The cultural ties between Portugal and Brazil dominated the debate on the bicentennial of Brazil’s independence and an opportunity to “close with a golden key” the celebrations, the Portuguese ambassador told Lusa.
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“According to what is the plan of the celebrations of the bicentennial on the Portuguese side, we are practically closing with a golden key to the events in Brazil,” he told Lusa Luís Faro Ramos, on the sidelines of the event Bicentennial of Independence: cultural ties between Brazil and Portugal, held on Tuesday in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
The event, organized by the Brazilian Center for International Relations in conjunction with the Portuguese authorities, was attended by Luís Faro Ramos, former Portuguese Ambassador to Brazil Francisco Seixas da Costa, former Brazilian Minister of the Environment and Finance Rubens Ricupero, former Secretary-General of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Marcos Azambuja, and curator and art consultant Evangelina Seiler.
The focus was on the way Portugal looks at Brazil, especially the Brazilian community, which has been gradually growing over the years in Portugal and is already the largest foreign population in the country.

The pillars that sustain the coming of Brazilians for tourism, doing business and residing are “security, health and education”, sustained by a common language, stressed Luis Faro Ramos, who sees in this exodus “tendency to increase in a very relevant way.
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Also to Lusa, Francisco Seixas da Costa noted that, with the turn of the century, the “caricature view of Brazil” has changed and that now “Brazil is much better known due to the presence of Brazilians in Portugal”
“The presence of Brazilians in Portugal is an element that, in my opinion, works a lot to naturalize the relationship between the two countries,” he stressed.
“Nowadays we know Brazil much better,” said Seixas da Costa, giving the example of the media interest that the Portuguese have given to the electoral process of October 30 that led to the election of Lula da Silva.

Regarding the growth in the number of Brazilians in Portugal, which Francisco Seixas da Costa estimates will reach 5% of the Brazilian population, the diplomat looks at this increase “with very good eyes.
Brazilians are the main foreign community residing in the country, representing last year 29.8% of the total, the highest figure since 2012.
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At the end of last year, 204,694 Brazilians lived in Portugal, and the community from Brazil is also the one that grew the most in 2021 (11.3%) compared to 2020.

“It is a type of migration that rejuvenates the country and on the other hand projects behavioral and cultural values very close to Portuguese values,” compared to other types of migration that carry challenges, he stressed.
September 7th 2022 marked the 200th anniversary of the famous cry “Independence or death!” by D.Pedro, on the banks of the Ipiranga River.