Active Club Portugal is the Portuguese branch of the neo-Nazi Active Club network that is present in several countries. The network began around 2021, largely inspired by American Robert Rundo, founder of the neo-Nazi California-based Rise Above Movement. Rundo first introduced the idea of “Active Clubs” in late 2020, and by the following year, he and Denis Kapustin (aka Denis Nikitin), a Russian neo-Nazi and founder of the white nationalist clothing brand “White Rex,” began co-hosting a podcast titled “Active Club Podcast.”

Their goal was to inspire other white supremacists to create their own local clubs and develop the “spirit of the warrior” through mixed martial arts (MMA) training and the “preservation of European heritage.” Active Club members view themselves as preparing for an ongoing war against governments that exist to destroy the white race. The clubs engage in MMA training, and also spread white supremacist propaganda. They often gather clubs from various countries to take part in MMA fights. The Portuguese group is small, consisting of somewhere between 4 and 10 members, but has connections to the larger Active Club network.

Until early 2023, the group had an active Instagram account that was taken down. Their activities are documented on international Active Club Telegram channels and there are pictures of them with Escudo Identitario sympathizers, signifying a possible path for recruitment and support of the Portuguese club. 

The Alternativa Democrática Nacional (ADN) (National Democratic Alternative) is a far-right, anti-establishment party legalized in 2021. It emerged from the Partido Democrático Republicano (PDR) in the context of the pandemic and was formed by a number of former members of Chega following a split between that party’s “mainstream” and more conspiracist wing. Miguel Dams de Carvalho and Jorge Rodrigues de Jesus joined ADN after being tossed from Chega. Patrícia Sousa Uva, a founder of Chega, and former Chega militant Lucinda Ribeiro, also joined ADN in 2022. Anabela Seabra, a former mayor and vaccine conspiracist, and José Manuel Castro, lawyer for the most prominent Portuguese neo-Nazi Mário Machado, have also campaigned for ADN. Ideologically, the party primarily pushes conspiracy narratives alleging there is something afoot with “conspiring elites” in the government, which they consider a dictatorship, and the “LGBT lobby.” 

Most of their momentum came from their opposition to health measures during the COVID pandemic. Here is how they describe their party’s concerns: “We are fighting on all fronts, corruption, the programmed inflation of the globalists, the destruction of education, pedophilia, the destruction of the family, the destruction of our heritage and our history. If you see yourself in these struggles that are decimating society as we’ve always known it, join us on social media.” The party’s opposition to the health measures put in place during the pandemic were driven by fear of a state “dictatorship.” 

For several months, prominent conspiracy theorist Rui Da Fonseca E Castro, now with Habeas Corpus, held the post of secretary general of the organization, but disaffiliated himself over the party’s insufficient attention to another conspiracy theory he favors, “the issue of the Freemasonry lobbying.” The ADN sees itself in opposition to “the LGBT lobby.” It is also strongly against rights for the transgender community.  ADN president Bruno Fialho compares the “LGBT lobby” to neo-Nazis, Freemasons, and Opus Dei “lobbies,” saying, “In this sense, I clarify that at ADN we are against all lobbies that may negatively influence the lives of the Portuguese, whether they are LGBT, Neo-Nazis, Freemasons, Opus Dei or others, but we reject discrimination against citizens on any pretext, without a legal or ethical basis.” 

Due to the organization’s extremism, members of the European Democratic Party asked for the ADN to be expelled from their faction in their European Parliament. At a 2023 party conference, Rui Castro, the ex-secretary general of ADN, expressed “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory-related sentiments. He said, “A plan is being implemented which is the repopulation of Portugal by people from different parts of the world. One of the consequences of this repopulation by foreigners is the increase in crime. The repopulation of the national territory can only be done with more Portuguese, without replacing our population in Portugal.” 

