Latest news and stories about chega in history in Portugal for expats and residents.
Pacheco Pereira challenged André Ventura to a debate after the Chega leader claimed that 'shortly after the 25th of April there were more political prisoners than there were before the 25th of April 1974'.
During a televised debate, André Ventura attacked his rival, João Ferreira Seguro, and directed insults at a lone dissenting attendee who displayed a placard defending the 25 April revolution, as well as at journalists. The incident punctuated a session that had briefly shifted public attention away from Storm Kristin and highlighted growing tensions in the campaign, with Ventura returning to personal attacks on Seguro. The episode underscores mounting polarisation in the race, potential risks for media access and civil protest at events, and how external crises can be eclipsed by incendiary rhetoric.
Chega-backed presidential candidate André Ventura appealed to Portuguese emigrants in Switzerland to participate in the second round, arguing that, for the first time in democratic history, their votes “will be decisive.” He framed the contest as an opportunity to “change the system,” accusing PSD, CDS and IL of colluding with Seguro in a “cosy arrangement of interests,” and urged emigrants to cast a decisive vote in the run-off.
Livre co-spokesperson Rui Tavares accused André Ventura of repeating a phrase used by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler—"we were stabbed in the back"—during the Chega leader's speech at the 25th of April anniversary session. Tavares argued that this reference to the Colonial War mirrors the Nazi “stab-in-the-back” myth. He also criticized the government's decision to place the 25th of April Interpretative Centre in Pontinha rather than Terreiro do Paço, and called for better education regarding the history of the dictatorship to prevent the spread of misinformation by opportunists.
The superiority of democracy is absolute. Neither three Salazares could hide the truth, nor would three Venturas be capable of inventing facts. Opinion by António Barreto
The struggle between the right and the left that marked the 50th anniversary of the Portuguese Constitution is expected to continue during the Assembly of the Republic's commemoration this Saturday, marking 52 years since the April 25, 1974 revolution. With both sides of the chamber using the past to analyse the present and anticipate the future, the first parliamentary commemoration of the Carnation Revolution since António José Seguro took office as President of the Republic is set to be marked by intense ideological debate. Key speakers include Hugo Soares for the PSD, André Ventura for Chega, Mariana Leitão for the Liberal Initiative, and José Luís Carneiro for the PS, each bringing distinct perspectives on current labour reforms, the legacy of the revolution, and the political landscape.
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The remaining left-wing parties voted in favour of the proposal submitted by PSD, IL and CDS. Chega abstained from the tribute to 'all those who contributed to the 25th of April and the consolidation of democracy'.
We do not need the populist right to restore the truth of the facts.
What André Ventura said in Parliament is not necessarily false – it is, rather, highly misleading. Opinion by João Miguel Tavares
Watch the answer in the video. Polígrafo TVI (from the same group as CNN Portugal) is a fact-checking programme covering current affairs.
The debate between Pacheco Pereira and André Ventura proved to be absolutely useless, except on one point: it made it clear that Portugal is still struggling with its colonial legacy and that this is a subject of political dispute.
Rui Paulo Sousa, from the Chega party, analyses the debate that brought André Ventura and historian José Pacheco Pereira face-to-face this Monday.
The television evening featured an unusual debate between Pacheco Pereira and André Ventura. The idea came from the historian, who challenged the leader of Chega to sit down at the table - on CNN Portugal - to discuss the before and after of the 25th of April.
The Chega leader revisited considerations regarding Portugal's colonial past, emphasizing the 'good' things Portugal did in the colonies, and insisted on comparing corruption during the dictatorship to corruption during the democracy, but the former MP and historian used his background to deconstruct several of the figures Ventura presented.
In a debate with Pacheco Pereira, André Ventura criticises the 25th of April revolution.
In a debate with Pacheco Pereira, André Ventura argues that there were positive aspects to colonisation.
One of the moments from the debate between Pacheco Pereira and André Ventura regarding political prisoners before and after the 25th of April.
One of the moments from the debate between Pacheco Pereira and André Ventura regarding political prisoners before and after the 25th of April.
In a debate with historian Pacheco Pereira, André Ventura defended the Portuguese who returned from Africa after the 25th of April revolution and the soldiers who fought in the African wars.
One of the moments from the debate between Pacheco Pereira and André Ventura regarding political prisoners before and after the 25th of April, when the historian recalls the assassination of General Humberto Delgado.
One of the moments from the debate between Pacheco Pereira and André Ventura regarding political prisoners before and after the 25th of April.
One of the moments from the debate between Pacheco Pereira and André Ventura regarding political prisoners before and after the 25th of April.
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.
Once again, the pièce de résistance of the session was left to André Ventura, who recalled some stages of the 'opening of the path to a socialist society', enshrined in the preamble of the Constitution.
The dictatorship is estimated to have held around 30,000 political prisoners. Afterwards, even considering the prisoners from September 1974 and March and May 1975, as well as former PIDE agents, the number is significantly lower.
Anabela Neves, a commentator for CNN Portugal, says that “only 10% of the original 1976 Constitution text has not been altered.”
Forty years after the decisive face-to-face between Soares and Freitas, Seguro and Ventura re‑enacted the two-way duel in a presidential runoff. There were some points of contact and many differences.
