dictator and bloodthirsty,” shows that the Portuguese need to rid themselves of their paternalistic and European-exceptionalist attitude.
Ventura, in his meeting with the Mozambican politician VM7, had already stated that immigration is a result of poverty caused by corrupt governments in Angola, meaning that the form of his attack on JLO was already politically formulated before his interview on CNN.
That is why the Portuguese who defend Ventura’s words, as being merely a response “to JLO’s interference”, have reversed the order of the facts.
It’s clear that Ventura is trying to incite a national reflex: after all, “our former caxicos, whose country we governed better, who now live in misery and under dictatorship, giving us orders!”, an exaggeration, was the speech of many Cheganos that I heard here on the networks.
What were JLO’s words?
Respects the sovereignty of Portugal, which “can choose who it allows into its country.”
He calls for respect for international standards, “what is done internationally in terms of immigration.”
May the principle of reciprocity be respected, “may Portugal treat immigrants in the same way as it treats its emigrants.”
Phrase from European presidents who follow the same formula:
“France respects the sovereignty of the United States, but defends multilateralism and the commitments made in the Paris Agreement.”?? Emmanuel Macron (France)
“We must treat our neighbors with the same respect with which we would like to be treated. Cooperation is built on reciprocity and trust.” Frank-Walter Steinmeier (President of Germany)
“Spain advocates a coordinated migration policy with our southern neighbors, based on mutual respect, border control, and shared development.” Pedro Sánchez (Spain, Prime Minister)
“Portugal respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and acts in accordance with the international principles it has always defended.”?? Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (Portugal)
A generic answer, which JLO himself said was generic. Every president in the world uses this formula when speaking on various subjects.
Interference would be lamenting the rise of far-right parties, something European leaders do all the time, even to the point of sabotaging electoral victories of anti-immigration parties.
By saying that Africans emigrate because of poverty in their home countries, caused by the “bloodthirsty dictator JLO,” Ventura reinforces the leftist myth of humanitarian immigration, as poverty existed before the current wave of immigration; what happened was a change in the law.
If immigration was caused by poverty, then it will never end, because poverty will not end today, and it will never have a political solution, because it is an economic problem.
The second consequence of this line of thinking is to internationalize a national problem, because if the problem of immigration has its origins in the poverty of the countries of origin, regime change in these countries becomes a necessity.
In return, the governments of the immigrants’ countries of origin gain the right to intervene in Portugal to combat this political movement that attacks them…
The principle of reciprocity: if you support rebels against my country, I have the right to support rebels against yours.
Ventura is running for prime minister; since he doesn’t even know the basics of diplomatic language, how does he have the right to insult the president of another country? Dictator? Bloodthirsty?
Ventura’s career exists because he claims that the Portuguese people’s will is not being heard, that is, they live under a dictatorship that has no face or name, which imposes endless immigration on them.
Ventura should be concerned about this dictatorship at home, instead of looking for dictators abroad.
As for the Cheganos, many of them, in their defense of Ventura, rejoiced in reminding the Angolans that “life was good before independence,” with the pleasure of the bankrupt heir who finally finds someone poorer than he…
Angola may be a poor country, but it is an independent country.
There are Angolans who celebrate Ventura’s words because he is aligned with their political choices, which are certainly legitimate; however, the political struggle cannot be waged on the basis of lies and at the expense of peace between peoples and within peoples, with this incendiary speech.
Ventura could have said: “I understand President JLO’s concern, and I believe Portugal should follow his example in combating illegal immigration, as it expelled 500,000 people in Operation Transparency in 2019 and has a nationality law that we can emulate.”
Saying this would have opened the Overton Window on immigration, providing the Portuguese with concrete examples from other countries without causing unnecessary hostility. However, the desire to feel superior to the African prevailed.
The Cheganos must understand that criticizing Ventura doesn’t mean criticizing Portugal, just because he’s a nationalist. After all, similar atrocities dictated by Ana Gomes, a leftist, would have the same effect.
Regarding the use of the word bloodthirsty, which means taking pleasure in shedding blood and being ferocious, can Ventura give a concrete example?
“bloodthirsty”, in Priberam Dictionary of the Portuguese Language [online], 2008-2025.
He can’t even; it was just an invective. So, it seems that, after so many years of being called a fascist, racist, and Nazi without proof, Ventura has internalized the ruse.
The most curious thing about this story?
JLO probably agrees with Ventura on illegal immigration — not just in words, but because, in actions, he does what Ventura dreams of doing.
To get an idea of what a bloodthirsty leader would be like, I recommend reading RJ Rummel’s books on political violence.
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