Correction: A previous version of this report erroneously stated that Rui Da Fonseca E Castro had held the post of secretary general “for several years”. Rui Da Fonseca E Castro was general-secretary from February 11th to April 4th 2023

Associação Portugueses Primeiro (P1º) (Portuguese First) is an Identitarian political organization and the cultural wing of Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR, Ergue-te!). Identitarianism is a white nationalist ideology that argues against non-white immigrants in European countries and often alleges that the white supremacist “Great Replacement” conspiracy is occurring, where “globalists” (sometimes understood as being Jews) are blamed for importing people of color into what they define as traditionally white countries. P1 was formed following the September 2015 rally at the Assembly of the Republic against the reception of refugees by members of the Facebook group “Imigrantes Não Obrigado” (Immigrants, No Thank You), and became for some time the only Identitarian group in the country following the dissolution of Causa Identitária in 2010. Cláudia Ferreira Gomes and Rui Amiguinho first registered the organization under the name Apostar na Identidade – Associação de Iniciativa Cívica (Betting on Identity – Civic Initiative Association), later changing the name to an old PNR slogan, “Portugueses Primeiro,” or “Portuguese First.”

Another founding member was Nelson Dias da Silva, who became the group’s first spokesperson, before leaving to take the same position with Chega. Many of the group’s members come from other extremist groups, including members of the racist skinhead group, Portugal Hammerskins. The youth wing of P1 is the Jovens Portugueses Primeiro (Young Portuguese First), though it is not clear whether this group is still active as of mid-2023. The group frequently organizes street protests and other forms of protest, such as their “Lisbon don’t be French” (Lisboa não sejas francesa) march (a play on the famous Amália Rodrigues song of the same name which calls on Lisbon to remain authentically Portuguese) in 2018, and has been meeting with the SEF (immigration and border control agency) in order to lobby them to be more restrictive on immigration and citizenship matters. P1 is strongly anti-Muslim. In 2018, militants from P1, among them João Martins and João Saraiva, dumped pig’s blood on a site where a mosque was being built in the Mouraria area of Lisbon. While they do not mention it by name, they propagandize the ideas of the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory.

Their website reads, “Today the Portuguese people, together with their European brethren, face the greatest threat in their history: the invasion and colonization of the Continent by peoples from all corners of the world, a product of globalization which, in turn, is the doctrinal expression of stateless financial capitalism. In this reality, Europe is confronted with the sub-cultural imperialism of the United States, as well as with the population and religious expansionism of totalitarian Islam.” P1 is also strongly anti-immigrant, referring to the current Portuguese nationality law as a “Trojan horse in the middle of Europe.” The group supports an immigration policy that bans family reunification in its entirety, and is based on “Jus Sanguinis,” meaning no one born outside of Portugal, and only those whose parents were born in Portugal, can have citizenship, thus removing the ability of foreigners to gain Portuguese citizenship through naturalization. Moreover, they propose an “elimination of ‘ethnic stores’” that they claim “swarm in large cities, destroy local businesses, practice tax evasion and function as centers of support for illegal immigration and money laundering.” During a Chega convention in September 2020, Associação Portugueses Primeiro member Rui Roque proposed a motion to remove the ovaries of women who have abortions. P1 is also against what they refer to as “gender ideology,” which is essentially a code word for LGBTQ+ rights of various sorts. In April 2018, P1 members attended a conference with the Portuguese Identitarian group Escudo Identitario and the Italian neo-fascist group CasaPound. 

Blood and Honour (B&H) Portugal is the country’s official B&H chapter, part of the decentralized neo-Nazi movement originating in the United Kingdom. The Portuguese chapter was created in 1998 by members of the group Ordem Lusa (Portuguese Order) with the sponsorship of neo-Nazis from Spain. Miguel Temporão, who had been sentenced to two years in prison for voluntary bodily harm during the attack on the Socialist Revolutionary Party headquarters in 1989, founded B&H Portugal in 1998. B&H Portugal follows the tenets of National Socialism and are nostalgic for Hitler’s Third Reich. 

In their very first fanzine in October 2004, the group praised Rudolf Hess, the Deputy Führer of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1941. The group largely focuses on recruiting members and organizing white power concerts in Porto. B&H Portugal has historically been an intense rival of the Hammerskin Nation in Portugal, founded by prominent neo-Nazi Mário Machado, due to their competition within the skinhead movement, disagreements over supporting the Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR), and Machado’s attempts to co-opt and eliminate other far-right factions. Europol’s 2021 Terrorism Situation and Trend report cited the Escudo Identitário and their neo-Nazi partners Blood & Honour as groups of interest due to their protestsagainst government health measures during the pandemic.

