São Paulo, the home of a Hungarian community of one hundred thousand people, held a commemoration for the 60th anniversary of 1956 Revolution. Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén held a speech to more than 300 attendees at one of the most famous schools of the city, the Colégio Santo Américo (Szent Imre Kollégium) of São Paulo, which was founded by Hungarians.
He emphasized that the Hungarian nation is only able to survive with the Hungarian communities in the Carpathian Basin and the diaspora around the world. State awards were granted and the documentary film collecting the testimonials of Hungarians in São Paulo titled „Magyarok – 1956” (Hungarians – 1956) was shown.
Zsolt Semjén had visited the Hungarian community of Rio de Janeiro the day before the commemoration and had met Dom Orani Tempesta the Metropolitan Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro. They agreed to have the statue of Christ the Redeemer illuminated by the Hungarian national colours on Hungarian national holidays in order to acknowledge the efforts of our country to protect Christianity and the contribution of Brazilian Hungarian communities to the development of the country.