Protesters rushed in, including Portuguese opera singer Ana Maria Pinto, who proceeded to drown out the president in song.
"I wanted to speak to the Portuguese and sing for them. Just do it! Have the courage to have your own voice!" Pinto, 31, told NPR in a recent interview.
But she recalled feeling nervous that October morning, confronting her nation's leaders: "The only thing I felt was my heart beating — all my body was my heart beating."
Security guards huddled around the president and whisked him out of the courtyard. But the remaining dignitaries were flustered.
"You could see on their faces that they were really confused, because I was singing opera," Pinto said. "At the end they asked me, 'Is this part of the event?' And I said, 'No, this is my protest!' "
From that day on, Ana Maria Pinto has become a household name in Portugal. She is the new face — and (soprano) voice — of the country's protest movement. A regular at street demonstrations, Pinto is leading choirs of regular folks venting their anger over austerity — the strict budget cuts and tax hikes tied to Portugal's bailout by Europe.
Protests, With Flowers And Songs
While anti-austerity protesters throw Molotov cocktails in the streets of Athens or blockade parliament in Madrid, their Portuguese counterparts are singing songs in the street, 1960s-style.
Enlarge image i