Founded in 2019, Chega! (Enough!) is the main far-right political party in Portugal, and as of this writing, the third most represented party in the national parliament. Since the fall of former dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar’s Estado Novo in 1974, there was no significant presence in the national legislature of a far-right party until the appearance of Chega. Its rise has been accompanied by a significant increase in hate speech, and far-right street mobilization. The party is led by the charismatic, populist leader André Ventura. The party is highly centralized around Ventura and the Constitutional Court has even rejected Chega’s statutes several times for excessively concentrating the power in the party president’s hands. Chega is an extremely anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim party. 

Ventura believes that “growing illegal immigration … destroys Europe.” Following the Islamic extremist terrorist attack in Nice in July 2016, Ventura called for “the drastic reduction of the Islamic presence in the European Union.” While Chega’s leadership has not specifically mentioned the white supremacist “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory by name, Ventura has given speeches about a “demographic substitution” allegedly happening in Europe, which makes the same argument as the conspiracy. There is also a special hatred of the Roma people in Portugal by Ventura and other party members. The party claims that the Roma are “a serious public safety problem,” “live almost exclusively on State subsidies,” and are “above the law.” 

In 2022, Ventura accused the Roma of being “criminals” and “abusing social benefits.” In the context of the first wave of the pandemic, Ventura argued in favor of a “specific confinement plan for the gypsy community,” despite the  clear constitutional and human rights concerns. In 2017, Ventura falsely blamed a Roma family for attacks at the Hospital de Beja, and was forced to pay a fine of about 3,000 euros. The court ruled that Ventura “had the purpose of offending to humiliate people of gypsy ethnicity, enhancing stigmatization and prejudice against the community.” The Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination (CICDR) has fined Ventura several times for discriminatory comments about the Roma population. 

During a Chega convention in September 2020, Rui Roque, previously of the PNR, and in parallel, a member of Associação Portugueses Primeiro, proposed a motion to remove the ovaries of women who have abortions which failed in a 38-216 vote. Following the media frenzy after this vote, Rui Roque was “suspended indefinitely” in March 2021, but remained an active member and helped in the creation of three other motions for the party. After his so-called suspension In late 2021, Rui Roque rose in the ranks of the party and was permitted to run as a List A candidate for delegate for Faro where he was elected, and was chosen to be a National Councilor to the IV and V party congresses.

They have proposed prison sentences of two to five years for people filming the police, especially during cases related to “ethnic or racial minority groups.” Chega frequently speaks of a conspiracy to ban the party, which is a possibility as there have been calls for the party to be banned for being a racist organization which embodies fascist ideology. Chega supporters have carried banners with “All Lives Matter,” a racist play on “Black Lives Matter,” and called the racism issue “a distraction,” and used hand symbols similar to the Nazi salute. 

Over the years, Chega has had amongst its ranks many white supremacists, Identitarians and neo-Nazis. During the pandemic, Chega members and supporters spread disinformation from the anti-vax and COVID denialist group Médicos pela Verdade (Doctors for Truth). The party pushes other conspiracy theories as well. Chega members republished a letter of a complaint that Portuguese QAnon believers sent to the attorney general’s office regarding computer files that the police seized from hacker Rui Pinto, claiming that they contained information regarding pedophile rings among the political elite in Spain and Portugal. 

The Chega party believes that there is a “Cultural Marxist” plot, an idea advanced by American white supremacists, to change society and destroy European civilization by imposing a pro-LGBTQ+ culture on Portuguese society. They also advocate against so-called “gender ideology,” a euphemism for LGBTQ+ rights. Showing his disregard for many Portuguese, on several occasions, Ventura has claimed that he would not be a president for all Portuguese citizens, but instead only the “good Portuguese,” a reference to those not living off of subsidies from the state. The official newsletter of Chega is the Folha Nacional.

