A few years ago, if someone had told you that you would see an advertisement calling for the return of the illegalization of voluntary termination of pregnancy in Portugal, with a final message saying that it was paid for by “Guru Mike Billions,” I am almost certain that the response would have been immediate and incisive: are you crazy? All this happened recently, without much fuss and with the complicity of TVI, a channel that has been growing in its support for far-right forces in recent years. Gone are the days when only CMTV held such distinction.

At the end of 2016, when Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, few people could have guessed what was infecting our planet. A dangerous and lethal virus, promoted by hate speech and based on the cult of ignorance. At that time, the concept of “influencers” was already well-established. However, they were still teenagers, generally from relatively poor backgrounds, supported by a low-quality camera, a weak microphone, and a crude desk in their family bedroom.

Over the next four years, these children grew into powerful adults. The influencer industry grew in the shadow of the new American fascism, fueled by ignorance and the crumbs of the multibillionaires who feed dangerous attack dogs, such as Donald, Jair, or, more recently, André. American influencers, guided by the philosophy of savage capitalism, relied on the commercialization of their content to appeal to the far-right electorate. Certainly, because it is easier to sell products to those who do not like to think, but also because they were hired for that purpose. The fact is that these multi-billionaires have devised a strategy to dominate, which involves controlling the next generation.

Thus, “influencing” is the new and most powerful weapon of propaganda today, being practically ensured entirely through young producers of content aimed at extremism and violence. Based on the neoliberal theories of the “mileis,” influencers have grown, selling snake oil to people who have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. The younger ones see themselves in the success stories of young men and women who became filthy rich before the age of thirty and want to follow their lead, often without critical thinking. Money is the great power of these people, who will do anything to lead our youth down the path of obscurantism.

This is how it started in the United States, with personalities such as Logan Paul, Andrew Tate, and the famous Joe Rogan, among many others. People who had no particular talent other than appearing in front of a camera and appealing to viewers for attention. When they started saying overly controversial things about racism, domestic violence, and cultural clashes, they did not apologize.

They became radicalized. Many did so during the COVID-19 pandemic, unable to comprehend the powerful effect that a pandemic has on a society, and simply falling into the clutches of pseudoscience and mental confusion.

In Portugal, the situation is very similar. If you don’t recognize the names I mentioned above, you should start researching Numeiro, Wuant, Miguel Milhão, Tiago Grila, and others like them. There is a movement called “macho esfera” (macho sphere) that is growing rapidly and effectively, right under the noses of almost all the mothers and fathers who allow it to happen. Following in the footsteps of their Trumpist colleagues, the cheganos are advancing at full speed to the stages of TikTok and YouTube, as well as to the microphones of the plague of podcasts that has spread throughout the country, without any quality control.

João Barbosa is a young man from this team, perhaps the most famous of the Portuguese who have gotten involved at the moment. The younger ones know him as Numeiro, first a YouTuber, then a podcaster, a seller of various products and brands, some of which are illegal in Portugal, and a builder of a small empire of followers who do everything he tells them to. He considers himself the Portuguese Andrew Tate, even though Tate has already been publicly exposed as a neo-Nazi and abuser of women. Numeiro, in addition to calling for an end to domestic violence, recently joined André Ventura’s team, campaigning across the country in a Lamborghini painted in the colors of Chega and galvanizing his legions of young followers to vote for that party. Many who voted for the first time in 2025 followed the advice of their idol Numeiro and handed the gold to the bandits.

A similar, yet even more dangerous example is Miguel Milhão, a businessman who embodies everything that is wrong with anarchic neoliberal culture. Milhão is a forty-something who should know better, but continues to behave like a young influencer while using his companies to sell questionable products and results. Prozis, Miguel’s main product in the game, is endorsed by all the major influencers in Portugal and has even achieved international prominence, despite selling a product that is very similar to the venom of the most poisonous snake.

Milhão, like his friends, quickly realized that selling products to the gullible is easier because those who allow themselves to be sold by cheap demagoguery are easier to deceive. He focused his attention on the far-right market. Supporting Ventura and his fellow party members, the multimillionaire has been one of the main manipulators behind the scenes of party propaganda, supporting Rita Matias and a few other young people who have sold themselves to hate speech. Recently, with the country on the brink of dictatorship, he launched an advertisement in favor of banning abortion, using it as a new cultural weapon to provoke more chaos and disorder. That is what they want. Divide and conquer.

The result of this televised moment was the spread of hatred towards women who have made and continue to make the decision to terminate their pregnancies. What Milhão fails to understand is the reason for this choice. In a vague speech full of paternalistic images, Milhão defends birth, but not the dignified life that every child deserves. Milhão, as a privileged man, considers that women who make this decision are nothing more than people devoid of feelings, as if undergoing an abortion were a trip to the shopping mall. Has Milhão ever wondered about the number of men who do not assume paternity? Those who refuse to use condoms because they inhibit their pleasure? Does he have any idea how many single-parent families there are in Portugal, the vast majority of which are headed by mothers who face immense financial and legal difficulties and a lack of support? To all the “Milhãos” of this country, I recommend reading the book Ejaculate Responsibly, by Gabrielle Blair. Perhaps you will realize that men are just as responsible for abortion as women. I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that a vasectomy is a procedure performed free of charge by the National Health Service and the Family Planning Service.

I fought to legalize abortion. So did many other people. I refuse to return to that battle because the ideology is crystal clear. Only those who don’t want to see it don’t see it. However, I must warn you. Pay attention to these guys. They are the ones who are controlling your children and nieces and nephews, in the shadows, but with tenacity and visceral hatred. When Trump won his current term, his acceptance speech included words of tribute to the “great and powerful Joe Rogan” and other American influencers. Here, Milhão is the closest we have to them. One day, it will be Ventura thanking him, perhaps with a position in the future Ministry of Propaganda. We didn’t think about it before, and then it was too late…

Alexandra Manes is from Flores Island but lives on the island of Terceira in the Azores. She is a regular contributing writer for several Azorean newspapers, a political and cultural activist, and has served in the Azorean Parliament.

NOVIDADES will feature occasional opinion pieces from various leading thinkers and writers in the Azores, giving the diaspora and those interested in the current state of the Azores a sense of the significant opinions on some of the archipelago’s issues.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL).