Tiago Petinga / LUSA
Participants in the demonstration “Don’t let them put your back against the wall”
Leaders of the political left present: “Don’t push us against the wall.” A few meters away, there was another concentration, Chega.
Thousands This Saturday they filled Avenida Almirante Reis to protest against a police action in and the treatment of immigrants, bringing together activists, politicians, migrants and anonymous citizens.
Among people of different nationalities, the Portuguese António Azevedo and Helena Moreira are from Fundão and do not usually participate in demonstrations, but wanted to be present.
Among samba groups, party delegations, immigrant associations and non-governmental organizations, each shouting their slogan, Antônio (64 years old) and Helena (63) remained silent, hand in hand.
“We don’t scream, because we don’t know what they are shouting, but we are here”, said the engineer, from Fundão who found out about the “Don’t push us against the wall” demonstration through social media and wanted to be present “What is happening in Portugal is something indecent. Let’s follow all this discrimination against these people who came here to fight for their lives in our country”, said Antônio Azevedo.
António was commenting on the police intervention on Rua do Benformoso, in Martim Moniz, on December 19, which targeted immigrants in the center of Lisbon.
Precisely about this intervention, a resident in Martim Moniz said that “Before immigrants lived there, it was much worse. I was robbed there several times (by Portuguese)”.
Next door, a group of Left Bloc activists followed, shouting “fascists, fascists, your time has come, the immigrants stay and you leave”. Further down, the Sambação group, LGBT activists, preached love, alongside an association of Bangladeshis, with women wearing the hijab.
The demonstration surprised many.
The organization speaks of 15 thousand participants and, when the head of the column that descended Almirante Reis passed Chile square, there were still hundreds to leave Alameda Afonso Henriques.
Amina, a Syrian immigrant, was at the front of the demonstration. Living in Portugal for three years, the computer technician says that never felt discriminationunlike the United Kingdom, where he lived. “You really feel racism there. I never felt it here. But I live in Lisbon, I’m white and I’m educated”, summarized the young woman, dressed in Western style.
Next door, lawyer Ricardo Sá Fernandes was walking up the avenue to meet the protesters: “I wanted to be here, but I was at a lunch that ended late.” “The Portuguese are sending a signal here that they do not agree with any discrimination. “We are all together,” he stated, considering that political polarization did not show itself this afternoon on the streets of Lisbon, where other far-right actions were called. “There are a lot of people here. I am very proud of these people”, he stated.
António Azevedo points the finger at the social networks that divide the Portuguese regarding immigrants: “Social networks enhance all of this and it is easier for us to take our feeling of discomfort against the most fragile part of society”, which, in this case, are immigrants .
But former journalist Diana Andringa, present at the demonstration, also points the finger at the journalism that is done today: “The big problem is that journalism is no longer done” and “there is little information for people to be well informed”. “What is sorely lacking is this work of informing” which is not done because of the “journalism crisis and precariousness”.
Today “it is a demonstration against racism to say that we are all equal” and what happened in Benformoso “embarrasses us all” when “authorities behave in a racist way”. Slimani is named after an Algerian football player but he came from Morocco and decided to be present at the demonstration. With a carnation in his hand, accompanied by his Portuguese wife, Slimani said he understood the Portuguese’s fear of immigrants. “It’s normal. The first reaction is to be surprised, but we are all people. AND the State must belong to everyone”, these.
Landscape architect Helena Moreira is worried about the future and fears that the spirit of tolerance will fade. “After the last legislative elections, we became aware of a shift to the extreme right in Portugal that was already happening in Europe. It’s something that is real and that we have to fight,” he said.
Political leaders
Leaders from PS, BE, PCP, PAN and Livre were also present at this demonstration.
“The PS’s message is that this is not a demonstration against anyone. It is a manifestation of defense of the values of the rule of law”, stated the socialist parliamentary leader, Alexandra Leitão, in statements to journalists.
The BE coordinator, Mariana Mortágua, He argued that what unites several parties today in this demonstration “is the pride of anti-racism” and “the courage of solidarity in the most difficult times”.
PCP hair, João Ferreira warned that the “instrumentalization, by political power, of security forces is a danger” for the population, for the agents themselves and for democracy.
Rui Tavares, do Livre, highlighted that Portugal is a country of “coexistence, solidarity, mutual respect. This is what brings true security to everyone.”
Already Inês de Souza Real (PAN) criticized the “unacceptable political use” of Luís Montenegro in this situation.
Chega’s call-up
300 meters from the end of the demonstration, there was another, promoted by He arrives. In Praça da Figueira, in Lisbon, the concentration “For authority and against impunity”brought together a few hundred people.
André Ventura said, “I don’t want to provoke anyone, but I’m sure of this: there are many demonstrations, in one sense and another, perhaps this Saturday’s demonstration will be the most illegitimate that already existed here in Martim Moniz, because it is truly against the police, truly for the criminals”.
The president of Chega added that, in addition to being against the policethe other manifestation is also against the judges “who ordered the action that took place in Martim Moniz”, highlighting that it was not just the police who carried out that action.
Ventura explained that Chega organized this vigil because the demonstration “organized this Saturday by the left there had to be an answer“, also blaming the media for having accustomed this political area “to living in a country where there was no counterpoint” and having more media weight than its parliamentary representation.
The deputy explained that black t-shirts were distributed to people present at the vigil with the rally’s motto “For authority against impunity” to symbolize mourning for the dead and injured police officers and also for people who were victims of crime.
Arise and Habeas Corpus
An hour before the start of the demonstration marked by the “Don’t touch us against the wall” movement, a group of far-right activists occupied the west side of Alameda, in Lisbon, where the protest against the PSP’s actions is scheduled.
Spaced out, with banners and large flags of Portugal and the party acronym, the party’s supporters Rise up and the movement You have Corpus They occupied a substantial area of the space, even leading an anarchist bookseller who was there to move to a more distant sidewalk.
Em silence, they want to oppose the demonstration against the PSP’s actions in places with a large concentration of immigrants and on the outskirts of Greater Lisbon.
