Dakota Beacon

Portugal.  I had been reading about the attraction of Portugal to American retirees recently, which interested me because my husband and I nearly decided to emigrate to Portugal.  When he lost his employment we were looking down the barrel of a bleak future - he was over 60, we had three toddlers to raise and we were both blacklisted in Grand Forks due to a “rift” with UND.  We had thoroughly researched the optimum places to raise our kids. Portugal came out on top. It had a decent standard of living, a great culture, a terrific climate, proximity to other European countries and the British Isles and a fairly placid political life, all topped off with a very low cost of living.  We checked into requirements for residence, we even looked into studying Portuguese and dabbled in it a bit (I’d always been intrigued with Portuguese) and I still remember phrases now that I’m thinking about it. Only one thing deterred us. My husband was the youngest of his siblings and I had many siblings, parents and a large extended family to whom we were close and we wanted our kids to grow up with this family around them.  In the end that won out. Were we right? I don’t know. The tea leaves didn’t lie - the future remained pretty rough.

So it was with interest that I began noticing little snippets of articles promoting retirement (for those lucky enough to aspire to retirement) in Portugal.  I have wondered how the country was doing with the upheaval that has been going on in Europe for the past decade. Not too bad, apparently. However, the signs were there of future threat to Portuguese sovereignty - enough of a threat through the E.U. and U.N. that a new populist party has emerged.

Portuguese sovereignty is not to be taken lightly.  This far-western European nation’s history is the oldest in Europe.  Its history actually reaches farther back, into prehistory. It has a unique culture.  So, many of the European Union’s worst ideas do not sit all that well in Portugal.

Following the overthrow of the monarchy in 1910, there were a few shaky years of an attempt at a republic.  It was a rough go. Portugal was an ally in World War I but the war left its already iffy economy in tatters. In 1932, Antonio de Oliveira Salazar became its dictator.  The nation remained neutral during World War II and continued under Salazar until 1968, then under his successor until 1974, when a revolution brought about a parliamentary government.  Today, in the tumultuous political climate which plagues Europe, a new party, Chenga (“Enough”), is emerging. It’s leader is a law professor and sports personality, Andre Ventura. At age 36, he has time to become an important leader and spokesman for Portuguese sovereignty, which is one of the pillars of his party.  

It will be interesting to watch how this develops in Portugal.  In recent elections, although the Socialist Party won, it was with a scant plurality of just over 36%, with the so-called “right-center” party, the Social Democrats, coming in with a poor showing of just over 24%.  Just as we have seen in the U.S. and Canada, these “right-center” parties have continued to drift to the Left. It is a perpetual dynamic which must be continually checked if it is not to result in caving to socialism.  Portugal is apparently no exception. This has caused discontent among those conservatives who are concerned with the drive for E.U. policies. Ventura’s party scored a tiny 1.3% nationally in this election, but it may gather steam as Europe continues to implode.  

The policies set forth by Chenga and the principles which underlie them reflect the dissatisfaction of the native peoples of Europe with the top-down, elitist one-world force of Europe’s current leadership - people like Merkel and Macron.  Cenga, like already established populist and nationalist parties throughout western Europe, emphasizes national character, language, history and political borders. It resembles the stance of the Visegrad nations of eastern Europe. The U.S. would be well-advised to follow its principles.  Here are its main points:

• Promote the teaching of Portuguese history and culture.

• Overturn the Parity Law (Lei da Paridade) [Promulgated in March 2019, the law states that candidate lists for Parliament must have a minimum representation of 40% of each sex] and other positive discrimination quota policies in favor of merit-based policies.

• Increase tax benefits for large families and introduce measures to increase the birth rate. Portugal has a birth rate of 1.3 children per woman, the second-lowest in Europe, after Cyprus, with one child per woman.

• Ensure that parents have control over the moral education of their children by requiring schools to obtain express authorization from parents or guardians for any activity involving ethical, social, civic, moral or sexual values for students up to secondary education.

• Reform national adoption laws so that women with unexpected or unwanted pregnancies have information, assistance and alternatives to abortion.

• Change the Penal Code to require chemical castration for anyone convicted of sexual crimes against children under 16 years of age.

• Introduce mandatory prison sentences with no possibility of a suspended sentence for crimes involving rape.

• Introduce life imprisonment for the most serious crimes, namely crimes of homicide or terrorism. Portugal abolished life imprisonment in 1884 and many criminals are released from prison after serving short or partial sentences.

• Publish nationality and origin data in crime statistics.

• Reduce public spending, in particular by reducing the number of Members of Parliament to 100, down from 230, and by eliminating the perks of high office.

• Reduce the role of the state in the economy. Abolish inheritance taxes. Eliminate or reduce tariffs on electricity, gas and water.

• Eliminate access to free health care for illegal immigrants.

• Immediately inform the United Nations of Portugal's departure from the Global Compact for Migration. The issue of immigration should be dealt with in accordance with the reality and the sovereignty of each country.

• Promote a new European treaty, in line with the Visegrad Group of countries, on borders, national sovereignty and respect for the values of European culture.

• Deport all illegal immigrants to their countries of origin. Deport all immigrants who, even if they have a legal status, commit crimes that lead to the sentence of imprisonment.

• Any illegal immigrants within the country will be excluded from the possibility of regularizing their situation and receiving any state support.

• For those seeking Portuguese nationality, increase the requirements in spoken and written Portuguese, as well as cultural integration.

• Loss of nationality for citizens of foreign origin who commit acts of terrorism or attacks on Portugal's sovereignty, security and independence.

• Combat political and religious practices which violate the Portuguese legal system (especially anti-Semitism, gender ideologies, the application of Sharia law, female genital mutilation, forced marriages of minors, among others).

• Reassess Portugal's role in the United Nations, "which has become a producer and spreader of cultural Marxism and mass globalism that we are unwilling to consume, much less pay for."

Ventura’s party is sharply focused on individual rights as the foundation of law and policy as it goes forward and if it stays true to these principles and gathers strength this can only mean a greater future for Portugal.  We don’t know what is in store for Europe. Demographically the continent is deeply eroded after a decade of anti-European leadership and betrayal. If Europe is to have a future perhaps the principles of Chenga and the statesmanship of men like Ventura will light the way.  We can only hope for this.

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