Portugal, 40 Years After the Revolution

1974

2014

Copyright belongs to individual authors. Please do not republish without prior permission from the individual authors. E-Mail correspondence via mdbergfeld AT gmail DOT com

Editor Mark Bergfeld

Contributors Mark Bergfeld Joo Camargo Gui Castro Felga Ismail Kpeli Sara Moeira Francisco Louc Catarina Prncipe

Design Vasco Alves

Note: Joo Camargos articles were previously published on Counterre.org; Mark Bergfelds articles have previously appeared different formats in MRZine, Socialist Review and Neues Deutschland; The interview with Francisco Louc rst appeared in a far shorter version in Neues Deutschland and subsequently was translated into more than ve languages; Catarina Principes articles have previously appeared in the ISJ and on Socialistworker.org; Ismail Kpeli provided English excerpts from his book Nelkenrevolution Reloaded? 2

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1: Voices from the Resistance

Portugal: The Spell is Broken
Joo Camargo

5 7

14

Woodstroika: A Step Forward for Portuguese Protest Joo Camargo Merkel: Not Welcome In Portugal Que Se Lixe A Troika This is also a participation crisis Interview with Gui Castro Felga To focus on stuff that really matters Interview with Sara Moreira

17

20

23

28

Part 2: Analysing the Resistance

Crisis and Resistance In Portugal Mark Bergfeld From mobilisation to resistance: Portugals struggle against austerity Catarina Prncipe I Prefer the Horses in My Lasagne to the Donkeys in the Government Mark Bergfeld 33

42

63

Part 3: Regime Crisis

Police Batons for Protesters and Rubber Bullets for the Kids of Bela Vista Mark Bergfeld This is a Regime Crisis! Interview with Francisco Lou Theaterpolitik in Portugal Joo Camargo Will Portugals Government Hold On? Catarina Prncipe 69

74

79

84

Part 4: Revolution?
A Brief History of the Portuguese Revolution Catarina Prncipe The revolution of carnations re-loaded? Crisis and social struggle in Portugal Ismail Kpeli 95

101

Further Resources Links About the contributors

105 107 108

Acknowledgements

This book is the product of more than two years of social struggles in Portugal, and the long-lasting legacy of the 1974/75 Revolution. My gratitude goes to all the contributing authors who have made their articles available. It has been a pleasure knowing you, discussing and arguing with you about the state of the Portuguese left and its social movements.

Catarina you have become a true friend over the last few years. Keep up the good ght! Joo Make sure to visit keep in touch. You know that I am always online ;) But come and visit me again.

Ismail Hopefully this book will bring us somewhat close to actually meeting in IRL rather than on another URL.

Francisco May your work with Bloco be an inspiration to the rest of the European left.

Special thanks to Vasco Alves for investing his time into turning a collection of articles into this formidable piece of work. It is much appreciated! I wish you all the best for your return to Portugal. I am sure that I will see you soon.

There are many people who have no part in the production of this book but played a role in either bringing the contributors together, or enabling this project in the rst place:

Yoshi Furuhashi at MRZine for giving me a platform to publish articles on Portugal over the last two years, the team at Socialist Review (UK); the team at Socialistworker.org (US); Joseph Choonara for enabling me to go to Portugal in the rst place; Katja Herzberg at Neues Deutschland for always supporting my writing efforts; Rodrigo Riveira for the countless discussions which helped me come to terms with the Portuguese left; Liliana Zuna for helping me with my Portuguese; Marco Neves Marques for his comradeship; Joo Carlos for putting me up in Lisboa during November 2012; Professor Andreas Bieler for chasing up articles and publishing one of my articles with RC44; Fabian Figueiredo, Irina (Posdaist-Faction); Renato Soeiro; Miguel Borba de S for sending me Trotskys Lessons of October in Portuguese so I could learn what really was important(!?); Bernardo Corra for the time we could spend together in Lisbon; Sren Goard and the Streatham Commune for putting up Joo C and Joana while they were in Britain; everyone at Bloco headquarters, Mariana Mortagua; the team at RT for the airtime; and the countless activists and people I met, spoke to and learned from during my time in Portugal. Last but not least, all the people who will actually read this ebook.

This work is dedicated to the people of Portugal and their unrelenting struggle against the Troikas austerity measures. Que Se Lixe A Troika!

In eternal gratitude and solidarity, Mark Bergfeld London, April 2014

Introduction
Mark Bergfeld

This year commemorates the 40th anniversary of the Portuguese Revolution of 1974/1975. Millions of people in Portugal will be celebrating the fall of the fascist Salazar dictatorship and end to the colonial wars. While at the time hundreds maybe even thousands of leftists of all colour travelled to Portugal to get a glimpse of what popular power and real democracy might look like, the events of 1974/1975 are barely known today. The memory of these years has faded like much of the left that participated in the events. Yet this should not be the case as there are plenty of documents, books and youtube clips which detail the story, discuss the nature of the revolution, the role of the Communist Party (PCP), the other organizations and the ensuing transition to a social-democratic regime which would not challenge Western European capitalism.

The history of the Portuguese revolution is important for several reasons. It helps us to understand that even the most stable regimes are built on sand as Rosa Luxemburg would put it. It also highlighted the contradictory role that a conscript army could play in revolutionary situations; lessons we once again have seen unfold in Egypt. The outcome of the Portuguese Revolution was not pre-determined. There was a real chance of social revolution and the overthrow of capitalism in the small land strip on Europes Atlantic Coast. There are many reasons as to why social-democracy won over economic justice and real democracy from below. If you expect debates on these issues in the following pages you will be disappointed. There are plenty of books, videos and webpages which revisit these historical debates. 7

The writings of Peter Robinson and Phil Mailer amongst others disclose the real possibilities pregnant in the situation following the military coup on 25 April 1974.

Our project is different. We are only interested in history insofar that it continues to inform the present struggles happening in Portugal. These struggles continue to be marginalized within English-speaking press, labour, socialist and anti-capitalist movements. In fact, Portugal has been witnessing its largest demonstrations since the fall of the fascist Salazar Regime in 1974. The articles collected in this ebook should facilitate a better understanding of Portugals vibrant social struggles which continue to challenge the Troika of ECB, EU and IMF. The discussions and debates presented in this collection are informed by our participation, observation and allegiance with these movements which seek to turn the tide on neoliberalism and austerity in Portugal. They are biased insofar that they side with the people against a system which has wreaked havoc in Portugal in the past and present.

The rst part of this book concentrates on the resistance to the Troikas austerity measures imposed on Portugal. While all eyes focused on the indignad@s in the Spanish State, the Egyptian Revolution and Occupy Wall Street, Portugal had its very own movement which largely went unnoticed. Joo Camargo details the early rise of the Portuguese social movements in 2012. These demonstrations were the rst of their kind after years of silence and acceptance of neoliberal policy. They displayed that the Portuguese people did have the willpower to ght against the dictates of nancialized capitalism. Camargos article written in the immediate aftermath of the demonstration on September 15, 2012 reads like a declaration. It is a reminder of the energy, the sheer excitement at the prospect that the Portuguese 8

people no longer would accept the dictates of the Troika.

Camargo goes on to argue that the movement quickly spiralled into a cultural movement against austerity. Older artists from the revolutionary years joined younger artists against the Troika in unison. To speak of a cultural movement against austerity raises an important question in regard to how the struggle in Portugal conceives itself. Does it see itself as a national liberation struggle in which the people of Portugal stand united against the dictates of international or European capitalism, or is it a class struggle? From Camargos essays we start to understand how the austerity measures have started to rip right through Portuguese society and thus have drawn many new actors into a position of resistance.

This rst wave of struggle initiated by the Que Se Lixe A Troika coalition was followed by a second wave of struggle which coincided with the Southern European general strike in 2012. Mark Bergfeld gives a dynamic overview of the depth of the crisis and the ensuing resistance which rocked Portugal in 2012. As the Portuguese ruling classes slavishly follow the dictates of the Troika the ruling classes undermine their own rule and create even bigger waves of protest. The post-revolutionary consensus which once ensured stability is no longer. This was exemplied by the mass demonstration which saw parliament pelted with stones, bottles and other objects. The article gives the necessary background and analysis to Camargos declarations. Together they offer a picture of a Portugal hit by crisis. In late 2012, it looked like the government might fall any given day. However, the government could hang in there for a couple of months more.

Ismail Kpelis interviews with activists involved in the Portuguese social movements give an insight into who the people are who have been strug9

gling in the face of continuous budget cuts but also resisting the Troikas austerity measures. We have taken the conscious decision to not anglicize these interviews so that people can hear the voices of activists rather than believe that these are professional activists with perfect English skills. Too often we read of foreign struggles believing that these people speak perfect English, use words common to struggles in the UK or the USA. However language is a means by which we communicate. By reproducing these interviews in activists own words, we seek to show that these activists have their own language, and found their own words to express their struggles, demands and issues.

Catarina Prncipes article From mobilisation to resistance: Portugals struggle against austerity advances important arguments in respect to the development of social movements today. The demonstrations and movements between 2011 and 2012 were not spontaneous, or simply organized by Facebook. They are the result of subterranean socio-economic processes which have taken place in Portugal prior to the outbreak of the economic crisis. Organizations such as PrecariosInexiveis show the extent to which Portuguese society, its left and contemporary activism have transformed since the days of the revolution. Catarinas assessment of the movements is contentious and courageous at the same time. It provides a balance to some of the arguments which Mark Bergfeld and Joo Camargo advance. The differences are agonistic insofar that they share the same language, and aspirations. While some of the differences can be attributed to the different moments the articles were written in, and the different positions that writers occupied, it would be intellectually lazy to take an ambivalent position towards different interpretations. Sufce it to say, the proof lies in whether the social movements of the next few years will be able to defeat the goverrnment and create a viable alternative for working class and the subaltern 10

peoples in Portugal.

Francisco Loucs call for a left government in Portugal in the second part of this ebook is possibly such an alternative. Inspired by the electoral success of SYRIZA in 2012, the Bloco De Esquerda called for a left government. Again, this call raises important questions for the radical European left which the Latin American social movements had to come to terms with in the rst years of the 21st Century. Moreover, Louca, a participant in the revolutionary events of 1974/1975 makes an important argument regarding the legacy of the revolution: Could the legacy of the revolution possibly inhibit the further development of the Portuguese social movements?

This years celebrations of the Portuguese revolution will be co-opted by the sections of Portugals ruling class which wants to turn back the clock on the gains that the revolution made. This attempt to tear up the post-revolutionary consensus has left the ruling class weak and fractured. Joo and Catarina, once again, give different takes on the crisis which shook the government in 2013. Their articles conrm Loucs predicament that Portugal is experiencing a regime crisis of unprecedented dimension. This is highlighted by Mark Bergfelds piece on the police shooting of Ruben Marques and the inltration of the protest movements in wake of the economic crisis. One factor of the regime crisis which we did not have time to discuss in the following pages is the continued role of the Socialist Party-dominated Constitutional Court which has outlawed several austerity packages passed by the government. This rift between Portugals highest court and the government will surely resurface in months and years to come. This omission is unfortunate but a by-product of running this project without a budget.

In the last part, Ismail Kpeli and Catarina Prncipe shine a light on the leg11

acy of the Portuguese revolution. While the emphasis of the book is clearly weighted towards the crisis and resistance unfolding in Portugal at present, we believe the book could not do without such a discussion. The revolution might lie 40 years back now but it continues to inspire. Alfonso Zecas Vila Grandola Morena is repeatedly sung on demonstrations and the carnation remains a symbol of resistance. These nal two chapters hope to facilitate the view that the revolutionary development of a people can span decades. This lesson contributes to a rethinking of the tasks of the left, and the old dichotomies of reform or revolution. Instead reforms should be conceived as necessary steps in the revolutionary development of a people. They are constitutive acts which strengthen the resoluteness and determination. In this view, we have a long way to go but can console ourselves in the fact that none of our struggles are in vein.

You might have read one or the other article in a different publication. While most of the articles have appeared elsewhere we believed that it was necessary to bring them together in order to start a debate on the state of social movements in Portugal. As you will be able to see, the authors do not necessarily share the same opinions on a number of issues. What they all do have in common is their determination to change the world.

12

Part I: Voices from the Resistance

Portugal: The Spell is Broken 1

Joo Camargo

It looks as if the Portuguese people have had enough of austerity. People came out in their droves on September 15, 2012 across the country under the slogan Screw the Troika, we want our lives! Close to a million people protested against the government and the Troika of IMF, ECB and EU.

