“I was only there to take the photograph.”

José Manuel Coelho insists he has no connection whatsoever to a new swastika painting in Santa Cruz, which appeared next to a Chega party poster.

A swastika was recently painted next to a Chega party poster in the municipality of Santa Cruz. Last night, DIÁRIO received a video showing José Manuel Coelho at the scene, taking a photograph, with a bucket of paint beside him.

When confronted by DIÁRIO, the PTP leader insisted he had no involvement in the painting, stating that he was only there to photograph it, as he agreed with the message. “I wasn’t painting. I just stopped to admire the artwork,” he said.

Despite denying authorship, he considers the action justified. “Fifty-two years after [April 25th], parties nostalgic for the old days are appearing. They want the Portuguese to go from bad to worse, as the saying goes. Well, we can’t go from bad to worse, because we made a revolution to develop our country, to give freedom to the people, freedom for women, equal rights, decent wages and good pensions. That is our struggle. We cannot return to April 24th, as Mr. Ventura and his acolytes intend.”

He adds that he would only disagree with situations of this kind if the targeted party and its leader, André Ventura, “repented and converted to democracy.”

“But he won’t convert to democracy because he doesn’t just want one Salazar, he wants three,” he stated, accusing the leader of Chega of intending to destroy the democracy achieved with the Carnation Revolution.

“I was only there to take the photograph because I thought it was very well done. We need to go back to exposing and denouncing the fanatics who are against the freedoms gained in April. They want our society to go backwards,” he added.

On April 25th, DIÁRIO reported several acts of vandalism at bus stops and on walls in the municipality of Santa Cruz, with graffiti alluding to the date, such as the phrase ‘April 25th forever’, causing damage to public spaces.

At the time, DIÁRIO also received a video showing José Manuel Coelho next to one of the vandalized structures. He denied any involvement, claiming he didn’t have the means to buy paint. “I was there and saw it, but I didn’t paint it. I don’t have money to spend on paint,” he stated.