The leader of Portugal’s nationally oriented party has been taken to hospital after suffering a second heart attack, on Thursday.
André Ventura fell ill at an election rally less than 48 hours after his first heart attack and three days before the election. The leader of Portugal’s Chega party was taken to hospital after fainting again during a rally a few days before the country’s third early election since 2022.
André Ventura, whose bold and outspoken leadership style helped make the anti-immigration populist party the third-largest political force in Portugal, fell ill at an event in the southern town of Odémira on Thursday, two days after a similar incident.
Video footage from the rally shows the 42-year-old Ventura clutching his chest and trying to untie his tie before collapsing into the arms of aides who carried him away. The politician was taken to a local clinic and then transferred to a hospital in Setúbal, near Lisbon, for medical treatment.
Ventura was discharged from the hospital in Faro on Wednesday after suffering a previous collapse. The hospital said he had suffered a spasm of the oesophagus caused by gastric reflux and high blood pressure.
Chega MP Marta Silva told CNN Portugal on Thursday that an electrocardiogram taken in the ambulance immediately after the second collapse showed that “his heart was fine” and that it was probably another spasm.
On Thursday afternoon, Ventura posted a photo of himself lying on a hospital bed, giving a thumbs-up sign. “This is a setback and a challenge,” he wrote on his social media page. “It won’t stop us. Keep moving forward… Keep moving forward!!! Portugal is much more important, it is this country that drives us.”
Forecasts for the Chega party
According to forecasts, on Sunday, the Chega party is likely to again take third place, behind the ruling centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) and the Socialist Party (PS). According to the latest polls, the AD has about 33% of the vote, the PS has 26% and Chega has 17%.
Ventura’s attempts to secure a place in the government have been rejected by Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, who has repeatedly ruled out any deal with the nationally oriented party.
Chega, which campaigned on a platform of cleaning up Portuguese politics while toughening its rhetoric towards the Roma population, has faced a series of damaging allegations against some of its members in recent months.
In January, Chega expelled one of its MPs after he was accused of stealing suitcases at several airports. In the same month, another party member was caught driving under the influence, and a third was charged with paying for oral sex with a minor who was 15 at the time.