Chega Juventude (Chega Youth) is the official youth branch of the far-right party Chega! Rita Matias, a Chega MP from the Identitarian faction of the party, heads Chega Juventude. While many of the beliefs of the youth branch do not differ much from the main party, they do have more radical members. Some have supported white supremacy, misogyny, praised the Salazarist regime, and advocated for fascism. Francisco Araujo, leader for the Porto chapter, is a case in point. On Twitter, Araujo quote tweeted an image of a Portuguese soldier, being controlled by a Soviet soldier and a banker, who stabs another soldier in the back. A racist depiction of a person of African descent fires at the soldier. The depiction reads “25th of April – Treason,” referring to when the Salazar regime ended. Araujo wrote in response to his retweet, “It’s been 48 years since: 1) Masonry has returned carte blanche; 2) We are under the occupation of foreign globalist interests 3) We were betrayed by soldiers with financial interests 4) We chose demographic suicide and economic subjugation,” the latter being a not so subtle reference to the white supremacist “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory. Araujo is not simply a rank-and-file member, but rather a major part of the Juventude Chega leadership, regularly taking part in events across the country and speaking at official Chega conferences. In January 2023, he gave a speech to the national leadership at the 5th party Congress in Santarém which featured high ranking members of European far-right parties, including Slovkian Boris Kollar (SME Rodina), Belgian Tom van Grieken (Vlaams Belang), Dutchman Geert Wilders (Party for Freedom), and Frenchman Jordan Bardella (National Rally, RN). 

Other members have a clear sympathy for fascism and anti-democratic belief systems. João Antunes of the Coimbra branch has taken pictures in front of murals reading “You are a fascist and didn’t even know it.” In his Twitter background, he photoshopped himself into a picture next to American white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. And he’s learned from his American friends, having tweeted on “the absolute state of North American cuck-servatives,” the latter being a term originating in the U.S. and used against conservatives who banned Nick Fuentes from CPAC 2023. Many members of Chega Juventude are sympathetic to former dictator Salazar’s regime. On Salazar’s birthday, several members posted tweets that memorialized the late-dictator in a positive light. Chega Juventude members also serve as conduits to other extreme-right political parties. For example, João Antunes of the Coimbra branch of Chega Juventude has been photographed with José Pinto Coelho, president of the extreme-right party Ergue-Te (Rise Up).

Correction: A previous version of this report erroneously stated that Twitter removed the tweet in question. Twitter hid the tweet after our researcher had reported it, but did not remove it from the site. Twitter sent an email stating that the tweet did not break Twitter’s terms of service

Habeas Corpus (HC) is a conspiracist organization and movement founded by charismatic former judge and former Secretary General of the Alternativa Democrática Nacional (National Democratic Alternative) party Rui Pedro Fonseca Nogueira da Fonseca e Castro. It was launched in 2020 during the pandemic and subsequent vaccine roll-out. Rui Pedro Fonseca Nogueira da Fonseca e Castro is known for his wild conspiracy theories about growing authoritarianism that accompanied the COVID vaccine rollout, and is obsessed with conspiracy theories involving the Masons who “control the government.” 

Rui da Fonseca e Castro has advocated for “identify[ing] its members” and “confiscating its assets.” Habeas Corpus began as an off-shoot of the Spanish group “Médicos por la Verdad” (Doctors for the Truth), a COVID conspiracy group, that led to Rui da Fonseca e Castro’s “Juristas pela Verdade,” (Lawyers for the Truth), which was later replaced by the Facebook-organized group “Habeas Corpus.” Though the group has no identifiable primary location, and much of their organizing happens online, Habeas Corpus supporters do regularly gather for protests and other activities that are documented on their Telegram channel and in YouTube videos. The health measures put in place during the pandemic are seen as evidence of the diabolical nature of the “totalitarian” regime. In August 2021, Rui da Fonseca e Castro filed a criminal complaint for “crimes against humanity” against the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, and the Government for the healthcare restrictions. 

He blamed his lack of success with the complaint on a judiciary “captured by an occupying Regime and integrated by a parasitic elite controlled by Freemasonry.” He also argues these elite groups “control” the media, stating: “Who has free access to the regime’s propaganda media? Freemasonry.” Habeas Corpus adherents are also believers in Pizzagate and QAnon-inspired conspiracy theories of pedophilia rings among the Portuguese elite. Rui da Fonseca e Castro has called President of the Assembly of the Republic Ferro Rodrigues a “pedophile,” which led Ferro Rodrigues to be verbally attacked by protesters while having lunch in Lisbon. This resulted in Rui da Fonseca e Castro being criminally prosecuted for defamation. 

