It’s not a “clown”: five activists, including two former candidates for the party, detained in the dismantling of the ultranationalist group. Ventura was warned, but “he needed everyone”.
Faced with suspicions and accusations of prostitution of minors, possession of child pornography, driving under the influence of alcohol or, André Ventura’s response has been to expel Chega, open internal proceedings or even. But this firm stance from the presidential candidate does not occur when militants and former candidates of the party are suspected hate crimes, far-right criminal association and acts of discrimination against immigrants: happened this week, in which Group 1143, led by neo-Nazi Mário Machado, went for the PJ.
Any connection to Group 1143 should, at the very least, make any democratic party want one thing from it: distance. But that’s not the case. André Ventura says that did not keep away neo-Nazi militants detained by the PJand “he doesn’t even know who” they are, he confessed this week, in an interview with RTP, where he sought to justify his non-action: “Ferro Rodrigues did worse things”.
“Chega has become a very large party with many activists from all walks of life. As with everyone, there are situations that are not the best. I have always tried to be different from others, to remove what had to be removed, to give an image of transparency to the Portuguese”, said Ventura. “I thought they had already been expelled from the party”, he further pointed out, explaining — with surprise, days after ‘throwing in the face’ of Gouveia e Melo José Sócrates’ support for the admiral — that he cannot refuse votes from anyone: “Whoever wants to vote for me will vote”.
The five detainees linked to Chega
So far, André Ventura has not made a point of separating himself from the detained militants or Group 1143: the “talk about extremism is nonsense”. But the facts are these: There are five Chega militants among those detained in the PJ mega-operation, which justified it by not wanting any more deaths. Of these five, two were candidates for Chega in the 2021 local elections.
One of these five arrested Chega militants is PSP agent and was one of the delegates elected to the party’s sixth national convention, held in Viana do Castelo, according to .
Another name among the detainees linked to Chega is that of Rui Roquea long-time presence at Chega congresses who will be the leader of Group 1143 in the Algarve, which is indicted for crimes of discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence in episodes against foreigners, according to . In 2020, he made news for presenting a motion proposing remove ovaries from women who miscarrywhich would be failed at the Chega congress in Évora.
In Guimarães, two Chega candidates in the 2021 local elections were arrested: João Peixoto and Ana Rita Castro. The latter, 29 years old, is identified as one of the main financial contributors to the group led by skinhead Mário Machado and is indicted as co-author of crimes of discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence: she says that the Group 1143 to become a militia, in a telephone conversation intercepted by authorities. The Chega de Guimarães Council confirmed on Facebook that the two detainees are still affiliated with the party, but have moved away from their “ideals” and “don’t even have their membership fees paid”.
“The Growler” André Caeiro will be another detainee, according to journalist Miguel Carvalho. He was a PNR member and a Chega activist until recently, says the author.
“We need everyone”
The connection between Chega and Grupo 1143 is neither new nor unexpected, notes the journalist, who has been investigating the party since its foundation. In fact, almost two years ago, ZAP published one like this.
“There are no formal or organic connections, but there is complicity“, says the author of Inside Chega, which guarantees, for example, that a Chega advisor calls himself a “white supremacist”.
And “it will be difficult for others not to emerge”, he believes: “it was very behind the scenes”.
“I think we are going to see the discovery of dozens of elements [do Chega no grupo neonazi]although without formal connection to 1143”, the journalist also says.
Miguel Carvalho recalls that Chega’s former vice-president, Nuno Afonso (one of the interviewees in his book), warned André Ventura about “the massive entry” into the party of “elements with a very complicated history from the point of view of their extremist links. The response he heard was: ‘I don’t care, we need everyone‘”, guarantees Miguel Carvalho.
Public support for Ventura and Chega
two days before being dismantled, the group declared its support for André Ventura. “We are a non-partisan and club-based group, but at this moment Ventura is the only option we have to fight socialism.”
In closed Telegram groups, some participants leave messages perceived as threatening, insinuating that the regime will have to “fall” if António José Seguro wins, notes the .
But is the group really non-partisan?
Rue with a covered face at lunch; “I belong to Mário”
The connection between 1143 and former deputy Miguel Arruda, most famous for being caught stealing suitcases from airports, is nothing new. But Arruda, removed from Chega due to the theft of luggage he sold at Vinted, will have participated, with his face covered with a balaclava, in a lunch gathering in Porto to mark the first anniversary of the neo-Nazi group, in October 2024.
Arruda always defended leader Mário Machadocurrently serving a prison sentence, classifying him as a “political prisoner”.
In fact, he explains it himself, caught up in a game of comedians, on X: .
For authorities, this proximity is more than an isolated episode. The investigation supports the suspicion that the relationship between Machado and Arruda may have been used as a gateway to attract figures with political projection, not only deputies, but also mayors and activists with some prominence.
Bodyguard services, 1143 on the Chega bus: the “little cafe”
According to Group 1143 itself, the Chega deputy Rui Afonsoelected by the Porto circle, requested “bodyguard services” when traveling to Lisbon, in September 2024, to participate in an anti-immigration demonstration promoted by André Ventura’s party.
At that time, the same deputy used one of the party’s free buses to get to one of the demonstrations, and according to the magazine, members of Group 1143 were also traveling on that bus, who registered on the official portal as militants or supporters of André Ventura’s party and used Chega’s means to travel to the capital.
The allegation appears in videos released on social media by André Silva and João Peixoto, two of those detained in Operation Irmandade, who say they agreed on the “service” during “a coffee” with members of the northern nucleus of the far-right movement, cites .
Rui Afonso denies having asked Group 1143 for security.
Brotherhood, “race war” and prison guard recruitment
In Operation Irmandade, 37 people were arrested and 15 were accused. The investigation shows that Mário Machado, in Alcoentre since May, continues, according to the authorities, to control the structure, allegedly with cell phones in prison, and has tried to recruit prison guards.
A PSP agent and an Air Force soldier were also detained, the latter with military equipment at home.
Other friends (and allies) in “remigration” and culture
It’s a different group, but Reconquista is another group constantly classified as ultranationalist, white supremacist, misogynist, xenophobic and homophobic with even more explicit links to Chega. According to party vice-president Pedro Frazão, .
Ventura tried to distance himself from neo-Nazi movements but last year he did not hesitate to share one on his social networks with clear references to Mário Machado’s group 1143 and Reconquista.
“Chega, with allies like you, is here to remind everyone that the defense of Portugal also involves defending our culture, our families and our Portuguese Christian identity”, said Frazão, present at the rally of the group whose leader, Afonso Gonçalves, publicly defends, among other things, that women should not vote, that men are more intelligent than women and that feminism is a disease.
Tomás Guimarães, ZAP //