It was the biggest protest in Portugal since the revolution in 1974, signalling that the consensus over austerity is long gone and buried. The demonstration on 15 September marked the end of an era. The signal was decisive: the mass of the people went into the streets shouting IMF out of here, government resignation now and we want our lives!.

The Troika and the government no longer represent the will and the political prospect of the majority of citizens, and so the door is now open for a new democratic election towards a future that rejects the Troikas criminal and destructive agreements.

The political declaration with which this historical protest ended in the Praa de Espanha (Spain Square) was clear and unequivocal: rst, an end the Troika memorandum; second, the government must resign (rejecting any other governmental solution which continues to implement the austerity regime); and third, it appeals for a popular general strike, organised not only

(1) This article was written after the demonstration on 15 September 2012

14

by unions but by social movements and people in neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools, faculties, hospitals and townships, to stop the country and demonstrate that only labour, knowledge and citizen participation can build a country.

This gigantic demonstration was not a ritual of letting off steam. It was the other way around. It built up pressure and most people out in the streets had never been on a protest before. There was a big emphasis on the need for organisation. There was an appeal for a gathering the following Friday in front of the State Council, where people will convene to discuss the political crisis and possible resolutions.

The people have spoken: no to the Troika and no to their henchmen; no technocrat solutions and no salvation government by the same people who have carried out the austerity plan thus far. The conservatives have been frightened into a corner and will now try and come up with a non-democratic solution. The people vowed to push them further into the corner and protest against any solution that involves the Troika.

A group of thirty people, from different political backgrounds, varied levels of intervention, and even people who had until now not been part of any political and public activity proved that they can join together to do something. This is extraordinary. Based on a simple and clear consensus, standing their ground on a position, they appealed to the country and even beyond (on the same day there were big protests against austerity in Madrid). In Lisbon, in Praa de Espanha, a text was read aloud from comrades in Spain. It supported our common and international struggle.

The demonstrations are a sign of the times, and they send a message to all 15

sectors that refuse a future of submission to austerity and the Troika regime. We need to join together for a common purpose.

And so, with at least half a million in Lisbon, 150,000 in Porto, 20,000 in Coimbra, 10,000 in Aveiro and hundreds of thousands more in over 40 towns and cities across the country, the rotten propaganda consensus was torn. Today people know that this isnt the only possible way. They know that this is an impossible path and the only future is one without austerity and ending the Age of the Troika.

The struggle will go on, and it will be made by these people, and many others.

16

Woodstroika: A Step Forward for Portuguese Protest 2

Joo Camargo

Portugal witnessed a different type of protest against the Troika - the united force of the International Monetary Fund, the BCE and the European Council - last Saturday 13th October. In 23 cities around the country and some overseas (namely in Brazil) artists, musicians, poets, actors, street artists and many others joined the Screw the Troika protest. This was a cultural protest on a national scale, with some 60,000 in Lisbon, 10,000 in Porto, and many more across the country.

In Lisbon there was an 8 hour long protest marathon of culture and politics - some called it Woodstroika. At 5pm, after the end of a trade union 10-day march against unemployment, the protest was launched with a performance by an ad-hoc symphonic orchestra performing Beethovens 5th Symphony. Theatrical performances by some of Portugals actors, dancers and poets accompanied political speeches and music until late into the night.

Some of Portugal leading performers expressed their support for the ght against austerity by performing songs against this government, the Troika and austerity. There was a massive display of support for the current struggle, planned and organized by creatives and political activists. Screw the Troika - Culture is Resistance! the protesters declared; it represented a step towards a cultural movement against austerity.

(2) This article was written in October 2012 following the second Que Se Lixe A Troika Demonstration

17

Old revolutionary songs blended with new ones, as musicians who had been highly inuential in the 1974 revolution joined younger artists in creating a new culture against austerity.

Art and show business professionals are in a dire situation due to a new round of budget cuts. They used this moment to voice their situation, acknowledging that their situation is the situation of the Portuguese people. They came forward to show solidarity and unity with the international movement against austerity.

Actor Joo Reis read a statement written by the organizers of the protest (a group of artists, technicians and political activists that organized the Screw The Troika - We Want Our Lives protests last month). It proposed the next step: A mass demonstration to reject the state budget on October 31. With the slogan O oramento no passar! - The budget shall not pass - the protest will see trade unions and social movements come together to create a mass movement.

Next month there will be a General Strike on November 14, co-ordinated with Spanish unions in an attempt to bring together the rst ever Iberian general strike. The action is timed just after German Chancellor Angela Merkels visit on November 12.

This is an exciting time for political action in Portugal, with massive mobilisations of the people. The government is now politically and publicly dead. Only the Presidents inertia keeps it aoat; the streets demand the rightwing coalitions head and the end of austerity.

The protest in Lisbon ended with a song made popular by political prisoners 18

during the Portugese dictatorship, a song that has been performed at many recent protests: Acordai! (Wake Up!). It was a tting end to a protest that joined an international movement, uniting the people behind the prospect of a decent future, emancipation and social justice. The people have awakened.

Wake Up, ye men that sleep rocking the pain of a wicked silence! Come with the shouting virile souls, And pluck the tree whose root is asleep! Wake Up, Wake up thunders and typhoons that sleep in the air and in the crowds! Come set alight the stars and the songs, the rocks and the seas, the world and the hearts! Wake up! Wake up, Lighten up with souls and suns, this dockless sea with no ash from lighthouses And wake at last, after the nal struggles, our ancient heroes sleeping in the caves Wake up!

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Merkel: Not Welcome In Portugal 3

Que Se Lixe A Troika

Dear Chancellor Merkel,

We start by saying we address you only as chancellor of Germany. We did not vote for you and do not acknowledge the existence of a chancellor of Europe. We, the subscribers of this open letter, write to you as free citizens.

Citizens of a country you wish to visit on the next 12th of November, as well as citizens in solidarity with all the countries attacked by austerity. Due to the character of the announced visit, those who have to struggle daily with the dire economic and social situation in Portugal, must stress that you are not welcome. You should be considered persona non grata in Portuguese territory because you clearly come to interfere with the Portuguese States decisions without being democratically mandated by those who live here.

Even so, because our government has of late ceased to obide with the laws of this country and its Republican constitution, we address this letter directly to you. The presence of many great businessman in your entourage is an outrage. Under the guise of foreign investment, you will bring a group of people that will come to plunder the ruins in which your policies have left the Portuguese economy, as well as those of Greece, Ireland, Italy and Spain.

Your delegation is composed not only by those who have coerced the Portu-

(3) This article was written after the demonstration on 15 September 2012

20

guese state, with the connivance of its government, to privatize its property and most valuable assets, but also by the potential beneciaries of those properties and assets, bought today at re-sale prices.

This letter cannot and should not be seen as any sort of nationalist of chauvinist vindication its a direct address to you as the chief promoter of the Neoliberal doctrine which is ruining Europe. We do not address the German people who have all the democratic legitimacy to elect whomever they want for their representative ofces. However, in this country where we live, your name was never on any ballot. We did not elect you. As such, we do not recognize you the right to represent us and even less the right to make political decisions on our behalf.

And we are not alone. On the 14th of November, two days after your announced visit, we will rise with several others in a general strike which will include many European countries. It will be a strike against the governments which have betrayed and still betray the trust the citizens deposited on them, a strike against the austerity applied by them. But do not delude yourself, chancellor. It will be a strike against the austerity imposed by the troika and against all those which intend to transform it into an authoritarian regime. It will be a strike against you, Mme. Merkel. And if we salute the people of Greece, Spain, Italy Cyprus and Malta, we also salute the German people who suffer with us. We know very well that the Wirtschaftswunder, Germanys economical miracle, was built on the basis of successive debt pardons by its main creditors. We know that the supposed current German economic thrust is built on a brutal crackdown on wages for over 10 years and the massive promotion of precarious labour, temporary and low-wage work that aficts a great part of the German people. That also shows the perspective you, chancellor Merkel, have for your own country. 21

Its very likely that you wont reply. And its probable that the Portuguese government, subservient, weak and feeble, will receive you with owers and applause. But the truth, chancellor, is that the majority of the Portuguese population blatantly disapproves of this government and the way in which it is destroying the country, supported by the troika and yourself. Even if you choose a secret route and a private airport to get away from the demonstrations against your visit, you have to know that they will occur all around the country. And they will be protests against you and what you represent. Your entourage may try and ignore us. The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank may try to ignore the streets. But we are more and more, Mme. Merkel. Here and in all countries. Our protests will be stronger and stronger. We become more aware of reality every day. The stories you have all told us were always awkward and now we know they were full-out lies.

We have awaken, Mme. Merkel. You are an unwelcome guest.

22

This is also a participation crisis 4

Interview with Gui Castro Felga

Tell us something about yourself: Whats your profession; do you have any kind of income? Or: How do you sustain your life? Do you observe a change in your personal situation since the crisis (of the last 4-5 years)?

Me and other two out-of work architects are starting a walking-tour agency, a greeters group of some sort, in Porto. Its called the worst tours (theworsttours.weebly.com). I also do posters, designs and projects for a living. It seldom pays enough to get by. Finally, I work part time in a coffee shop/bar Porto that currently only opens during the nights... so: doodling, tours, tea and cake.

What are your political activities? How you get involved? Are you satised with your political work?

I am or have been involved in several different groups and struggles: In the last year I was involved in the organization of street protests in Porto. I help out at the community centres in my neighbourhood (es.col.a, casa viva), in the hope of helping to create real alternatives to the neoliberal system - be it organizing to resist privatizations or evictions, helping with a free shop or facilitating assemblies. Im in a left-wing party (Left Bloc) since 1999, was

(4) Interviews conducted by Ismail Kpeli

23

involved in my students union, in the architecture school, and then in a group of architects struggling with the absence of regulation in our profession and the restrictions imposed by its professional order.

I worry about counter-propaganda and Im very unsatised with the numbers of people protesting, and lack of activism and participation. It shocks me that, despite the total failure of the austerity politics and measures and the cycle of eternal debt we are in, the ofcial propaganda manages to lower the debate to only one point of view, that they discuss as if it were two opinions, repeated ad nauseum in the media, disguised as technical, neutral or non-political. I believe that its politics, and therefore, power/class struggles... or the There Is No Alternative crap. So I draw caricatures to highlight the situation, or make posters to help promote a demonstration, etc.

What are the most important aspects of the current crisis? What is the most striking symptom of the crisis? Which are the most important/most interesting protest movements against the austerity politics during the last 4-5 years? What was the most striking/impressive experience (for you) during the protests?

Symptoms of the crisis: biggest wave of emigration since the sixties, drop in wages, an increase of homelessness, children leaving school, hunger, disappearance of the welfare state, unemployment, politicians praising charity and a certain smell of fascism in the overall security political speech against protesters.

Most interesting movements in the last year or so: Occupy Wall Street, in the way they highlighted the concentration of power and wealth in the top 1%, or in the way they chose non-violence as a tactic, or in the way they 24

communicated with the rest of the people. The indignados, in the way the organized themselves, the miners and the jornaleros in Marinaleda, in Spain... es.col.a, of course, in Portugal, as well the estivadores struggles in the ports, or the occupation of Rossio in Lisbon. And many important eld studies and research which show the impossibility of the neoliberal paradigm, the auditing of the debts, and all the present projects of alternative self-managed networks, commerce (the direct trade market in Greece...), communication systems, production and distribution.

The most striking experience for me: the reoccupation of es.col.a on April 25.

Activism in the time of crisis. How does it work, when do you try to mobilize people? What is the relationship between the grassrootsmovements and the left parties?

You never know how to mobilize people. You just try and take the questions you have, and the discrepancies you see in the matrix, state them out loud and hope that the rest of the people will relate and feel motivated to act on it. I think looking for the best possible processes of working and relating, in each different group, helps to not lose people that are trying to get involved, both in parties as in other activist-groups - activism is motivated by the sense of making a difference and being able to really participate in the construction of alternatives and/or political programs. I think the nal objective should be mirrored in the ways to get there - be it in the ghting excessive concentrations of power or in the striving for more direct participation and less professional structures, the sharing of information and better decisionmaking processes.

