Services at the Brazilian Consulate in Lisbon cause outrage

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday morning, December 14, a tense situation drew the attention of people passing by the downtown Baixa Chiado area in Lisbon, after a Brazilian was removed from the Brazilian Consulate for complaining about the service.

An attorney, identified on social networks as Dr. Jeferson, went to the site to obtain information and request the issuance of documents but his request was denied. When questioning and complaining about the delay in service, which is currently scheduled, three security guards and a police officer from the PSP (Public Security Police) forced the Brazilian man out of the building, as he would have been upset with the situation.

On the street, in front of the service station, Jeferson expressed his outrage and other Brazilians also protested against the situation.

In videos circulating on social networks about the case, other Brazilians came out in defense of the man and criticized the organization of the Brazilian Consulate in Portugal. “It is absurd! Everything needs to be scheduled, the service system doesn’t work and when we manage to schedule an appointment, the staff takes hours to attend. It’s a mess and no one does anything.”

“The Brazilian Foreign Ministry needs to check these ridiculous situations. They never want to assist us, then they attend us grudgingly and never propose solutions to help Brazilians with basic things, like issuing documents, which we pay a lot of money for.”

“The staff doesn’t know basic information and when we ask, they say that we need to schedule an appointment for them to provide information. They take hours to assist us (with an appointment) and everything is always very disorganized,” were some of the reports.

The case gained repercussion on social networks and several videos of Brazilians complaining about the service began to be shared.

In 2019 and 2020, several media outlets in Portugal and Brazil reported the problems Brazilians experienced in accessing services at the Consulate of Brazil in Lisbon, where citizens slept on the street in the cold to be received.

The Brazilian Consulate in Lisbon, the Foreign Ministry and the Public Security Police, did not reply to a request for comment.