Delivery of the Camões prize to Chico Buarque corrects ‘one of the greatest absurdities’ against Brazilian culture, says Lula

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Brazilian composer was chosen in 2019, but former president Bolsonaro refused to sign documents. Camões is the highest award for literature in the Portuguese language; delivery was in Lisbon. Chico Buarque receives a diploma for the Camões award signed by Lula and the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa TV Brasil/Reproduction President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Monday (24) that the delivery of the Camões award to the singer and composer Chico Buarque, four years late, corrects “one of the greatest absurdities” against Brazilian culture. Chico was chosen by the judging committee for the award in 2019, but the procedure was not completed because then-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro did not want to sign the necessary documentation. “Today, for me, it is a pleasure to correct one of the greatest absurdities committed against Brazilian culture in recent times. I say this because this prize should have been awarded in 2019 and it was not. We all know why”, declared Lula. Camões’ diploma was signed at a ceremony in Lisbon, this Monday, by Lula and the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and then handed over to Chico Buarque. The government of Portugal even indicated that Chico would receive the award in April 2020, with or without Bolsonaro’s signature. The Covid-19 pandemic and social isolation policies, however, postponed the delivery to Chico and the winners of the 2020 to 2022 editions. ended a dictatorship of almost 50 years in Portugal. The revolution is mentioned by Chico Buarque in the song “Tanto mar”, from 1978, and was remembered by the Portuguese president in his speech. Lula stated that the ‘denial’ of the arts is one of the tools used by dictatorships, as happened in Brazil and Portugal in the last century. For the president, the award is a response to censorship. “We cannot forget that obscurantism and denial of the arts were also a mark of totalitarianism and dictatorships that censored Chico himself in Brazil and Portugal. This award is a response of talent against censorship, of ingenuity against brute force’ ” he said. The Camões award The Camões is considered the main award for literature in Portuguese. Among the Brazilians who have already been laureates are Raduan Nassar (2016), Ferreira Gullar (2010), Lygia Fagundes Telles (2005) and Jorge Amado (1994). In addition to Chico Buarque, the Portuguese writer Vitor Manuel de Aguiar e Silva (chosen in 2020), the Mozambican Paulina Chiziane (2021) and the Brazilian Silviano Santiago (2022) should also receive the award. Chico Buarque says that Bolsonaro not signing a diploma is ‘a second Camões prize’

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