Portugal’s far-right is out!
08 October 2024
Portugal is undergoing a neo-nazi resurgence. Last Sunday, Lisbon was a divided stage between anti-immigration demonstrations titled "Save Portugal", led by CHEGA and other far-right movements, and pro-immigration and anti-racist counter-demonstrations, led by SOS Racism and various left-wing Portuguese parties.
The anti-immigration protests became a melting pot for Portugal's far-to-extreme right. The right-wing party CHEGA was accompanied on its march down the immigrant-heavy neighbourhood of Avenida Almirante Reis by the 1143 group.
Infamous neo-Nazi Mário Machado founded the group 1143 in 2001. Created within Juve Leo (a collective of hooligan football fans of Sporting Clube Portugal) and named 1143 after the year of Portugal's foundation, it grew into its current form through various racist acts across Portugal.
Multiple members have been arrested for racial violence, possession of prohibited weapons, and vandalism. Since 2015, after acts of vandalism at the Central Mosque of Lisbon, the group was said to be dormant. However, due to the rise of the far-right in Portugal and anti-immigration tensions, the group has been reappearing and growing. Not only did it participate in the recent demonstrations but it also organised another demonstration in Guimarães on the 5th of October.
Mário Machado is the most infamous Portuguese neo-Nazi, with connections to far-right neo-Nazi groups, like the Aryan Brotherhood and Hammerskin Nation, for more than thirty years. He started his journey at 15 and just three years later, in 1995, he has been imprisoned for four and a half years for the hate crime murder of Alcindo Monteiro, a young Portuguese man of Cape Verdean descent. As expected, Mário Machado does not hide his positions, often displaying the swastika tattooed on his right arm or publicly performing the Roman salute.
 | Tomás Pires Mário Machado and group 1143, the neo-Nazi movements in Portugal, do not stop here. The number of members is growing and these movements are becoming increasingly brazen, aided by the immense growth that CHEGA has seen over the last five years. The party has grown from one deputy in 2019 to 50 today, becoming the third largest political force. |
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