In 2021, protests took place during an administrative hearing of Rui da Fonseca e Castro and turned violent between protesters and police. Inside, during the hearing, Rui da Fonseca e Castro ranted about the evil motivations of the government to impose health restrictions, the “magnetic” characteristics of the vaccine, and the “corruption” of pharmaceutical companies that created vaccines, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson. The case resulted in Rui da Fonseca e Castro no longer being able to practice law. Members also believe in the Great Reset conspiracy theory, which alleges that a global elite is using the pandemic to dismantle capitalism and enforce radical social change. 

The Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR) is the most enduring far-right party in the history of the Portuguese Second Republic. Though it has never reached higher than one percent in terms of vote share in any national election, it has been around for nearly two decades. PNR was formed from the ashes of the center-left Partido Renovador Democrático after it was infiltrated and taken over by far-right factions from the Aliança Nacional (National Alliance). Seeking to become an official political party that could unify the fragmented Portuguese far right in the 1990s, António da Cruz Rodrigues, José Pinto-Coelho, and Luís Paulo Henriques created the Aliança Nacional, but failed to officially register the party due to an inability to gather enough signatures. 

In order to circumvent the rules on party certification, the group took up a novel strategy and infiltrated the Democratic Renewal Party in 1999, and pressured then-party leader Manuel Vargas Loureiro to hand over leadership of the party, which occurred at the 1999 national convention. When Cruz Rodrigues became the next president, the new changes were submitted to the Constitutional Court, and the name was changed to Partido Nacional Renovador. The PNR seeks to “renew the message and image of nationalism” in Portugal and defend the nation from the “great evils,” meaning globalism and multiculturalism. They see a threat from “suicidal immigration policies” and “invasive immigration” that endangers the identity and culture of the Portuguese nation. 

The party views increased immigration as an “authentic population replacement,” thereby echoing the white supremacist “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory. From their platform: “Mass immigration constitutes a veritable invasion and translates into a threat to Portugal’s identity, sovereignty, security and future survival.” They propose to amend the Nationality Law to base it solely on ”Jus Sanguinis,” meaning by blood, which would limit nationality to those whose parents held citizenship. They also propose making immigration laws much more restrictive, to “reverse migratory flows,” remove dual citizenship for those not Portuguese “by blood,” and the repatriation of undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of any crime, those who “do not integrate,” and those who “rely on social support as a way of life.” 

They also propose to ban the construction of mosques. The PNR believes that a secret conspiring class of “international financiers,” whom they designate the “New World Order,” exists and is secretly controlling political affairs in Portugal and destroying the nation. They identify these groups as the Masons, the Trilateral Commission, George Soros, and the Bilderberg Group and frequently reference them in their literature. The objective, they claim, is to create an “authoritarian world government” that will “replace national sovereignties.” The PNR is opposed to both liberals and the left in the Portuguese party system, as well as their positions on the climate, public health, the pandemic, LGBTQ+ rights, feminism, “gender ideology,” veganism, immigration, and multiculturalism. The PNR is supportive of former dictator Salazar and celebrates the day of the coup that brought Salazar to power on May 28, 1926. 

They refer to Salazar’s Novo Estado as the “forty-eight years of national glory.” In 2005, prominent neo-Nazi Mário Machado joined the PNR. Following his release from prison in 2002, Machado set himself on a mission to unite the fragmented elements of the Portuguese far right and create a disciplined organization that could be used for political and violent purposes alike. For the latter, Machado created the racist skinhead group, Portugal Hammerskins (PHS), and for the former, Machado created the Frente Nacional (National Front) whose mission it was to influence the leadership of the Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR). Machado then joined the PNR with his hundreds of militants and formed an alliance with José Pinto-Coelho, allowing both to rise to the top of the party leadership. From that point, the Portugal Hammerskins (PHS) and Frente Nacional served as the defacto armed wing of the Partido Nacional Renovador, until Machado’s expulsion in 2014.

