Portugal’s parliament last week approved a measure to standardise the Portugese language, standarising the Brazilian spelling of numerous words. The benefits? Apparently, making the language 
more uniform globally, internet searches and legal documents easier to understand and removing silent consonants in order for words to be spelt more phonetically. Oh, and ‘Portuguese officials hope the measure would advance an old ambition of getting Portuguese adopted as an official language at the UN’.
All sounds peachy, but Portuguese nationalists are furious at the prospect of this slight to national pride, with The Independent quoting distinguished poet Vasco Graça Moura as saying “There is no need for us to take a back seat to Brazil.”
[Image by psychiccrow]
Oz Traveller 
This article wrongly calls the portuguese résistance ”nationalistic”. We are not against an unification of the ortography, we just defend one that is coerent, just, and for the best.
The text of the reform itself is incoerent and of a very bad quality. This is not even a deal between Lusophone countries. This suits exclusively the needs and the standard of Brasil.
If this was an equalitarian deal, all the countries of the Lusophone community would have had equal participation. That is not the case. Seven countries are changing it’s standard – the euro-african-asiatic standard – to suit the brasilian standard.
There was no debate in Portugal, and I assure you that the portuguese and the african public opinion is against it. The majority of linguistics, artists, writers, and the people are against it. Half a dozen of people outside Brasil are in favor, however they cannot sustain their arguments (clearly geo-politic ones) which do not have an unification purpose for the people or language’s sake. They have tried to surpress the opposition, which has, by its own iniciative, brought to light the inumerous studies against the reform.
The defensors of the reform, having no way of dismissing the obvious truth and volition of the people, try to defend themselves calling us ‘nationalistic’ and ‘salazaristic’. Given that Salazar persists being a great stigma in our society, it’s their way of taking our credibility. However, this is not a case of salazarism, but a desire to revert a treaty that was, in itself, made in a salazarist way: anti-democratic, ignoring the want of people, made and approved in obscuracy, despising the less powerful countries in favour of Brasil. If they want to use numeric arguments, saying that Brasil has a higher population than Portugal, I can only say: seven soberanies are changing their standard to suit Brasil.
Poor Portugal! CNN had a good ideia… Portugal annexed to Brazil…
Of course, Brazil wil not let this happens…
Sorry Portugal.