25

In regards to the grassroots movements and the (left-wing) parties, I think it could be better. Ideally, they would parallel, intertwining in concrete actions here and there. Parties taking up movements causes and demands into law and into their programs, movements inuencing and proposing new debates and paths of most resistance, parties being inuenced by the new forms of organisation. In reality...Well, people in activist groups tend to suspect the good will of political parties, and fear attempts of control, or cant nd common processes of decision. ...I dont believe thats an excuse, by the way - if you really try, you nd ways to work with people different from you - neither is an excuse the difcult history between most of the different parts of the left (from communists to anarchists and everything in between).

I think it is very dangerous to simply say all parties are bad and/or the same - that logic, and the shitty politicians we have been having for ages, makes more than half the population not vote: and the right wing keeps perpetuating itself in power.

I know for many the left wing could be better and is not radical enough, because it proposes reform (and because it is still thinking about growth to solve our enormous, spiral-recession). Problem is, even these simple, not-that-radical-proposals (to tax and control the banks, to end offshores, to get better legislation on work and employment etc) are not getting through even though they should be better for the majority of the population. Left is better than right. Theres left and right, up and down. I still think so.

This is a very complex problem, of course. Im not saying that the democracy we have is very good - the es.col.a process, as well as the persecution of activists involved in demonstrations, prove that both justice and political representation are unfair repressive and beast. Im just saying that I want more 26

active democracy, not less. Political parties, as an abstract notion, are just a group of people with similar ideas and projects who get together and make programs and run for managing the public affairs according to those programs - the problem for me is the vertical power structures that sometimes the parties evolve into (and that may also happen in other kind of political groups and structures, not only in parties). Not the concept of party in itself I dont think well manage to not need representation any time soon. I prefer to have a say in who gets chosen than have the IMF chose...

There is some difculty in all groups in hearing other points of view, and negotiating programs. And some egos, a lot of different practices and codes, and several arenas of discussion and intervention. Despite all those problems, there have been times, this last year, in Porto (general strikes, the es.col.a process, ghts against privatizations, etc) where people have been able to get together - I think it is possible, plausible, and very necessary. We need more people everywhere. In all groups, formal or informal, in all scales and social elds, demanding real change and opposing solidarity and creativity to the individualistic-dog-eat-dog-capitalist-world. This is also a participation crisis.

27

To focus on stuff that really matters 5

Interview with Sara Moreira

Tell us something about yourself: Whats your profession, do you have any kind of income? Or: How do you sustain your life? Do you observe a change in your personal situation since the crisis (of the last 4-5 years)?

It was after I came back to Porto from my second term as a Lecturer in the National University of Timor Leste, in 2008, that my attitude towards work drastically changed. I had nished my studies on Software Engineering and Computer Science in early 2006, and then worked in a web development company in Porto as a Projects Manager. One year after, I decided to embark on a teaching experience in that far-off half-island - a former Portuguese colony which freed itself from the 24 years long Indonesian occupation in 1999. The difference between life in Timor Leste and how we in the West relate with time, money, people and our surrounding environment - many times moved by misconceptions of success and prosperity - really stroke me.

I then chose to start spending my time on stuff that really matters instead of enslaving all my hours to a full time job as an engineer. Besides, 9 to 5 jobs in Portugal, in practice, very easily become 9 to 8 occupations that totally absorb your energy and attention. I felt I had more important things to do. One doesnt need a lot of money to survive, and by freelancing on

(5) Interview by Ismail Kpeli, translated by Mark Bergfeld

28

web development once in a while I thought I would manage to pay my bills. That was when I started volunteering as an author for Global Voices Online - a non-prot citizen media initiative founded at the University of Harvard -, and I founded together with friends an all-feminine non-prot NGO, Moving Cause, whose mission was to promote social entrepreneurship initiatives from Timor Leste in Portugal. I was interested in understanding how cooperatives such as Bonecas de Atauro (a Timorese womens workshop for handcraft and sewing) could not only bring means of subsistence to communities in need but also action local social issues. [Note: Back then the word entrepreneurship hadnt been adopted yet for the hegemonic discourse of nowadays, which together with creativity, innovation and some other few clichs, are presented as bailout tools that only give continuity for the situation we have dug ourselves in.]

During that time, besides moving causes between Timor and Portugal, I also got involved with JUP (the Newspaper of the University of Porto), and eventually managed the association behind it for a year. That experience, together with my collaboration with Global Voices - with the mission to amplify the most interesting stories published on worldwide citizen media -, was awakening for me in political terms, especially concerning the role of the media as a weapon for social awareness. While the acquaintanceship with the Universitys newspaper networks showed me an obvious lack of political awareness among the Portuguese youth in that time, Global Voices stories presented a whole new world of civic participation through online media. After volunteering for one and a half years for GV, I became the Portuguese language countries editor in May 2010. It is an exclusively virtual part time job with a modest salary that allows me to pay for my monthly bills - as well as to travel a bit every now and then to places like Chile, Brazil (2011), Greece, Timor (2010-2011), Kenya and Mozambique (2012 :) 29

What are your political activities? How you get involved in this topics? Are you going to work in this elds in the future? Are you satised with your political work?

Whether political or not, my main activities are (and will be :):

Writing/Translating citizen perspectives which are often ignored by mainstream media: Global Voices Online highlights citizen stories with a focus on human rights issues and freedom of expression. Besides editing the Portuguese language countries front, I collaborate on the special coverage Europe in Crisis, by means of monitoring, writing, contextualizing and translating stories reported on citizen media about everyday living and rising alternatives in face of the economic crisis in European countries.

Collective participation: I am involved with several associations in Porto, such as urban permaculture and collective gardening project Horta-l!, Transparncia Hackday, Gui.net/Porto, and recently I organized a workshop on alternative currencies that resulted in the formation of a group that is trying to create a social currency for Portos city centre.

Training: I organized training programs for NGOs, other collectives and individuals on online strategies for more effective advocacy outreach and Free Culture and Citizen Media, in Timor in 2011 and in Mozambique in 2012.

What are the most important aspects of the current crisis? What is the most striking/impressive symptom of the crisis? Which are the most important/most interesting protest movements against the austerity politics during the last 4-5 years? What was the most striking/impressive experience (for you) during the protests? 30

Many things have changed in my surroundings and in the broader Portuguese political, economic and social scenario - as well as worldwide - since 2008 until today. From my neighbourhood, I see more people - especially the youth - who are unemployed, and thus have to get used to living on less money; I see the aging of the population as a big parcel of the youth emigrates in search for better conditions. Many buildings in the city are left abandoned, while a growing number of families enters default, unable to pay their mortgages. One of the most important consequences of this crisis is the fact that it has brought people together in new and renewed local associations, and more than never political debate is being brought to the public arena. On the other hand it is impressive to see how the economic recession leads the people to a generalized state of (what I call in Portuguese) perspectives recession. There is lack of hope, energy and initiative to organize and react positively to the current situation. We are missing solid and resilient action groups who dedicate to create a new world to live in.

There have been glimpses of important civic participation and mobilization, though. The Scraping-by Generation Protest of March 2011 was the antiausterity mobilization kick off, drawing 150.000 to the streets, in a burst of non-partisan, non-branded, authentic citizen power. From my perspective, the whole history of the self-managed collective es.col.a da Fontinha in Porto, has been the cherry on top of the cake concerning collective action, as for the rst time in a long time it enabled a national wave of solidarity for a common cause. Other initiatives seemed to be relevant and important, such as the Citizens Audit on the Public Debt and the Screw the Troika, but, once again, follow ups, dissemination of results and creation of working groups are missing.

31

Part II: Analysing the Resistance

Crisis and Resistance In Portugal 6

Mark Bergfeld

A day before the right wing coalition government in Portugal was to vote through its 2012 budget, the German nance minister Wolfgang Schuble met his Portuguese counterpart Vitor Gaspar and proclaimed, Portugal is on the right path and is, for all of us in the eurozone, a brilliant example that the approach we have been following to stabilise the euro is correct. Schuble went on to praise the exceptional job being performed by the Portuguese government. But recent events have shown that the austerity measures insisted on by the Troika of the European Union, European Central Bank and IMF are creating serious ssures inside the ruling coalition, growing resistance at the base of society and widespread debate inside of the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary left.

The ruling coalition is made up of the Social Democrats (PSD), which despite its name is a right wing party, and the Conservatives (CDS). While the implementation of the Troikas austerity measures may have earned Portugal the label of the good pupil of the Eurozone, Portugals decit still stands 1.4 billion away from reaching the Troikas target for 2012.

Since the 78 billion heavy bail-out package in 2011 the government has embarked on what the Economist magazine called a brutal austerity course, equivalent to a scal atomic bomb. Civil servants salaries over 1,500 euros have been slashed by up to 10 percent, those earning over

(6) This article was written in December 2012

33

1,000 euros have had their holiday pay scrapped and more than 600,000 public sector workers (around four out every ve public sector workers) are at risk of losing their jobs.

These attacks on workers contracts and conditions have been part of Portuguese capitals long-term strategy for reducing labour costs, creating high employment and boosting competitiveness inside of the eurozone so as to attract foreign investment. As a consequence almost 50 percent of the Portuguese workforce are on temporary contracts.

The unemployment rate lies above 15 percent and is predicted to rise further next year. Unlike other southern European countries where youth unemployment exceeds 50 percent in Portugal it only amounts to 27 percent as large numbers of young people have been forced to emigrate. More than 10,000 under 25 year olds have migrated in the last four months alone, many of them have moved to countries such as Germany and Britain, while others have headed to Portugals former colonies in Angola, Mozambique and Brazil. Recently prime minister Passos Coelho even told a group of teachers faced with unemployment to emigrate if they couldnt nd jobs. The 3.5 billion cuts to healthcare, social security and education announced in the budget for 2013 will only plunge Portugal deeper into crisis and recession. The hard-line approach led by the Social Democrats has allowed its coalition partner the Conservatives to pose as the more moderate force. While they continue to vote through the austerity measures prescribed by the Troika, the Conservatives verbal distance from Coelho and Gaspars more radical reforms have created tensions inside the government. As unlikely as a break-up of the coalition may seem it did take the intervention of the Portuguese president to lower the temperature inside the coalition faced with a by-election next year. 34

Wrapped in the language that calls for the re-foundation of the Portuguese state, the current austerity policies threaten to uproot the gains made by the revolution in 1974-5, when a coup by a group of left wing military ofcers against the fascist Salazar regime led to a wave of popular and workers power. While other European countries received their rst taste of neoliberalism in the late 1970s and 1980s, Portugal was establishing a welfare state as part of the post-revolution settlement. A deepening recession, the grim prospect of more bail-outs and the potential for EU budgetary targets to be missed all point towards the possibility of further fracture lines developing at the top of Portuguese society over the coming months.

The weekend before the 14 November general strike one such fracture appeared when 10,000 active and retired members of the military in civilian dress marched against austerity through the capital, Lisbon. Some ofcers complained that their salaries have been cut by as much as 25 percent. One banner read The military is unhappy, the people are unhappy. Given the role that radical ofcers played in the 1974-5 Revolution, many people supported the militarys protest. Later on television, one member of the military went on to say, We will do everything so that the indignation of the people will not be suppressed.went on to say, We will do everything so that the indignation of the people will not be suppressed.

Sparks of resistance

On 15 September a demonstration was called by a group of artists, intellectuals and public gures under the banner of Screw the Troika! (Que Se Lixe a Troika!) We want our lives! From small villages in the Azores to 35

the Algarve, to the industrial cities of Lisbon and Porto, more than 600,000 people took to the streets against the governments proposal to increase workers social security contributions by 7 percent (some reports put the turnout on the protests as high as one million, out of a population of just 10.5 million).

The demonstrations were key to forcing the government to backtrack from their initial proposal. Importantly, they sparked a new wave of popular mobilisations culminating in the general strike on 14 November.

The size of the demonstrations on 15 September even surpassed those of 1974. But while the mobilisations in 1974 saw people hugging and kissing each other and overowing with joy, the demonstrations on 15 September were very different, reecting the fear and anger workers feel faced with all social gains made by the revolution disappearing in front of their eyes.

While a small group of activists were able to make a massive impact with their call on 15 September, it also exposed the lack of political organisation on the ground. The scale of the demonstration was a surprise to everyone including seasoned trade union activists and those of the radical left in the Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda). While Left Bloc members did become part of organising the local demonstrations, the still important Communist Party failed to call on its members to join the protests until an hour prior to the start of the rallies.

