The Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities told Lusa today that the main objective of his seven-day official visit to Brazil is to introduce changes in the service offered to citizens at consular posts.
“First of all, I’m coming to work with the heads of the consular posts so that we can begin to introduce changes in terms of service to our users, to the users of the consular posts, changes that will benefit people,” José Cesário told Lusa during a ceremony to mark April 25 in the Brazilian city of São Paulo.
“These changes will be made in the area of scheduling consular acts, in the area of modernizing the equipment of [consular] posts and in an area that is fundamental for us, which is increasing consular stays,” he added.
Asked how long the Portuguese government expects to take to implement the desired changes in service for Portuguese and Portuguese-Brazilian citizens, Cesário replied that the deadlines will depend on the capacity of each consulate to adapt.
However, the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities said that the first measure to move forward is to change the scheduling of consular acts, which will no longer be done exclusively on an online platform.
“Therefore, each [Portuguese in Brazil] Consulate already knows that it will have enough leeway, enough autonomy, to be able to schedule by other means as well, whether it’s by answering the phone, by replying to an e-mail, or by sending you the information you need by post, in addition, of course, to the online platform which will remain, it’s not abandoned, but it won’t be exclusive,” explained Cesário.
A second aspect that the government official said was a priority in the changes that the Portuguese government intends to introduce in the consulates during the visit, which began on Friday and ends on Thursday, is the doubling of consular posts in Brazilian cities where Portugal does not have permanent service posts.
“We want our consulates to do this work at least twice as much and in cities closer to the larger urban centers, such as São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro (…) . We’re going to try to get our staff, as well as serving more people inside the consulates, to serve many more people on these consular visits too,” he said.
Cesário pointed out that another objective of his trip to Brazil, where he will also be in Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Juiz de Fora and Belém do Pará, is to deliver financial support approved by the government to community associations.
“We know [that this financial support] is fundamental for the development of activities in the area of culture, in the area of social support, activities that also allow our descendants to be more connected to Portugal and to Portuguese institutions,” said Cesário.
At the “Portas de Abril” event, a Portuguese festival to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution in São Paulo, the Secretary of State also valued meetings with Portuguese communities in Brazil.
“I’ve always had a personal goal, I’ve always said that I believe that Portuguese political leaders have to be close to the communities, close to their people, and I’m here precisely to accompany the people, to show that we’re with them, that we’re already listening to them, so that we can better respond to their wishes,” he said.
“My visit to this popular festival here in São Paulo, to commemorate April 25, means exactly that, to be with the Portuguese here in São Paulo, with this community, so that we can listen to them and better respond to their needs,” he concluded.