Escudo Identitário (EI) is an Identitarian organization, inspired by the first such organization, Generátion Identitaire in France, that was created in 2017 with the intention of pushing back against the “Islamic invasion” of Europe. Identitarians are anti-immigrant and generally believe in the white supremacist “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory, that alleges that white people are being “replaced” in their “home countries” by immigrants, refugees and people of color. EI was born in the aftermath of the Nova Portugalidade (NP) affair in 2017, when the FCSH-Universidade Nova de Lisboa Student Association refused to allow  a presentation planned by Jaime Nogueira Pinto, and Rafael Pinto Borges, the head of Luso-Tropicalist Nova Portugalidade (NP) and a fan of former dictator Salazar. Far-right groups that protested the cancellation of the event decided they needed to create an organization with an explicitly ethnonationalist ideology that could appeal to younger generations. 

The group was founded by João Martins, a well-known extreme-right activist who was sentenced to 17 years in prison (but only served nine) for the 1995 murder of Alcindo Monteiro in Bairro Alto, Lisbon. He was part of a group of extremists who went into the streets to attack Black people in the 1990s and is known for founding two other far-right groups, Causa Identitário (Identitarian Cause) and the Portuguese cell of the neo-Nazi Misanthropic Division. Members of EI came from previously existing organizations, including the National Renovator Party (PNR) and the Associação Portugueses Primeiro (P1), as well as their accompanying youth organizations, with the help of veteran far-right activists João Martins (Causa Identitária) and Vítor Luís Rodrigues (Partido Nacional Renovador). EI is an anti-immigrant organization that also displays aspects of white nationalism. The Escudistas blame poverty and marginalization on immigration that is ‘threatening’ Portuguese identity. 

In July 2018, Escudistas left a banner at the top of the Rua Augusta Arch in Lisbon, emblazoned with the slogan “Mass Migration = Invasion.” In terms of political strategy, they are primarily known for flash mob-style street actions, similar to those of Generátion Identitaire, as well as putting up posters, stickers, and banners that celebrate national holidays and Portuguese historical figures. They also organize conferences, such as Forum Prisma Actual (Current Prism Forum), where pro-AZOV Olena Semenyaka from the National Corps was a scheduled speaker, Os Nossos Caminhos (Our Paths), and other propaganda efforts. The spokeswoman for Escudo Identitário, Irene Sousa, has reportedly coordinated rallies in celebration of Portugal Day with Proud Boys Portugal Sergeant of Arms Ricardo Mota. 

In June 2021, the Escudistas gathered for the day of the “race” with members of the neo-Nazi skinhead group Blood & Honour Portugal, before both joined a Lisbon rally put on by the National Renewal Party. Europol’s 2021 Terrorism Situation and Trend report cited EI and their neo-Nazi partners Blood & Honour as groups of interest due to their having protested against government health measures during the pandemic. The group has links to other far-right extremists abroad. For example, in April 2018, Escudo Identitario attended a conference with the Associação Portugueses Primeiro and the Italian neo-fascist group CasaPound, and have gathered with CasaPound on many other occasions as well. The Escudistas have also expressed their support for Identitarian causes in France. 

Força Nova (FN)(New Force) is a neo-fascist group inspired by the anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+ Italian group Forza Nuova, and the writings of esoteric Italian philosopher Julius Evola, who believed in extreme reactionary ideas, a return to monarchy, and had ties to Nazi Germany and Mussolini. FN was founded in early 2021 by Alexandre Santos, formerly of Resistência Nacional. Força Nova activists have participated in events with other far-right groups such as the Parti Nationaliste Français (PNF), Forza Nuova Italia, and the British National Party (BNP), which had deep ties to white supremacists in the UK and abroad. On their Facebook page, FN regularly posts fascist and antisemitic material. They also express considerable concerns that a “Great Replacement” is occurring by immigrants and minorities, and they share content claiming that minorities and immigrants are responsible for violent crime.

The Movimento Social Nacionalista (MSN) (Nationalist Social Movement) is a small far-right movement that was created in 2015 based on the now defunct French neo-fascist group, French Mouvement d’Action Sociale (MAS). Ideologically, the group pushes third-position ideas, meaning it mixes in socialist economic appeals to the working class with nationalism and racism. MSN advocates an “ethno-pluralist” position on the question of immigration and multiculturalism, meaning they desire an ethnically-homogenous nation, and want immigrants, usually a reference to Black and Brown people, to stay in their countries of origin. 

