Chega party leader André Ventura has accepted a challenge from historian José Pacheco Pereira to a televised debate on CNN Portugal this coming Monday. The challenge follows a controversy in parliament where Ventura claimed there were more political prisoners after the 1974 revolution than before, a claim Pacheco Pereira refuted with historical data. The historian has insisted that the debate must be strictly evidence-based, with both parties required to document every claim made, and has called for an absence of personal attacks.
Ventura accepts debate with Pacheco Pereira based on 'facts and documents'
Context & Explainers

André Ventura, born January 15, 1983, is a lawyer, academic, and Portugal's most prominent far-right leader. He founded Chega ("Enough") in 2019 after his PSD mayoral campaign attacked the Romani community. Chega surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest party and making Ventura Leader of the Opposition.
His platform emphasizes immigration restrictions, law-and-order policies, constitutional reform, and contains inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric that has triggered multiple discrimination convictions and investigations. Politically classified as far-right by international media, Ventura cultivates alliances with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen and Santiago Abascal.

Chega ("Enough") is a Portuguese far-right populist party founded in 2019 by André Ventura. It positions itself as an anti-establishment movement against what it calls a "rotten and corrupt system" of PS-PSD dominance. The party surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest force with 60 seats. Chega's core platform emphasizes strict immigration control—ending automatic CPLP residency, deporting non-independent immigrants, implementing job-market quotas, and requiring five-year social security contributions before benefit access. It advocates radical constitutional reform, including reducing parliament to 100 members, abolishing the prime minister position for a presidential system, and dismantling public healthcare. Law-and-order policies include life imprisonment and chemical castration proposals.
The party is defined by inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric, with Ventura convicted multiple times for discrimination. Chega maintains international alignments with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and Matteo Salvini. Mainstream Portuguese parties, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government, have imposed a cordon sanitaire, refusing coalition with Chega despite its parliamentary strength.
José Pacheco Pereira is a prominent Portuguese historian, political commentator, and former member of the European Parliament. He is well-known for his extensive research on contemporary Portuguese history and his frequent, critical analysis of political developments in national media.
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Other news coverage of this topic
- André Ventura accepts debate with Pacheco Pereira based on facts and documents • RTP Notícias
- Does Ventura want to lend a hand to the Government again? • Público
- André Ventura accepts debate with Pacheco Pereira • Observador
- Race for positions. Ventura demands that the first Portuguese person in space be from Chega • Expresso
- The leader of Chega "accepts the challenge": André Ventura says yes to a debate with Pacheco Pereira based on facts and documents • CNN Portugal