A few weeks later though the weaknesses of initiatives such as Que Se Lixe a Troika would be exposed when they called for a demonstration against Angela Merkels visit to Lisbon and only a couple of hundred activists turned up. 36

The 14 November general strike was a massive success for the Communistled CGTP trade union federation compared to its strike back in March this year. Despite the Socialist Party inuenced UGT union federation denouncing the strike as sectarian and calling on its members to work, a number of local UGT-afliated branches did decide to walk out. These rifts were further exposed when the Socialist Party mayor of Lisbon came out in support of the strikers demands. While the Socialist Party remains committed to a proausterity position, pressure from the trade union movement has shown the possibility of pulling it leftwards.

The CGTP is strongest in the public sector while the private sector remains largely non-unionised. In Lisbon, I visited a picket line of about 40 to 50 bin workers who were out picketing from about 10pm the evening before the general strike. Only two out of 123 workers attempted to cross the picket lines. Hospital, transport and postal workers ensured that the public sector ground to a halt for the day. Even the airline company TAP had to cancel 48 percent of its ights. Postal workers of the recently privatised CTT company complained about having lost sick pay, Christmas and holiday pay as well as being forced onto temporary contracts.

New initiatives

Despite their small size, political initiatives such as Estudantes pela Greve geral (Students for the General Strike) and Precarios Inexiveis (which campaigns over casualisation and temporary contracts) and rank and le trade union members forced the CGTP to call demonstrations in Porto and Lisbon on the day of the strike, something that hasnt always happened in previous strikes. More than 3,000 strikers marched in Porto, while in Lis37

bon around 7,000 took to the streets. As the demonstration wound its way through the narrow hilly streets of Lisbon people joined in from the houses and apartments chanting Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal - the struggle is international.

Later that evening, after the speeches by CGTP union leaders had ended, protesters pulled down the fences that separated the masses from parliament and started throwing rocks, eggs and other objects towards a line of riot police protecting the building. As night time fell over the capital, the police decided to clear the square outside of parliament and the day ended in a pitched battle between protesters and the state.

Following this incident, CGTP leader Armenio Carlos declared, I wont give any moralistic speeches but I sincerely regret the actions taken tonight. While activists argued that the statement could have been worse, it has drawn new battle lines in a fragile movement with hardly any roots in the unions and a strong Communist Party which could pull the plug on any further action.

The governments decision to raise the wages of the police and the paramilitary gendarmerie by 11 percent following the general strike is aimed at creating a wedge between a demoralised police force imbued with the memory of the revolution and a growing strike and protest movement.

While the Communist Party would like to channel the movement towards next years by-elections, the dockers have instead provided a new focus for resistance. Over the course of the last three months they have paralysed most of south Portugals ports through a work to rule action over a new labour code meant to relax employment regulations. Thousands have partici38

pated in solidarity demonstrations, while hundreds of dockers have turned out for Angela Merkels visit to Lisbon, for example. In turn, the CGTP has been forced to call a demonstration to support the dockers day of action. While the lack of political organisation has contributed to the volatility of the situation it also places limits on the Portuguese movement against the Troika. Creating rank and le networks inside unions and networks of activists in the neighbourhoods, schools and universities will be crucial if the movement is to turn the sparks of resistance into raging bonres.

Unless there is a bigger political challenge from the streets and greater pressure from below, the risk is that the movement will be at the mercy of the actions of the CGTP and Communist Party leaders who view the strike movement as something distinct from the ght for political power. Today, as in 1974, the Communist Party has little interest in creating rank and le networks which could spiral out of its control and create a real challenge to the stability of the system.

Debates in the movement

The demonstrations on 15 September showed that mass mobilisations could derail unpopular austerity measures like the increase in social security contributions - a powerful lesson. The general strike on 14 November will have further strengthened the movement as workers paralysed the whole of the public sector for the rst time.

The volatility and sudden shifts have thrown up many questions among activists. However, there are two interlinked questions which the anti-capitalist

39

and revolutionary left will have to provide clarity over: Could a left government made up of the Left Bloc, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party stop the Troika and austerity? And how do we transform resistance into a project which can change the balance of forces and even transform society?

At the Left Bloc congress in mid-November delegates debated the prospect of breaking the ruling coalition and the establishment of a left government. Many believe that the rapid rise of the radical left coalition Syriza in Greece earlier in June show the possibilities for the left in Portugal. However, the recent history of the two coalitions is very different. Syrizas rapid rise is the product of the near continuous popular mobilisations and repeated general strikes which have marked Greece for more than four years now.

The Left Bloc, however, was electorally decimated in elections in 2011 when it lost half of its 16 members of parliament. Currently the Left Bloc stands at 7.5 percent in the opinion polls. Even with the support of the Communist Party, which advocates a left and patriotic government, the forces for such a project would still only come to roughly 17 percent. While this is impressive, it is far short of a majority. This leads the Left Bloc to look towards the Socialist Party which advocates intelligent austerity and is currently leading in the polls.

Francisco Lou, the Left Blocs leading gure over the last period, has argued that a left government would be government of the social movements that are running through the arteries of the Republic. What would the relationship of such a government to the movements be? While those questions were raised by the left tide that swept Latin America earlier this century, the European parliamentary and extra-parliamentary left are confronted with them ten years on. 40

The two-day debate at the Left Blocs Congress tried to come to terms with this. Some delegates argued that the left government is a necessary step in the transition to socialism and a revolutionary tool that can transform anger at injustice into active mobilisation. However, any government that dares to step out of line would be confronted with the dictates of the European Union as well as the hostility of Portuguese capital.

Rank and le

For the Portuguese workers and anti-austerity movement the most urgent task is to build rank and le networks that can go beyond the one-day setpiece strikes called by the CGTP. Such networks of workers could help people who have to choose whether to pay for their rent or put food on their plates, facilitate solidarity and take action to coincide with the dockers who are waging a heroic battle. They would also need to confront political questions such as the Communist Partys insistence that the ght against the Troika is a national liberation struggle, when it is clearly a class struggle.

As Paolo, a postal worker, argued on the picket line on the day of the general strike, Its fantastic that workers everywhere are striking today. But this struggle should have happened when austerity rst started. The last government started this drive for austerity by slashing public services, our salaries, and raising taxes for the poor. I havent seen anything like this since the revolution back when I was three years old. This is a struggle of workers against the capitalists. We need the same to happen here as in Greece and Spain.

41

From mobilisation to resistance: Portugals struggle against austerity

Catarina Prncipe

Portugal, as one of the countries in the European Union taken hostage by the Troika (the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission), has been subjected to increasingly harsh austerity policies that have led the country into a recession of historic proportions, the result being mass impoverishment. The mandate from the Troika is being compounded by additional cuts being made by the current government in what amounts to the fastest and most brutal neoliberal programme ever introduced in Portugal. The right wing Portuguese administration is using the crisis and the memorandum with the Troika as a pretext to attack labour rights and dismantle the Portuguese welfare state; the demands for further austerity presented by the Portuguese and European ruling classes seem endless.

However, these extreme attacks have not translated into a rising tide of resistance. Moments of mass mobilisation have happened during the last two yearsabove all in the monster demonstrations against austerity on 15 September 2012 and 2 March 2013. But these were unable to transform themselves into generalised resistance capable of shifting the balance of class forces in Portugal. This article seeks to understand this disconnect by proposing that the mass mobilisations happen almost apart from the structures in the country that would be capable of organising a rooted long-term resistance. This gap between the mobilisations and the social structures has

(7) This article was written in late 2012

42

occurred because of the decision by the social movements over the last ve or six years not to organise in the workplace or local communities. Although this choice was the correct one at the time it was made, its limitations are now being revealed. This article aims to summarise and analyse the story of the resistance in Portugal during the last few years, highlighting both our successes and limitations and contributing to the strategic debate in a spirit of solidarity.

They want us precariousWe will be rebellious!

In 2007 a group of activists coming out of the student movement decided to bring the Euro May Day concept to Portugal.1 The trade unions with their bureaucratised and closed structures were slow to respond to the growing number of precarious workers. Precarity was seen as a generational problemolder workers were (supposedly) not affected by it and some saw precarity as the fault of young workers unwilling or uninterested in ghting for their own rights. Within the unions this scapegoating of younger workers could also be found. Moreover, precarity was an unknown term for most Portuguese workers, who lacked a collective denition of their working conditions. Many people viewed the issue through a strictly individual lens, saying: I have a xed-term contract. Im not precarious, or: I have an individual contract through a temporary work agency, but thats particular to my profession; its not a generalised problem.

In this political context the decision to import the Euro May Day as a fresh, young and new way of protesting was the appropriate political choice for several reasons:

43

1) We understood that it was necessary to see precarity as some-

thing affecting all spheres of life. The idea of precarity in life as a common point of departure allowed us to discuss precarity not only as a labour condition but also to discuss how it related to questions of independence, self-determination and life planning, as well as discrimination and racism.

2) Because of the broad framing of the conict and the novelty of a new, creative movement led by young people, we were able to change the public narrative on precarity. It was no longer seen as an individual choice, but rather as the result of political and economic processes. This means that today in Portugal there is a collective understanding of what precarity is and how it concerns everyone, no matter what age.

3) Because we knew that precarity was a coming reality for the entire Portuguese working class, we rejected the notion that it was a generational issue. Thus we did not organise Euro May Day in competition with the traditional trade union demonstrations (as was the case in several other countries), but sought to add struggles to the struggle by pursuing connections and joining and mobilising for the trade unions protests (so, for example, the Euro May Day participants always join the trade unions May Day demonstration). This choice helped to form a new connection between the trade unions and the social movements that, however fragile, is very important for the protests against the Troika today.

In Portugal more workers are unemployed than are unionised, and most precarious workers are not unionised. Portugals largest trade union confederation, the CGTP, was not addressing this issue adequately and thus left a large political vacuum to be lled. Given the low level of struggle and our lack of connections to the trade unions, we chose at that moment to organise outside of the workplace. This was a correct political choiceat the time. 44

The CGTP is a fairly militant trade union confederation and is politically very close to the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), but it has a very closed apparatus and a bureaucratised structure and is very suspicious of any activity that does not come from inside its own organisation. Moreover, many of the young activists who started the anti-precarity movement in Portugal are from or close to Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc, the party of the radical left) or from more autonomist organisations, and thus have little or no inuence inside the unions. In this difcult situation real collaboration between the union leadership and the movement was more or less impossible. Excluded from the traditional structures of organised labour, the movement was forced to adapt by organising precarious workers away from the point of production. It was a necessary and correct decision to make, but a decision prompted by weakness, not strength. It is the conversion of this necessity into a virtue that holds the movement back today.

The Euro May Day parade has been held in Lisbon since 2007 and in Porto since 2009. Two very important organisations emerged out of these demonstrations: the Precrios Inexveis (Inexible Precarious) in Lisbon and Ferve Fartos d Estes Recibos Verdes (We Are Tired of these Green Receipts) in Porto. These two groups managed to keep the question of precarity on the political agenda all year round (the Euro May Day networks are only active in the months leading up to 1 May) and served as important public platforms to criticise precarity, becoming well known in the media and developing their own campaigns. However, the fact that we continually tried to organise outside the workplace left us in a fragile position of being unable to directly address the workers and their daily problems; having no strength, capacity or resources to organise local struggles, let alone a strike. The core of these organisations is composed of some of the most active and dedicated activists, but lacking a social eld in which to intervene, the growth of 45

the organisation is either slow or non-existent. We have no inuence in the workplaces and therefore lack the necessary response that a workers organisation needs to have. Nevertheless, the core of these organisations was always present in the organisation and mobilisations of the most important protests in Portugal over the last two years.

The Desperate Generation

Since 12 March 2011 there were several moments of protest that deserve to be mentioned: the Desperate Generation demonstration (12 March 2011), the Real Democracy Now demo (15 October 2011) and the two Screw the Troika demos (15 September 2012 and 2 March 2013).

In January 2011 a Portuguese folk music group released a song entitled How Silly I Am denouncing widespread precarity and lack of perspective among the youth. The song went viral online and inspired a group of four friends to call for a demonstration on 12 March through Facebook. Almost half a million people took to the streets in many cities across Portugal, joining in one of the biggest demonstration since the Portuguese Revolution of 1974-5.

The focus of the demonstration was the unbearable situation of a generation without a future. But because the manifesto was very broad, neoliberal voices tried to appropriate it. Confronted with this problem, the main organisers decided to request help from anti-precarity, LGBT and other movements, who provided them with advice and support while respecting their political autonomy. The result was that the movement was able to overcome appropriation by the right and attempts to frame the issue as one of a con46

ict between generations, fostering displays of genuine intergenerational solidarity. Ultimately the demonstration consisted of young precarious workers accompanied by their parents and grandparents, who attended out of solidarity but also to express their own opposition to the ruling Socialist Partys (PS) proposed cuts.

