Portugal em Silêncio: A Diáspora grita por conex?o e informa??o
Wash., DC - I could not agree more with the observations made by Mr. Filho - whom I don't know.
He just overlooked another crucial issue - electoral reforms - 1. access to the ballot and 2. proportional representation in parliament.
Those of us proponents of this change have support at the highest levels of the Portuguese Government - I think:
Even our fellow Portuguese, in Portugal, feel the need for reform:
Moreover, it is not just not listening but not acting.
This is part of the reason I cancelled a private meeting with the Secretary for the Portuguese Communities this past week at the residence of the Portuguese Ambassador, here win Washington, DC.
How can members on the government ask for a meeting with a community representative and advisory to the Embassy, have no agenda to discuss, and show up "empty-handed"? I refuse to be a mere "check-off" on a list.
But the ultimate insult for me was the fact that my Government is willing to fight for a criminal but not a public servant. Just read this article and post:
I'll spare other more sensitive details for the time being.
Mr. Ambassador, chocolates and drinks, while very thoughtful, but not what signed up for. I stood for office to work - for the betterment of our community. I serve for free. You and the Secretary collect a pay check and a pension.
Mr. Secretary, showing up empty handed - or my government refusing to intervening on matters of importance - international and national security - Mr. Ambassador, especially at Christmas - is like waking up on Christmas Day and learning that Santa Clause stopped by our home and and left neither the presents we asked for nor any gifts at all.
Not sure how it translates - but in English we say: bah humbug.
I don't think this is what the Prime Minister had in mind when he reportedly asked his ministers to "show service:"
Mr. Prime Minister, I've informed your office (Chief of Staff) about this unacceptable circumstances.
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By the way, you and the Foreign Minister also visited Washington, DC earlier this year and had neither time nor a message for our community.
I have been in government long enough to know a "political junket" when I see one - a trip taken by a politician with expenses paid for with public funds. This visit was a perfect example. This has to go.
The silence from our two deputies in Parliament is also deafening. Yes, "Silent Night" is a wonderful song for the season, but in politics, "silence" has a more nefarious meaning - acquiescence and - consent - for the status quo.
The money spent on this visit would have been better spent - added to the 2025 Budget of the Council of the Portuguese Communities (CCP) or made available to meet other community needs.
The remarks will earn me no friends and my actions will put me on the "s...." list. There goes that Christmas card.
My high standards are not negotiable.
I am tired of being ignored.
Respect, begets respect.
Warm personal regards,
Mário Francisco da Costa Ferreira
Counselor
Washington, DC Consular Area
PS: I don't appreciate the Secretary's staff retaliating by removing me from an unofficial WhatsApp used by the 90 members of the CCP for informal communications.
I had shared a post of interest to the diaspora. Why was I removed from this group? Perhaps I need to reinstate my request that she be terminated. This is now the second time we had an "encounter." Unacceptable.
I hate to remind her - she works for us. Not the other way around.
By the way, why is the CCP communicating on an "unofficial" platform? - way from public or official scrutiny?
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Lawyer
2 个月é grave isto ocorrer mas n?o me espanta, vindo do MNE.