Marcos Borga / Lusa
Radio debate with presidential candidates
Ventura is the only one who welcomes the attack, while Catarina Martins and Jorge Pinto are the biggest critics. Marques Mendes and Seguro are still waiting for more information.
The impact of the US bombings on Venezuela this morning is already being felt in Portuguese politics, with the majority of presidential candidates having already commented on the situation and cementing their positions in terms of foreign policy.
One of the first to react was Henrique Gouveia e Melowhich describes the attack as “illegitimate“. “It is worrying that countries invade the sovereignty of others and that certain situations are resolved through force”, he states.
The admiral also compared the situation to the war in Ukraine. “There was a Russian operation Z, and now there is another operation, this time North American, with the same format and style, to change the Government, regardless of whether that Government is legitimate or not”, he considers.
Luís Marques Mendes considers that it is still “too early to draw a conclusion about the nature of the American intervention”. “I would like to highlight the concern for the Portuguese community in Venezuela”, he began by saying, calling for “de-escalation so that everything that needs to be done is done peacefully”. “It is important to remember that the European Union never recognized the elections and Venezuela”, frisa.
Andre Ventura welcomed the North American intervention on social media, writing in X that Maduro’s fall is “a good sign for freedom throughout the region” and which is a “sign of hope for the Venezuelan people and the Portuguese communities residing there”.
Already João Cotrim de Figueiredo accuses the international community of not knowing how to “deal with the dictatorship in Venezuela” and states that “any infringement of international law is in itself criticizable”. The liberal candidate wants normality to return quickly and that there are elections in the near future so that the Venezuelan people “can quickly decide on their future”.
“Today is Venezuela, who will it be tomorrow?”
Among the most left-wing candidates, António José Seguro he was more sparse in his words and refused to directly condemn the attack, limiting himself to saying that he is still “collect information“.
“I am follow from a very early agewith great concern, what is happening in Venezuela. We have around half a million Portuguese living in Venezuela, and I am worried about this situation. I hope to talk about this subject again throughout the day. But there is a principle that I want to highlight here: which is the principle of defending International Law”, defended the socialist candidate.
The candidate supported by Livre, Jorge Pinto, condemned the “illegal attack” and stated that “regardless of what one may think about Maduro”, “what is at stake is international law”.
“I really hope that from the Portuguese side, from the European side, from NATO, there is no support for this attack. Today it is Venezuela, who will it be tomorrow? What happens if tomorrow the person attacked is, for example, Greenland? What will other countries say? I believe in defending international law anywhere on the planet. I don’t believe in good or bad imperialism, in good or bad aggression”, he said.
Catarina Martins was on the same wavelength, remembering that “Portugal doesn’t need to wait of Europe to condemn an operation that violates international law and increases the risk of global war.”
“Just as we do not accept Vladimir Putin saying he is going to carry out a special operation because he wants to take Ukraine’s wealth, we also cannot accept Donald Trump saying he wants to take Venezuela’s oil”, he emphasizes.