Part of the success of this demonstration can be ascribed to the media attention it receivedoccurring in the wake of the Arab Spring and the debates about the role of the new media in organising protests. Something similar happening in Portugal caught the attention of the media and cast a lot of attention on the mobilisation. Moreover, the PS government of Jos Scrates already found itself in a severe crisis of public opinion following the passage of several rounds of austerity. The media opportunistically aided the mobilisation to harm the government, but quickly lost interest after the demonstration.

It would be a mistake, however, to credit the demonstrations success to media attention alone: 12 March also represented a new form of popular mobilisation. Because of its indeterminate character, it attracted a wide variety of people and extended into layers of the population far beyond the normal reach of the unions and left parties, so much so that the unions and the Communist Party initially treated the mobilisation with suspicion, distrustful of a mass movement beyond their control.

It is worth noting that the mood of popular discontent and the popular criticisms of democratic institutions was not reected in the general election results of 5 June 2011. The content of the Troika memorandum (which was signed by the PS, PSD and CDS2 before the elections) was not made public for a long time, so most voters did not understand what its implica47

tions would be at the time of the election. A feeling of inevitability and to some extent a popular belief that the austerity measures were necessary to save the Portuguese economy clearly worked to the detriment of the antimemorandum left: the Blocos share of the vote fell from almost 10 percent in 2009 to 5.2 percent, with an abstention rate of around 40 percent. The PCP was able to maintain its result as it has a very established base of support, but was also not able to win new votes. Why the Bloco faced such a drastic defeat at the polls will be addressed later. Nevertheless, the positive experience of the 12 March mobilisation gave the social movements a needed breath of fresh air for the coming year.

15 October 2011Real Democracy Now!

The movement of the squares also took root in Portugal in 2011. It started as an attempt to imitate the enormous occupations of squares in Spain and Greece but on a much smaller scale. Beginning in mid-May in the heat of the electoral campaign some one hundred activists occupied a central square of Lisbon for two weeks. There were also occupations of squares in Porto, Coimbra and Ponta Delgada. Emulating the politics of the Indignados, the demands went from a singular focus on precarity towards a systemic critique. The occupations of the squares linked up with activists from the 12 March mobilisations and established a network to join the international call for a demonstration against austerity on 15 October 2011.

On 13 October the government presented the plan for the 2012 state budget. It called for, among other things, deep wage cuts and the elimination of holiday bonuses for public sector workers. Over 100,000 demonstra-

48

tors protested against the budget in Lisbon and 15,000 in Porto. In Lisbon the demonstrators surrounded the parliament and conducted an assembly that lasted through the night. Amazingly the assembly decided to call for a general strike, despite many of the participants being completely new to political activism.

Building upon this momentum, Portugals two trade union confederations called for a general strike on 24 November. It should be noted that the Portuguese trade unions had also called a general strike against austerity in November 2010. Different this time was the initiative from the movements for the strike, as opposed to the ritualised one-day actions the unions seem to call every year.

The 15 October protests marked several important political developments in Portugal. The clearest was the qualitative change in the political demands since 12 March. The demonstration of 12 March had been politically indeterminate and mixedthe anti-capitalist left was present, and the social movements (feminist, LGBT, anti-precarity, anti-racist), sections of the political right and even some elements of the far-right tried to insert themselves in the demonstration. By October the focus had become clearer: it was not limited to a critique of precarity and an uncertain future, but was a more focused critique of the government and the austerity policies as whole. Quantitatively the October demonstration was smaller, but qualitatively it was much better.

The October demonstrations also witnessed the introduction of other political elements of the Occupy movement. These included: the questioning of parliamentary democracy and democratic institutions; opposition to the rule of the 1 percent; and a general distrust of established political parties and 49

organisationsa feeling that already existed in Portugal, but not as clear or as loud as now. The terrible electoral results for the left, the 40 percent abstention rate and an ongoing process of institutionalisation of the radical left created a mood and political space for the distrust of political organisations and the trade unions. This is an important fact to understand as it remains one of the major problems continuing to face the radical left today.

The last important aspect is the relation to the CGTP. The process of dialogue between the movements and the unions that began in 2007 has strong limitations. On the one hand, the cooperation between social movements and the union bureaucracy, however limited, is a welcome sign. It shows that movement activists do not oppose traditional workers organisations. At the same time, however, the reach of the movement remains very limited. The movements lack any sort of rank and le organisations that could serve as conduits into the wider working class and remain utterly dependent on the bureaucratic leaderships.

Screw the Troikawe want our lives

Following the October demonstrations there were no mass protests for almost a year. Portugal saw a general strike on 22 March and some sectional struggles, but in mainstream news media and politics Portugal was portrayed as the well behaved student of the European south. The people of Portugal understood the need for austerity; they agreed they had lived beyond their means and therefore had to make the appropriate sacrices. The Portuguese people and government were portrayed as embracing the Troika as a good friend.

50

This portrayal is not completely untrue: the notion that austerity was inevitable was very powerful in the minds of the people. Many thought there was no other way out and initially hoped to weather the coming period through individual solutions. It was also difcult to respond politically, as some of the governments proposed measures were delayed until 2013, thus mitigating the effects on the population. Portugal seemed to be acquiescing to the demands of the Troika and was held up as a good example in contrast to Greece, whose left was already beginning to transform that countrys politics at the time.

Faced with this lull in activity, organisers from the anti-precarity movement together with otherssome of them public gurescalled for a demonstration on 15 September 2012. The timing corresponded to the restart of the political year when the state budget for 2013 would start to be discussed. Simultaneously, these activists knew the beginning of the school year would bring with it discontent, since thousands of teachers were not going to have a job due to government cuts in education. The demonstration was mainly called through Facebook and once again the media gave it signicant coverage.

On 7 September prime minister Pedro Passos Coelho and nance minister Vitor Gaspar announced the austerity measures contained in the 2013 state budget. Alongside further cuts to wages and pensions and the elimination of holiday bonuses, the budget also foresaw a dramatic increase in social security taxes. In practical terms it would mean the transfer of one months salary a year from the workers to the bosses, a further drop in internal consumption and the penalisation of the poorest members of society.

These measures prompted a wave of resistance in society. After the an51

nouncement of the new measures the call for a demonstration grew massively on Facebook and in the media. The informal network of people that called for the demonstration also established contact with the trade unions, from whom they got no answer. It is important to say that although the trade union bureaucracy decided not to actively be part of the organisation of the demo (though the general secretary stated on 14 September that he would individually join the demonstration), the rank and le activists and members joined the demonstration in a massive way.

Screw the TroikaWe want our lives was the motto for the demonstration that took place on 15 September in Portugal. Roughly 1 million people took the streets of 40 cities around Portugal (in addition to solidarity demonstrations across Brazil and Europe). At the end of the demonstration the organisers called for a popular general strike and decided to establish contact with the trade unions in order to make this demand possible.

The reactions to the announcements regarding the social security tax were deeply negative. No one publicly supported this measure, not even members of the Troika committee. At the same time the Portuguese constitutional court declared the measure unconstitutional in the public sector. The government decided to retreat on both proposals and said that they would announce new measures soon.

Meanwhile, the CGTP decided to call for a demonstration on 29 September. This demonstration mobilised more than 200,000 people in Lisbon. The leader of the CGTP, Armnio Carlos, announced during his speech that the unions would meet the widespread demand for a general strike, though without setting a specic date.

52

On 3 October the nance minister announced new measures while speaking on television. Having been forced to retreat on the two main measures the changes to the social security tax and the elimination of holiday bonusesthe government instead presented the biggest single income tax hike in Portuguese history, amounting to an increase of 35 percent. Essentially the government sought to compensate for the cuts they could not enact with tax increases.

After this brutal attack the CGTP called for a general strike for 14 November and its Spanish counterparts announced their intention to participate and suggested an Iberian general strike. The European Confederation of Trade Unions met on 16 October to discuss the possibility of widening the wave of general strikes throughout Europe. These discussions resulted in the rst multi-state general strike in European history.

The general strike of 14 November had a strong impact in Portugal, not only because participation was extremely high, but also because it gave an international perspective to the struggle and was the rst step to developing protests against austerity on a European scale. One of the most interesting things in this process is that the impetus for a strike emerged from the mobilisations that preceded it and were organised by groups outside of the trade unions. At the same time, it clearly shows the weakness of these movementsalthough there were one million people on the streets, the organisers have no inuence in the decisions of the trade unions and had to wait for the leadership of the CGTP to support the strike to make it possible.

53

The weaknesses of the resistance

These three moments of mass mobilisation in Portugal have clear similarities: the three of them came from rootless organisations, they showed that the potential level of participation is much bigger than the number of people who are already organised, they happened as a momentary reaction to a concrete political proposal from the government and they all received aboveaverage media coverage. The incredibly positive response to the movements critique of austerity underlines what possibilities lie on the horizon for Portugals radical left. So what is the problem? Why are we not seeing any big mobilisations now? Why has the working class not been able to exert pressure on the government through sectional struggles or sympathy strikes? Why has the impact of austerity not generated a mood of resistance? These are the most important questions for the Portuguese resistance right now.

As previously stated, when we started the anti-precarity mobilisations in 2007 we made a correct political choice that allowed the creation of a collective identity and an important pole of political attraction in Portuguese society. However, the choice to organise outside of the workplace was made out of weakness: we had no capacity politically to inuence the trade unions and no networks inside the union structures. Besides, the trade union bureaucracy has little interest in creating grassroots networks of rank and le activists that could potentially slip out of their control and challenge the stability of the system. The Portuguese CP views the ght against the Troika as a struggle of national liberation and proposes a patriotic left government. It sees the political and economic struggles as occurring in different, separate spheres. In such a context this rootless social movementof workers but not rooted in the workplaceis at the mercy of the leadership of the 54

CGTP. The potential pitfalls of this situation were demonstrated both on the 15 October 2011 and on 15 September 2012 when, although they were the biggest demonstrations in Portugal since 1974, their organisers had to wait for the leadership of the CGTP to put the general strike in motion and had very little power to actually inuence this process. This is part of the reason why the general strikes in Portugal have been organised following the calendar and never as a confrontational struggle in a specic political moment to challenge the governments agenda.

It is also helpful that the anti-precarity networks have been able to create a vibrant political space in Portugalunfortunately this space is more virtual than concrete. These groups work very efciently with new media: they have established a series of blogs and websites used by precarious workers to share experiences and discuss politics and have also built up good relations to the traditional media, allowing them to highlight demands and campaigns in the mainstream news. But the core group of organisers is small and has grown very little through the years, precisely because of their rootlessness.

The political situation in Portugal is unstable and liable to change rapidly. Rootless networks such as our own are not always capable of giving fast answersthis was clearly the case when Angela Merkel visited Portugal on 12 November: one month after a demonstration of over 1 million people and two days before a European general strike only around 100 people showed up to the demonstration.

Since 2007 the anti-precarity activists have been at the heart of the resistance. The group of activists from Precrios Inexveis has not dissolved into the broader movement but persists as an independent organisation and initiates its own projects, one being a national petition in support of a law 55

against austerity. This demanded a lot of the movements resources, as such a petition requires the signatures of 35,000 people to be valid and cannot be conducted over the internetthis is only the second time in Portuguese history that such a signature drive has been undertaken. The group also became a legal association, allowing membership and offering an organisational response to the isolation and atomisation of precarious employment. However, the core of the organisation is still very small and has not grown. The movement has punched above its own weight on multiple occasions, giving many of us the illusion that we are stronger than we actually are. This is a problem as it means we neglect building rooted sustainable networks of resistance in the workplaces and communities, but rather focus on large one-off demonstrations that are not followed up with further struggle.

Precarity and traditional forms of workers organisation

Precarity pushes workers into a life of constant instability and to an uncertain future. The precarious condition, starting in the degradation of the labour relations, affects all dimensions of life. It is also important to explain what we in Portugal understand as precarity. Precarity is not only temporary work: it is the so-called false green receipt3 used massively by the Portuguese state that denies a labour contract to hundreds of thousands of people; it is the subcontracting companies which retain around half of the workers wage; it is the reality of informal work. Half of the Portuguese active population uctuates between different forms of precarity, underemployment and unemployment.4 Above all, precarity makes collective organisation more difcult through the individualisation of the work relation and the blackmail of unemployment. Precarity is growing in all professional sectors and it is

56

intergenerational; its a labour and social recomposition of huge dimensions based on super-exploitation and the permanent blackmail of unemployment.

