In recent years, it’s become an increasingly popular destination for many Americans seeking a new place to call home, and with good reason. It’s a trend driven by a combo of factors that just elevates the quality of life, offering a completely different experience than the living standard in the U.S. Here's what to expect when living in Portugal as an American citizen 👉https://www.infinite-solutions.pt/post/living-in-portugal-as-an-american-your-2026-guide-to-moving-out-of-the-united-states #António Barbosa

What's happening around André Ventura in my opinion isn't just a political phenomenon, it's a psychological mirror of the entire country. In half a century of "democracy," no one has achieved what he has… Tearing away the veil of normality that concealed the regime's decadence and forcing Portugal to look in the mirror. Ventura broke the silence with a pebble thrown into the pond, and in a country accustomed to whispering, this was a tidal wave. The most interesting thing, however, is not the man himself, but what he reveals about us. Most of those who hate him don't understand him, and most of those who idolize him don't either. Some project onto him the fear of authoritarianism, others the dream of a savior. Ultimately, both feed on the same deficiency, which is the prolonged absence of truth and courage in Portuguese politics. Ventura is the inevitable product of a people exhausted from being deceived with good manners. He didn't invent discontent, he merely gave it a voice. And he did so with rare frankness, in a scenario where cowardice disguises itself as moderation. He speaks about what nobody wants to hear… Insecurity, immigration, parasitism, corruption, the state that spends our heavy tax contributions effortlessly and serves no purpose. And for that reason, he became the catalyst for the legitimate anger of the invisible. There is merit in that, yes. It takes courage to name the obvious when everyone lives pretending that the obvious doesn't exist. But there is also a real danger!!! Ventura plays on the terrain of pure emotion, and emotion is a fire that is difficult to control. When politics becomes a spectacle, the truth becomes a hostage of the audience. He understood this before others, transforming debates into a boxing ring and ideas into impactful blows. He is media-savvy, provocative, and effective. The problem is that the more you rise through scandal, the more dependent you become on it. Its strength is its addiction. Even so, it would be intellectually dishonest to reduce the phenomenon to pure marketing. If it were just theater, it would have already ended like so many opportunistic populisms. What sustains it is deeper… It is the authentic resentment of millions of Portuguese people!

Ahead of what I am sure will be an interesting conversation with @António Barbosa tomorrow, the overriding question for me is: what are 'we' hoping to preserve and promote in this country and culture, that we were drawn to, and are calling home?

This photograph was published in the Expresso newspaper to illustrate the news item that dissects Andre Ventura's television interview with SIC in the context of his presidential candidacy for Belém. I read the article, riddled with the ideological bias to which Expresso has accustomed me to, and then I read the comments that expose the embarrassing prevalence of uncritical repeaters, those haunted by the ghost of Salazar, fools and presumptuous people who consider themselves intellectually superior simply because they are left-wing. The regime, its heralds, and those who vote for them out of clubbishness or dog-like loyalty, have still not managed to realize that André Ventura (AV) is precisely: 1. The product of the regime's failure; 2. The product of growing incompetence, of unfulfilled promises, of selective deafness and blindness to what displeases a significant and growing number of Portuguese people who do not depend on subsidies or jobs. Portuguese people who, after the pornographic confiscation to which the regime subjects them, still manage to create jobs and produce wealth (which will be re-confiscated), and in addition, support their children and grandchildren, the homeless, the gypsies, the illegal immigrants, and others; 3. And this is the product of repeated impunity, particularly when it comes to corruption, but not only. Failing to understand that AV is anything but stupid and that he has masterfully managed to ride the wave of national discontent, the wave that the left and the center, which have perpetually held power for 51 years, have never been able to surf because they are incapable of freeing themselves from the supranational yoke; because they are incapable of breaking out of the bubble of ideological prejudice and the hypocrisy of political correctness; and because they are incapable of understanding that times have changed, and so has the social psyche. And the media, the commentators, and the parrots who repeat them fail to grasp that the ignominy embodied in their comments and on their walls is counterproductive, despite the feeling of empowerment, intellectual superiority, morbid and almost orgasmic pleasure, and the illusion that the repeated harassment of dissent is supported by the pursuit of a "greater good"… Democracy and freedom of expression.

#António Barbosa