Audit blasts government’s economic pandemic measures // ‘Qatar doesn’t respect human rights’ but ‘let’s forget about this’
Portuguese news in English on Sunday, November 20, 2022.
By the numbers
Audit report criticises government’s economic pandemic measures
The government’s reaction to the pandemic was weak and full of propaganda, Público reports, paraphrasing an audit of the Economy Ministry’s actions. The report analysed 24 measures announced by the ministry for 2020 and 2021, finding two-thirds of them didn’t arrive and others were “ineffective” because of low take-up. Of the €13.16 billion spent, roughly €9 billion was on public credit guarantees, creating a large “budgetary risk”, the auditors noted. The analysis only looks at the Economy Ministry’s measures, so doesn’t include other programs such as the wide-ranging “simple layoff” measure used to maintain jobs. The ministry pointed to economic indicators it considered “more relevant”, such as GDP and tourism levels, to argue its programs worked.
‘Qatar doesn’t respect human rights’ but ‘let’s forget about this’
The football World Cup has become a snowball of scandals and controversies ranging from beer and bribes through to human rights abuses (all in English), and Portugal’s president is not immune. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa last week began his comments about the Qatar-based tournament in a more critical tone than some other world leaders, saying “Qatar doesn’t respect human rights,” Lusa reports. But he seemed to almost immediately move on from those grave concerns, continuing, “anyway, let’s forget about that and concentrate on the team”. He was responding to calls for leaders to boycott the competition in protest at the thousands of migrant workers who’ve died since the World Cup was awarded and the continued criminalisation of homosexuality in the extremely religious state.
Portuguese youths protest as world meets on climate change
Climate-conscious youths who occupied schools and stormed into a building where the economy and sea minister was speaking say they’ll return in spring, Público reports. The protesters were calling for an end to fossil fuels and the resignation of the minister, António Costa Silva, who’s career outside politics was extensively linked to the fossil fuel industry. The protests, which ended on Monday, came as many of the world’s leaders and armies of negotiators met in Egypt for the COP27 UN climate conference, aimed at implementation of commitments to keep the world as close as possible to 1.5 degrees of warming. The meeting ended with a historic agreement to compensate poorer nations for devastating climate damage but with grave disappointments when it came to moves to end fossil fuels, the BBC reports.
In brief
Divided Brazilian community welcomes President “Lula” to Lisbon. Cheers and protests greeted the new Brazilian leader as he chose Portugal for his first bilateral meeting, a significant contrast to defeated presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro, who never visited. (Diário de Notícias).
Schools shut or limited due to public sector strike. Friday’s strike affected schools, hospitals and public services to varying extents, as workers fought for better pay. (Público).
National rail plan to connect 10 biggest cities with high-speed trains. The 30-year plan includes maintaining existing lines, reopening some that shut, expanding the network to Trás-os-Montes and reinforcing connections to the Algarve and Spain.
On a lighter note
We’ve just marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of José Saramago, Portugal’s only winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The centenary was on November 16, capping a year of celebrations of his work. The revered and often controversial writer grew up poor in the Ribatejo and didn’t become a full-time author until his 50s. He was politically passionate, being involved with the Communist Party in Portugal, and his Nobel Prize biography notes that his writing relies heavily on allegory and “fanciful elements … interspersed with a detailed and critical look at society”.