For these reasons, we dont understand precarity as an emerging class in opposition to the working class, but as the rapid destruction of the labour relations gained by the workers mobilisations of the 20th century: the eighthour workday, the right to leisure, the freedom of association and expression, the right to protection in sickness and unemployment, the right to paid holidays, the right to contracts with rights and guarantees, the right to collective bargaining and contracting, the construction of the welfare state that grants access to health and education to us all. In this sense, precarity is about all of us and the working class is, in fact, the class most affected by precarious conditions.

This political understandingthat it is important to unify those affected by precarity in articulation with the traditional forms of the organisation of the working class to strengthen and amplify class strugglewas what made our articulation with the trade unions possible.

The trade unions are still today the most representative associations of workers. However, there is an urgent need for a change inside the trade unions and their structures. The fact that in Portugal workers can only become unionised by their work sector (in the sectoral trade unions) leads to the difculty of organising those who live in precarious conditions changing sectors frequently. Also it is not possible for someone who is unemployed to become unionised. Informal work relations also do not allow workers to organise, and this is also the experience of many migrants. Moreover, closed and bureaucratised structures add many limitations to the struggling possibilities of rank and le members. But to force an antagonism between those 57

who are detached from the experience of organisation and the workers organisations is a path that will lead nowhere and that weakens the whole of the working class. Therefore precarity challenges the trade unions to transform their structures and their activity into a more combative, more open to dialogue and more articulated struggle which has to include the strength of the precarious, the underemployed and the unemployed workers

The Bloco and the movements

It is also relevant to discuss the role of the Bloco. It was formed in 1999 by three small radical parties and a wide layer of independent activists. It aimed to be an oppositional party and to occupy the political space to the left of both the Stalinist CP and the social liberal Socialist Party. The Bloco sought to bridge the gap between the emerging anti-capitalist milieux and the social base of the Socialist Party (people who have been in the Socialist Party for many years but are unhappy with its neoliberal turn). The Blocos relation to the social movements was to be one of mutual respect and collaboration. The activists from the Bloco would participate in and build social movements in a comradely fashion, respecting and debating with other political currents and building the movement for the movements sake.

From 1999 to 2009 the partys electoral fortunes went up and up, peaking in 2009 with a result of around 10 percent. However, in the snap elections of June 2011 the result dropped to 5 percent. This prompted an intense strategic debate within the party, where it was clear to most militants that Bloco was sending contradictory messages to its supporters. On the one hand, there was an attempt to be a respectable party and try to win over the disaffected supporters of the Socialist Party, which was in power until 58

2011. On the other hand, it was important to maintain Blocos image as a different kind of party and try to still be seen as an alternative to the existing political system. This led to the party being seen as too radical by some and not radical enough by others, throwing the party back to the results of 2005. Out of this debate emerged the partys current line: a call for a government of the left based on four points of unity:

1) Annulment of the abusive debt: reduction of the debt to 60 percent of GDP, renegotiation of deadlines and interest with all the lender institutions, public and private, national and international.

2) Reversal of all wage cuts and guarantee of essential social goods: public education, public health system, public social security system.

3) Nationalisation of all the banks receiving bailout money from the state, redirecting of investment for the public good and reversal of the nationalisations of formerly public economic sectors (energy, telecommunications, etc).

4) Strengthening of nancial regulations, ghting of scal fraud and a shift of the burden of taxation from labour to capital.

These four points are to serve as the basis for a possible left government, which is to be formed by any and all political forces who agree to the four points. Given that the Bloco received only 5 percent of the votes in 2011, the call for a left government (which can include the CP and the Socialist Party if the latter is willing to renegotiate the memorandum of the Troika) cannot be seen as the result of any electoral calculus but is rather an attempt to open new political avenues in Portugal entirely. However, this 59

proposal has short-term (let alone middle and long-term) limitations. The CP is extremely sectarian and unwilling to support a project it cannot control (and has always approached the Bloco with suspicion at best); the PS is not in power (as opposed to Pasok when Syriza called for a left government in Greece) and would not accept the four proposed points anyway, since it also signed the memorandum and is itself in the middle of a small rhetorical shift to the left. The PS leadership is talking left in an attempt to marginalise the Bloco why should it join a government of the left?

These political calculations aside, the greatest limitation lies in the lack of sustained grassroots resistance in Portugal. If the call for a left government rests upon the assumption that there has to be a seismic shift on the Portuguese political map spurred on by growing mobilisation and resistance, that resistance has to come before any potential government could even have a social base. The Portuguese left has had extremely important moments of mobilisation but they have not yet turned into organised resistance. To ght against this weakness by proposing an institutional/parliamentary solution is to put the cart in front of the horsebefore we can talk about a political sea change, we need to be laying the groundwork.

In 2012 a survey was published about the quality of democracy in Portugal.5 The results are very interesting and provide some clues to how we can formulate our strategy: 78 percent of the respondents agreed that politicians are only concerned with their own interests, and 77 percent said that major political decisions favour large corporations. There is also a clear distrust of political parties, and social movements are considered to be more able to voice the peoples concerns. Public trust in democratic institutions is continually decreasing, aided by the perception that the Portuguese government is essentially held captive by international institutions. In this situation, a 60

purely or even primarily institutional answer is an even more problematic and limited one. Elections and parliamentary manoeuvring do not fundamentally transform societywhat changes peoples relationship to politics is activism, collective experience and organisation.

The Bloco needs to use the immense capacity of its activists to build local branches capable of organising broad campaigns to defend local institutions and public goods. Especially as local elections approach, this could prove phenomenally successful. At the same time the Bloco needs to be more present in the movements and strengthen solidarity networks to, for example, prevent evictions or organise collective kitchens. This would not be with the aim of replacing the obligations of the state but to be able to in practice communicate that collective problems (like unemployment, poverty, hunger, the lack of housing) cannot be dealt with individually. It is also important that the activists from the Bloco are able to contribute to addressing the political challenges of the movement by broadening the understanding that this is not a temporary problem but a systemic crisis. The party must articulate the possibility and necessity of alternatives to capitalism and help people believe that they are possible if we build them together.

From mobilisation to resistance a few conclusions

The biggest challenge for the Portuguese left is to turn the spontaneous and uneven moments of mobilisation into organised resistance. It is necessary to rethink our relationship to the traditional workers organisations, how to negotiate the new reality of precarious employment and how to challenge the political line of the trade unions to see past the articial division of political

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and economic struggle. We need to grow roots and bring new experiences to the workers and the social movements: re-energising the rank and le, organising the unemployed and building networks of solidarity with sectional struggles. Ultimately it comes down to growing roots and being able to turn a feeling of generalised discontent into organised action and collective experiences.

The group of activists that organised the demonstration on 15 September broadened the organisation and prepared a new demonstration for 2 March 2013. According to the organisers, there were 1.5 million people on the streets of Portugal, making it one of the biggest demonstrations in Portuguese history. There are two differences in the success of this demonstration: the media attention wasnt as great as during the lead up to 15 September, and the government hadnt presented any new austerity measures in the preceding days2 March 2013 therefore marked a clear qualitative growth in the capacity of mobilisation of the social movement in Portugal. It is also important to note that the leader of the CGTP publicly supported and called for the demonstrations, a change in Portuguese political dynamics. Moreover, the anthem of the revolution of 1974-75, Grndola, Vila Morena, was the demonstrations main slogan: the memory of the revolution is becoming more and more tangible, allowing the recovery of a more radical political standpoint as well as the opening up of a wider eld of possible alternatives. This demonstration is a new lease of life for the resistance in Portugal. However, from this experience new forms of organisation and mobilisation have to come forward in order to transform periodic mobilisation into new forms of active resistance.

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Notes

1: They want us precarious-We will be rebellious! is one of the most important and well known slogans of the anti-precarity movement. 2: Social Democratic Party (PSD): the right wing party now in power; Christian Democratic Party (CDS): the conservative party now in power in coalition with the PSD. 3: The false green receipts are a form of independent contract used illegally by many employers and the state to avoid permanent employment and paying for social security, illness, holiday and unemployment funds. 4: Numbers given by the association Precrios Inexveis with data from the National Institute of Statistics. It can be found at: www.precariosinexiveis. org/?p=4241 5: Pinto, Magalhes, Sousa and Gorbunova, 2012.

Reference

Pinto, Antnio Costa, Pedro Magalhes, Lus de Sousa and Ekaterina Gorbunova, 2012, A Qualidade da Democracia em Portugal: A perspectiva dos Cidados (ICS-UL), www.bqd.ics.ul.pt

63

I Prefer the Horses in My Lasagne to the Donkeys in the Government 8

Mark Bergfeld

Last Saturdays Que Se Lixe a Troika (Fuck the Troika) demonstrations represent a qualitative as well as quantitative shift for the anti-austerity movement in Portugal. In more than 40 towns and cities across Portugal, 1.5 million people (800,000 in Lisbon) took it to the streets against the governments slavish submission to the dictates of the Troika of IMF, ECB, and EU. In the wake of the rst Que Se Lixe a Troika demonstration on September 15, an ongoing militant dockers strike, and a general strike on November 14 of last year, Saturdays demonstration is starting to tackle the unnished business of the 1974 Portuguese Revolution.

Portugals rulers are trembling. In the run-up to the demonstration on Saturday, the Lisbon City Council removed all loose cobblestones along the demonstration route in the city centre. This comes after protests have been steadily radicalizing in the course of a few months. Clashes between police and protesters in front of parliament, revolutionary murals going up in city centres, protesters piling up rubbish in front of banks, and government ministers being insulted by the public are commonplace in Portugal 2013.

Students at the ISCTE University in Lisbon hit the headlines in recent weeks when they heckled Deputy Prime Minister Miguel Relvas in front of rolling television cameras and forced Relvas to ee the building while students sang the revolutionary anthem Grndola, Vila Morena. The action reso-

(8) This article was written in March 2013 following the demonstration on 2 March 2013

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nated with millions of people glued to their TV screens as Relvas has been under attack for obtaining his university degree from a private university in a matter of a year.

Once labeled the good pupil of the Eurozone, Portugal is quickly turning into a Greek-style laboratory of austerity and neoliberalism. Unemployment now stands at 17.5% with one and a half million people out of work. According to Eurostat gures about 24% of the Portuguese population live below the poverty threshold. The economy is estimated to contract by two points this year. While this manifests itself in a sharp drop in domestic consumption the continued instability of the Eurozone adds fuel to the ames. Cuts to healthcare and the welfare state as well as diminishing purchasing power is making life unbearable for millions of Portuguese people.

This week European Finance Ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss the re-negotiation of the terms of the 2011 bailout. Portugals debt is expected to reach 120% of GDP this year and the country currently pays 3.6% interest on troika loans. It has committed itself to selling off ve million euros worth of state assets. Most recently, Portugals sewage and drinking water has been privatized. In December, the government sold its shares of the protable airport provider ANA to the French company VINCI for a bargain price, making sure that the European Unions in-built mechanism of redistribution from South to North is maintained.

However, in an ironic twist of events, companies from Portugals ex-colonies have seized the opportunity of revenge. Angolas Banco BIC is buying Portugals nationalized, scandal-ridden Banco Portugus de Negcios (BPN) for a fraction of its 180 million asking price. An Angolan company has already bought Portugals biggest furniture maker, and Portuguese construc65

tion companies such as Teixeira Duarte, Soares da Costa, and Mota-Engil have been switching from their domestic market to Angola. On the other side of the Atlantic, Brazilian businessmen are still eyeing up the Portuguese airline TAP after a failed deal in early December. And a Brazilian cement maker and a Brazilian steelmaker have clashed over control of Cimentos de Portugal.

It is no surprise that the governing coalition has hit rock bottom in the opinion polls and that the crisis of hegemony has been sharpening in recent weeks and months culminating in Saturdays protests. Twitter, Facebook, and the blogs indicated weeks ago that Saturdays demonstration would be a massive display of peoples power. The events on Saturday conrmed this and established Que Se Lixe a Troika as a movement and a new political actor in Portugals austerity debate.