Capitalism is critiqued from the position that it creates waves of immigration, and by promoting multiculturalism, and the political forces that support it, capitalism “destroys” the culture of a homogenous nation. Their slogan is, “Nação, Revolução, Socialismo” (Nation, Revolution, Socialism). They have also drawn their ideas from the French Nouvelle Droite, or New Right, thinkers, who opposed multiculturalism, capitalism, and democracy. MSN is primarily a street movement, and regularly organizes demonstrations with its several dozen members in Porto for certain public holidays of importance to the far right, such as Portugal Day and Restoration Day. They also join larger protests and leave posters and banners promoting their cause around the city. 

They were present at the 2023 “Regenerar Portugal” (Regenerate Portugal) event organized by Defender Portugal, where they distributed propaganda. Their fascist and neo-Nazi influences are obvious. During a December 2019 MSN demonstration at the Largo Dom João III for the day of restoration of national independence, António Soares, a prominent member, gave a speech in remembrance of “the fallen” and in defense of the Portuguese empire, while members of the MSN gave Nazi salutes. Their anti-immigrant positions are also clear, as they reject refugees in Portugal. They advocate for the withdrawal from the EU and NATO, and call for a creation of a “European Alliance of Free Nations” and a “special relationship with the countries it civilized in the past (meaning countries that were colonized).”

The Portugal Hammerskins (PHS) are the country’s official chapter of the American-based racist skinhead group, Hammerskin Nation. The Portugal Hammerskins were established by perhaps the best known Portuguese neo-Nazi Mário Machado, who intended for them to become a hegemonic force on the far-right of Portuguese politics. Following a release from prison in 2002, Machado set himself on a mission to unite the fragmented elements of the Portuguese far right and create a disciplined organization that could be used for political and violent purposes alike. For the latter, Machado created the Portugal Hammerskins (PHS), and for the former, Machado created the Frente Nacional (National Front), whose mission it was to influence the leadership of the Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR). 

As happens in the U.S. between rival racist skinhead organizations, the Portugal Hammerskins have historically battled for control of the movement with their main rival, Blood & Honour Portugal. The groups have competed fiercely within the racist skinhead movement for members and dues. They’ve also had strong disagreements over support for the Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR) and Machado’s attempts to co-opt and eliminate other far-right factions. That fighting has largely subsided as of mid-2023, as the groups have divided up the country with the Hammerskins taking the north and Blood &Honour taking Lisbon and the South. In 2012, Machado was sentenced to 10 years in prison for grievous bodily harm, racial discrimination, blackmailing a public prosecutor and illegal weapon possession, in three separate cases. 

Multiple police investigations and witness testimony show that the Hammerskins, under Machado’s leadership, have been engaged in drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, arms trafficking, ethnic intimidation and attacks on other far-right groups. In 2022, Machado was given the right to leave Portugal to fight in Ukraine, even though he faces other charges. He returned after only a week. As of 2023, it is unclear how large the Portugal Hammerskins are. 

The Proud Boys Portugal are the official Portuguese chapter of the Proud Boys movement, founded in 2016 in America by the Canadian Gavin McInnes. The group is white supremacist and misogynistic and known for engaging in significant street violence and praising violence in general. Headquartered in the U.S., the group has spawned chapters in several countries and is listed as a terrorist entity in Canada. Its American-based Chairman Enrique Tarrio and several leaders were found guilty of seditious conspiracy in 2023 for their actions during the American January 6, 2021, Capitol Insurrection (It is unclear as of June 2023 if Tarrio still holds the top post given his incarceration). 

The Portuguese chapter was founded by Pedro Lopes in 2019 after a meeting with members of the Proud Boys Britannica. Lopes is reportedly a militant member of Chega. As with the main Proud Boys chapters in the U.S., the Portuguese branch considers itself a “fraternity” and a “brotherhood” based on white supremacist and masculine values. In 2021, the group was infiltrated by an investigative reporter from Setenta e Quatro, a Portuguese outlet, who went through the recruitment process and learned about the leadership and organizational structure. Since those reports, the group has been relatively inactive. 

The group does not have any social media accounts and does not speak with journalists, so there are few accounts of their activities as they operate clandestinely. The Portuguese chapter reportedly has links to both Chega and Escudo Identitário. While other international chapters have been responsible for substantial street violence, the Portuguese group has had a much lower profile, due to small numbers and a wish to avoid police interest.