Portugal's Nationalist Chega Party Evokes Saudade (Nostalgia)

The author with her mother and father

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At the table, when I was a girl in New York City, my father would say that Belize will never change, that the old man selling fruit outside Brodies general store in Belize City always would be there.

Between mouthfuls of rice and beans, family and friends, other emigrants from then-British Honduras, got his meaning, shaking their heads in agreement. Change had been slow to nonexistent, and there was comfort in that. They could go back home to the familiar.

Daddy was wrong.

There has been a myriad of changes in Belize.

Seventy years ago, for example, there was a limited number of electricity lines in Belize City. Today, throughout the country, in cities, towns and villages alike, kerosene lamps are antiques.

Yet, it is difficult to accept change "back home", as Belizeans in the diaspora say, or "in the old country", as American emigrants from Portugal, where I now live, describe their native land.

Both Belize and Portugal are countries with significant rates of emigration and, more recently, immigration as citizens of richer countries and those of unstable nations have discovered them. Emigrants from both countries send back substancial remittances, which bolster the economies, their relatives' pockets and build their own houses and futures.

Most emigrants do not want to become emigrants. The reasons for leaving are dramatic. A grumble in the belly is a huge push and the possibility of opportunity a tremendous pull.

So, when a politician markets his party as "Portugal for the Portuguese", he is striking an emotional chord with Portuguese in Portugal and, certainly, with those who live abroad.

Villagers recall a time when only a few families were resident. Their collective memory treasures a moment when the same land was worked by the same family. They remember more people in the village and fewer boarded up houses.

In town, there were familiar faces at the shops, pharmacies and cafés. The unfamiliar was unusual and would attract some stares as people tried to puzzle out the presence of foreigners.

The unfamiliar is only a few years old.

Chega (Enough), the Portugal for the Portuguese party, reminds people of the past. It draws up saudade, a deep yearning for the days gone by, for a Portugal where they belonged and, by their belonging, all was well with the world.

"Saudade is the memory of enjoying past times that never come back; the penalty of not enjoying them in the present, and the desire and hope of returning to the former state of happiness in the future,” according to Saudade Portuguesa (1914).

The nationalist Chega is steering a blind course of emotion, without maps or so much as a glance at the stars.

Meanwhile, in Belize City, the old man outside Brodies is not there anymore.

2nd Round of Presidential Election

On Sunday, February 8, the Portuguese will vote in the second round of the presidential election for António José Seguro, 63, of the Socialist Party, or the founder and leader of Chega, André Ventura, 43. Neither of these two garnered the requisite 50 percent of the vote to win in the first round on January 18, but they did win the most votes.

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, 52, leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), announced his decision not to endorse either candidate the night of the election, according to Jornal de Notícias (January 28).

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, 77, of the Social Democratic Party, is serving his second term (2021-2026) and is constitutionally barred from a third consecutive term.

The Prime Minister is the Head of Government, while the President is the Head of State, according to an official government website.

The President represents the Portuguese Republic and defends and enforces the Constitution.

The President can dismiss the Prime Minister "to ensure the proper functioning of democratic institutions"; can dissolve the Assembleia da República (Parliament); set the date for new elections; exercise the power of veto; call national referendums; acts as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces; declare war or a State of Emergency, and ratify international treaties, among other actions and powers.

On the other hand, the Prime Minister exercises legislative and executive functions: preparing and executing the State Budget; regulating laws; issuing decree-laws on matters not reserved for the Assembleia da República, and directing the general policy of the executive, among other functions.

This election is only the second time that the presidential elections have dictated a second round. In the 1986 elections, former Prime Minister Mário Soares ran against Freitas do Amaral, reported SIC Notícias (January 14). Mário Soares won that presidencial race and ran again successfully (1986-1996).