Saturdays demonstration succeeded in uniting three strands of the resistance: The indignant with their homemade placards have been one of the most exciting features of the last six months of struggle. With humorous and biting slogans such as I prefer the horses in my lasagne to the donkeys in the government, they have captured the rage of a people failed by capitalism. The students of Estudantes pela Greve Geral, the precarious workers of Precrios Inexveis, and the situationist-like direct action group Exrcito de Dumbledore, who have been coordinating and building networks since the mid-2000s, are successfully mobilizing people beyond their classrooms, reading groups, squats, and social centers into a movement which has the power to turn the tide on neoliberalism.

The trade unionists of the main trade union confederation CGTP have been spurred into action by this political movement as well as its own successive 66

general strikes, days of actions, and local disputes. This week TAP employees will be protesting the governments attacks on the industry by holding a giant replica one-way ticket to Toronto for Economics Minister lvaro Santos Pereira. On March 21-23 workers will strike for 48 hours.

The movements reference point is the 1974 revolution. The choreographed singing of the revolutionary hymn Grndola, Vila Morena and protesters use of the carnation show that this movement isnt about cosmetic changes to government policy expected after September 15 when protesters successfully forced the government to back down from its proposal to increase social security contributions from workers and decrease those of bosses.

Instead, the new movement is aiming to get the old unnished business of the revolution done. Inasmuch as Zecas revolutionary song acts as the link between different and disparate struggles against austerity, it also extends the collective memory of the revolution to a new generation of activists who dont have the same political structures, parties, and institutions of workers power as during the height of the revolution.

The votes of censure against the government at the end of the demonstrations on Saturday, though, showed that the movement can start to create the kind of organizations that the struggle so desperately needs. Town after town, city after city voted to censure the government in mass assemblies. Echoing the spirit of Tahrir Square, Puerta del Sol, Syntagma, and the Wisconsin Senate occupation, the protesters sent a clear signal of deance to the government. Now, activists should learn from the peoples deance and hold such votes of censure in workplaces, universities, and neighborhoods. This could create the kind of movement that could once again replace horsemeat with beef and kick the donkeys out of government. 67

Part III: Regime Crisis

Police Batons for Protesters and Rubber Bullets for the Kids of Bela Vista 9
Mark Bergfeld

Ruben Marques, 18, died at the hands of the police in the barrio of Bela Vista, Setbal, Portugal, on Saturday, March 16. His crime: he crossed a red trafc light with his moped.

The media blame the victim for not wearing a helmet, the Communist Party mayor blames the victim for stealing the motorbike, and the police turn the victim into the culprit.

Ruben is one of many casualties of police brutality in marginalized workingclass communities under siege. Just recently, the police ofcer who shot the 14-year-old Kuku at point-blank range was acquitted by the courts. Tonys mural has remained colorful since 2002.

As news of Rubens death reaches more and more shacks and apartments of immigrants from Portugals former colonies, travelers, and the unemployed, the police station gets surrounded by people in protest. Young men and women start torching bins, vandalizing cars, and hurling rocks and glass.

All odds are stacked against a neighborhood synonymous with drugs, crime, and violence as protesters confront the militarized unit of the Public Security Police (Polcia de Segurana Pblica, PSP) into the early hours of the morning.

(9) This article was written in March 2013 following the demonstration on 2 March 2013

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With more than 50 percent of Bela Vistas population living below the poverty line, the barrio has become a powder keg in crisis-ridden Portugal. A huge PSP mobilization was able to contain the situation that night, but the conduct of the police has continued to fuel the ames of discontent, exemplifying how a fractious PSD-CDS government is tearing up the post-revolutionary settlement and resorting to state terror not seen since the days of Salazars dictatorship.

Tearing up the Post-revolutionary Settlement

Once known as one of the most effective secret services in history, Dictator Salazars secret police force, PIDE, was so despised by the working class that during the course of the 1974-75 Revolution workers and rank-and-le soldiers of the MFA chased undercover agents into neighboring Spain or underground. This cleansing process -- saneamento -- as well as the memory of PIDEs abuses in supporting the regime delayed the establishment of a new civilian intelligence agency for more than a decade.

While other European countries received their rst taste of neoliberalism in the late 1970s and 1980s, Portugal was establishing a welfare state as part of the post-revolutionary settlement. The compromise between capital and labor meant that police training was civic and inspired by the value of loyalty to the Republic. (The containment of the revolution, though, also meant that only one former PIDE agent faced prosecution for crimes under the Salazar dictatorship.)

Movements such as the militant student demonstrations which had an

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impact in bringing down the Cavaco government in 1992 saw the rst big post-revolution clashes between protesters and the police. But, even then, the police would hold students in custody and release them once the demonstrations nished. Police tactics were based on not only intimidation but also the fact that the vast majority of the population consented to the rule of successive Socialist and Social-Democratic governments.

Since then, police ofcers have been re-educated in a militarized fashion. Wrapped in the language that calls for the re-foundation of the Portuguese state, policing has qualitatively changed in order to push through austerity measures and reverse the gains of the revolution.

14N: No Turning Back

The general strike on November 14 called by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP) is seen to be a turning point in policing austerity. As protesters sang the Internationale and Grndola, Vila Morena, a dozen heavily-armed riot police protected parliament from the wrath of thousands of people. In a Greek-style confrontation, they crushed the demonstration. People were forced to hide in side streets, cafs, bars, and shops. That night, more than twenty people were arrested and kept in solitary connement for more than ve hours without being able to see their lawyers. While in the end no charge was brought against the protesters, they found their names printed in the following days papers.

Rodrigo Riveira, a Bloco Esquerda activist, told me: That night one woman was arrested a kilometer away from where the protest had ended. She was

71

there to meet her partner and suddenly found herself being charged with violent disorder. She hadnt even been on the demonstration. In mid-March the charges of violent disorder against her were nally dropped. Currently, a civil case against the police is being prepared.

While the media blamed anarchists from Italy and Britain for creating havoc, the daily newspaper Pblico discovered that more than 20 undercover police ofcers operated inside the demonstration. Further investigations showed that one of them threw rocks at the line of riot police and that 5-10 of them were in the front row of the demonstration, inciting other protesters. When the police steamrolled the demonstration, the undercover police ofcers simply jumped through the police lines.

Splits in the Security Apparatus

No one could have foreseen the consequences of this policing operation. The following day Prime Minister Passos Coelho and the Chief of the Police were openly clashing over tactical maneuvers of the day. Beneath their public clash lay its hidden roots -- a security apparatus on the verge of crisis.

On November 6, more than 5,000 local police ofcers marched against the governments plans to stop early retirement and to end free public transport and healthcare for police ofcers. Only a few days later on November 10, 10,000 active and retired members of the military in civilian dress marched against austerity through Lisbon. Some ofcers complained that their salaries have been cut by as much as 25 percent. One banner read: The military is unhappy, the people are unhappy. Given the role that radical ofcers played in the 1974-5 Revolution, many people supported the militarys pro72

test. Later on television, one member of the military went on to say, We will do everything so that the indignation of the people will not be suppressed.

Whenever ministers speak in public, protesters confront them and chase them off. Whenever police ofcers protect these ministers, they are called fascists. Tectonic plates are shifting inside Portuguese society. Consent to hegemony amongst the popular masses is crumbling. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the riot police received an 11-percent pay rise while Portugals city police, the PSP, received 13.2 percent more. The militarized GNR (Guarda Nacional Republicana, National Republican Guard) police got an extra 9.9 percent. In total, the budget for the Ministry of the Interior has increased by about 12.3 percent to 2.14 billion for 2013.

The latest announcement of further austerity measures will only translate into more policing under the banner of the rule of law. Ruben Marquess death, the policing operation against the November 14 general strike, and the splits inside the security apparatus show how the re-foundation of the Portuguese state will increasingly replace consent by coercion, eradicating any hint of democracy. As the Troikas policies fail, Prime Minister Passos Coelhos motto might well become: police batons for protesters and rubber bullets for the kids of Bela Vista!

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This is a Regime Crisis! 10

Interview with Francisco Lou

Last year Germanys Finance Minister Wolfgang Schuble labeled Portugal the good pupil of the Eurozone. Now Portugal faces a difcult economic outlook. Unemployment, for example, has hit 18 percent. The PSD-CDS coalition government is demanding more time to implement its austerity measures. What are the underlying reasons for Portugals downward trend?

The recession was caused by austerity and the transfer of resources for the payments. As a consequence unemployment has reached unprecedented levels. Declining wages and pensions have created a downward spiral in the economy. This is anything but acting like a good pupil. It certainly is the price you pay for accepting Merkel and Schubles rule.

The economic crisis has created fractures in the regime. At the beginning of April, Portugals Constitutional Court out ruled down four of nine contested austerity measures. A senior member of Portugals cabinet, Miguel Relvas resigned. Whats happening at the top of Portuguese society?

There is a crisis in the coalition government. The two right-wing parties in power have difculties imposing the Troikas solutions -- increase unemployment, cut public services, raise taxes, reduce social security and

(10) This interview was conducted by Mark Bergfeld and took place in May 2013

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welfare. The Constitutional Courts decision to challenge these policies proves that it is more than a political crisis: this is the beginning of a regime crisis. In Greece and Italy, such a regime crisis is obvious. Eventually the same will happen to Spain. It is the direct consequence of the democratic decit, the austerity measures, and their bankrupt policies.

Across Europe we have witnessed three strands of resistance to the Troika: mass strikes by workers, youth revolts like the indignad@s, and electoral revolts such as SYRIZA in Greece, Front de Gauche in France, or the CUP in Catalonia. In Portugal we have witnessed the former two but havent seen an upsurge in support for the Bloco or the Communist Party for that matter. Why hasnt the Portuguese left been able to take advantage of a favorable situation?

The opinion polls indicate growing support for the left anti-Troika parties. Today they represent more than 20 percent. In order to elect a left government -- one which is anti-memorandum and calls for the end of the Troikas rule -much more would be required. A left government would have to restructure and partially cancel the debt to regain the capacity for investment and employment. The million-strong demonstration on March 2 showed the readiness of a large section of the Portuguese people to ght for their wages and pensions as part of their democratic responsibility.

At the Blocos congress in November 2012 delegates voted overwhelmingly to adopt the slogan for a government of the left. You outlined some of the premises for a left government in your opening speech. However, a left government would only be possible with the participation of the Socialist Party who isnt explicitly against all austerity measures. What does the slogan mean and 75

what can it achieve?

It is not a slogan. It is a proposal to all those men and women ghting for a viable left-wing alternative. In that sense, it is not a compromise with the Socialist Party. As long as they support or accept the memorandum and the IMFs blackmail, this party is absolutely unable to provide a solution. To accept the Troika simply means to pursue the policy of unemployment. A left government is dened by its popular mandate to break with the Troika -- just as SYRIZA has proposed in Greece. We do not abdicate responsibility or hesitate in the ght for a strong short-term solution. We advocate a rupture with the impositions of nance capital, Merkel and her associates. This policy represents the popular demand for a left government against the Troika.

With the current balance of forces do you believe that a left government in Greece or Portugal could beat the Troika?

It is the only way. Of course, such a government would come under threat. It must be ready to look for allies in Europe and elsewhere since the EU and ECB are devoted to austerity and serve the interests of the nance capital. Its victory depends on popular support, its coherence and capacity for initiative.

The total of Portuguese state debt amounts to 209 billion, equivalent to 126.3% of the Gross Domestic Product. During the alterglobalization movement activists demanded the cancellation of Third World Debt. Today there are similar discussions about debt re-negotiation, debt cancellations, and debt jubilees amongst the left in Europe. How should the European left respond?

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Exactly in the same way. An economy with a decit of 3 percent cannot pay an interest rate of 4 percent. If debt creates debt, cancellation is the only possible solution.

We have witnessed a number of strikes by TAP workers, in the public sector, and a number of general strikes called by the CGTP trade union confederation. On the other hand, we have seen outbursts of popular anger in the streets on the Que Se Lixe a Troika demonstrations. How do these two strands of resistance relate to one another? Are there common initiatives?

The strike movement is weak. The popular movement by young people and the social movement has mobilized for very large demonstrations on two occasions: September 15 and March 2. Both times more than a million people marched in a country with a population of ten million. This is a huge success! It demonstrates to what extent an open and united political platform can transform the situation.

In 1974 a coup by left-wing military ofcers of the MFA overthrew the Salazar dictatorship and ignited the revolutionary upheaval of the Portuguese workers. What role does the memory of the Revolution of Carnations play in the current round of mobilizations against austerity?

The Revolution of Carnations was the last revolution in 20th century Europe. It ignited the movements to replace the dictatorships in Greece and Spain. It is deeply engrained in the memory of older generations. Young people today chant Grndola, Vila Morena, the wonderful and meaningful song used as the radio signal for the military operation in April 1974. One 77

generation later people have re-appropriated the symbols of the revolution. But new modes of politics require different visual representations. We need to provide solutions through the proposal for a left government rather than rest on what happened some decades ago.

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Theaterpolitik in Portugal 11
Joo Camargo

At the brink of collapse

Even soap opera writers couldnt have come up with this: a Finance Minister resigns because he could not implement his blind and destructive policies, a Minister accused of lying in parliament takes his place, and the resignation of the leader of the minority coalition partner, the CDS-PP, follows. Then the Prime Minister turns around, refuses to accept the resignation and forces the Minister who had irrevocably resigned to come back. Democracy was yesterday. Politics is absent. Rational argument and behavior are nowhere to be found.

When Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar resigned last Monday, he openly admitted that he already had wanted to resign after the biggest demonstrations since 1974 Revolution in September 2012 and March of this year. He took responsibility for the recurring mistakes in the economic predictions. He went on to state that he lacked the political [will] strength to further implement the austerity measures prescribed by the Troika of ECB, EU and IMF. The austerity measures have been destroying Portugal and its people. Ofcial unemployment lies at 17.6 per cent. In reality one and a half million people are unemployed, roughly 25 per cent. Public debt will stand at 138% at the end of 2013.

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Gaspar reasoned that his departure would strengthen the government the opposite came true. His friend, Prime Minister Passos Coelho, tried to calm the situation. But he failed miserably when he nominated State Treasurer Maria Luis Albuquerque to take his place. Albuquerque is no angel. For the last few months, she has been engulfed in a controversy over toxic nancial swap operations during her time as the Financial Director of the state company REFER. She has been responsible for regulating this sector where she had major responsibilities and she oversaw the purchase of billions of Euros worth of toxic assets.

Out of nowhere Paulo Portas, the head of the minority coalition partner CDS-PP, dropped the atomic bomb by resigning as well. Without informing his own partys leadership one week ahead of their congress he stated: staying in government would constitute a cover-up. To make matters worse, he defended his decision by pointing to the choice of Albuquerque as the new Finance Minister. Portas was only saving his own skin as he was supposed to present a new round of cuts worth 4.7bn Euros. This package of cuts has been delayed since February. Even Ministers in the Cabinet acknowledge that its postponement is due to the social struggles.

The recent teachers strike during national examinations successfully halted the governments measures in education. The latest and fourth general strike against this government was supported by both union federations the CGTP and UGT. It was one of the strongest days of action since the conservative CDS-PSD coalition took ofce. The popular support for the strike was overwhelming. Ironically, even the employers association argued that there were plenty of reasons for a shutdown.

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The markets have taught a lesson to the Portuguese

On July 2, it appeared that the Portuguese coalition government had nally died. The resignation of Gaspar and Portas would be the nal blow after the resignation of Miguel Relvas (Second in command for the prime minister and Political Strategist of the PSD) earlier in April.

The stock markets plummeted and public outrage grew. Messages from European leaders emphasized the need to continue with the so-called reforms. President of the European Commission Manuel Barroso stated that there were signs of economic recovery in Portugal and that the government ought to remain in power. Where was this recovery?

When Prime Minister Coelho addressed the country in a public broadcast, he had to clarify that he would not resign and furthermore wouldnt accept Portass resignation. The streets lled with jubilation at the demise of the government. The President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva, supported a resolution to continue the coalition and demanded that Coelho and Portas remain leaders in government.

The following day the stock market crashed in its biggest drop since 1998. Interest rates on government bonds rose from 3 to 8 per cent. The alarm bells were ringing. The media and the popular classes called for the resignation of the entire government and new elections. Portugals capitalists stood rm: No elections, no resignation. They followed this up with a second campaign: another bailout. This had precipitated the crisis in the rst place yet would instill fear in the people.

Meanwhile Coelho ew out to Berlin on government business to comfort 81

his puppet masters. Merkel assured him full support for the continuation of the austerity and the governments policies. Protests calling for the governments resignation happened throughout the week

From his ofce in Brussels, Barroso stated: The markets have taught a lesson to the Portuguese. If anything the recent days highlight the dominance of the markets. They are the ones who can choose when a government falls, or when you can have an election. Realpolitik was yesterday. In the age of the Troika you get Theaterpolitik where the popular classes are seemingly relegated to spectators.

A new deal?

The PSD and CDS tried to patch-up the dying coalition only to be greeted by CGTP-organised protests on Saturday. In Lisbon, Porto and Funchal (Madeira) hundreds of protesters took to the streets calling for the resignation of the government and new elections. This comes after protests on March 2 when protesters took votes to dismiss the government in towns and cities across the country.

That evening the Prime Minister addressed the country once again. Portas stood next to him in silence. Coelho presented the new deal: Portas would become Vice Prime Minister and responsible for the economic policies, the negotiations with the Troika and the reform of the State; Albuquerque would take up her post as Finance Minister; Antonio Pires de Lima, a businessman in the CDS leadership was announced Minister of the Economy. The deal would now have to be ratied by the President of the Republic.

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The junior coalition partner, the CDS-PP, has shown to be spineless and do anything to remain in power. Their congress has been postponed indenitely. The partys leaders are now under the dictate of the Troika. They seem to want to destroy their own party once and for all just so that Portas and a few of his friends consolidate their power.

Regime crisis

Protesters surrounded the cars of the politicians and chased them through trafc once the negotiations had nished. Activists vow to continue with protests [this week] as the Portuguese people suffer at the hands of a decaying ruling coalition. Replacing democracy with subservience to the Troika hasnt solved the regime crisis. Democracys incompatibility with austerity is now an incontestable fact. The following months are likely to see a rapid deterioration of the political, economic and social situation in Portugal.

All the governments efforts to postpone new austerity measures so to shield itself from the shockwaves of mass protests havent worked. For the moment this dead government has been patched up. In the next few weeks the Troika will arrive in Portugal for its eights evaluation of the programme. This will exacerbate the political crisis. The social movements and trade unions will greet them just to send them home once and for all.

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Will Portugals government hold on? 12

Catarina Principe

Portugal is one of the countries of the European Union taken hostage by the troika--the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission--and has been subjected to increasingly harsh austerity policies that have led the country into a recession of historic proportions, causing mass impoverishment.

The demands of the troika are being compounded by additional cuts imposed by the current government in what amounts to the fastest and most brutal neoliberal program ever introduced in Portugal. The current government is a coalition government, led by the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), with the conservative Christian Democratic Party (CDS-PP) as the junior-partner. And the demands for further austerity presented by the Portuguese and European ruling classes seem endless.

However, none of this has been happening without resistance. Mass demonstrations have ooded the streets of Portugal in the last months, with the largest one mobilizing 1.5 million people in country of 10 million. One-day general strikes have been happening with some frequency, and strikes in particular sectors happen almost every week.

Nonetheless, the resistance has not yet been able to shift the balance of forces in Portugal--though it almost did. Recent weeks have been a time of

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deep political crisis in Portugal. On July 1, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar resigned after a disagreement with some of the governments decisions and was replaced by the Treasury Secretary Maria Lus Albuquerque, who has been his chief assistant in austerity policies until now.

In protest over this choice, Foreign Affairs Minister Paulo Portas, who is also the leader of the junior partner party in the coalition government, resigned on July 2, making it difcult to imagine the government staying in ofce. That same night, Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said he wouldnt resign nor accept the resignation of Portas. That night, several other ministers from the CDS-PP said they were ready to resign, following their leader, which would have led to the governments fall.

However, none of this happened. The prime minister came back from a meeting in Berlin and met with Portas three times to negotiate the rescue of the coalition government. An agreement left Portas as vice prime minister responsible for economic policies, negotiations with the troika and state reform. So the coalition government has survived, with--as Portas wanted--the junior partner now holding more power.

The media have portrayed the political power plays as mere clashes of ego. This is true to some extent, but the events of recent days have to be analyzed in their context to understand what led to the resignation of both ministers and the outcome of this political crisis--as well as what the left should see as important clues for a needed strategic debate.

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Teachers as the Catalyst

On June 7, Portugals teachers started a three-week strike during the end-ofsemester grading period. Their aim was to stop the new austerity package that would impose drastic cuts to public education, increase their working hours, delay retirement (thereby cutting positions for new teachers and raising unemployment), among other things.

During this strike, teachers all over the country built networks of solidarity to support them. The national unions, of course, mobilized a big infrastructure to keep the strike going, but its important to stress that many of these solidarity actions were proposed and put into practice by rank-and-le teachers in their schools. The result was that very few year-end evaluations meetings with students took place.

The teachers threatened a general strike for later in the month, and organized a demonstration for June 17, the day of the rst national university entrance exams. Some 90 percent of teachers were on strike on June 17, and they continued until the union leadership came to an agreement with the government the day before the planned general strike. This agreement forced the government to retreat on most of the central issues, saving around 3,000 jobs and giving the teachers a major victory.

By striking during the exam and evaluation period, teachers hit the state when they were needed the most, and managed to bring the whole education system to a halt. But the power of the struggle was that is was a prolonged strike. Portugal has seen several one-day general strikes, one-day sectoral strikes and massive days of demonstrations that, however powerful

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and inspirational, didnt manage to shift the balance of forces. The lesson the teachers taught us is that a rooted and prolonged strike can actually be the catalyst for a turn in the political circumstances.

The Resignations and Why They Happened

The nance minister resigned on July 1 after representatives of the troika came to Portugal to start another evaluation of the governments austerity program. Both the troika and the nance minister Gaspar criticized the government for having reached a compromise with the teachers, and said this would endanger the objectives established for the latest review, which would put Portugal on the verge of another bailout--and therefore more requirements for austerity.

The government decided not to give into the criticism of the troika, and Gaspar ended up resigning for being in disagreement with the decisions of the prime minister.

There are two important points to be made about the nance minister. First, he had already said in September 2012 that he wanted to resign after one of the biggest demonstrations since the Portuguese Revolution of 197475. Those demonstrations managed to generate popular pressure against austerity measures to cut holiday and vacation pay for public-sector workers, something the Portuguese Constitutional Court ruled was unconstitutional.

Second, Gaspars disagreements with the government have consisted of accusations against the prime minister for not pursuing even tougher and more destructive austerity measures. He has now been replaced by Albu87

querque, who has been working closely with him and who has been accused in parliament of questionable nancial dealings during her time as the nancial director of the state rail company REFER.

One day later and out of the blue, without even waiting for a party congress scheduled for the next week or announcing it to his party members, Paulo Portas resigned over the choice of Albuquerque as nance minister.

Portas stated that he had been in disagreement with some of the measures and positions taken by the former nance minister, and it therefore seemed impossible to continue in this government if the policies were kept the same. Portas said his decision was irreversible. But two days later, after meetings with the prime minister, Portas became vice prime minister; Albuquerque was allowed to take up her post as nance minister; and Antnio Pires de Lima, a businessman in the CDS-PP leadership was named economy minister.

The Outcome

So the question on the minds of many Portuguese was: Why did Portas do what he did? Was this just a way to feed his ego and give his party more political weight?

I think the nancial markets gave us the necessary clues to answer this question. After the resignation of the nance minister Gaspar and Portas announced resignation, the Portuguese stock market experienced its biggest drop since 1998. Interest rates on government bonds rose from 3 percent to 8 percent. Duro Barroso, president of the European Commission,

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said: The markets have taught the Portuguese people an important lesson. That lesson is the lesson of fear--that the markets dont like political instability; the markets dont want new elections; the markets, ultimately, dont like democracy and popular decision-making.

Meanwhile, the prime minister was in Berlin, where German Chancellor Angela Merkel assured him full support for the government on the condition of the continuation of austerity policies. This has been the constant position of the European ruling class toward southern Europe: there is no other solution considered credible by the markets or by European institutions other than austerity.

But austerity is a political program that can only be applied when people are led to believe that there are no alternatives. This is what we call the dictatorship of the debt.

Thus, Europes rulers and the leaders of the Portuguese government think elections are something to avoid because they are unpredictable--they should only happen once every four years at most, so that the system looks democratic enough. This is why a government that lost all credibility can stay in ofce.

But there is another factor: a second bailout was already on the political agenda as a result of the economic crisis. Austerity lowers wages, which subsequently diminishes consumption, which aggravates recession, which aggravates the decit, which requires more tax increases, which aggravates consumption, which aggravates recession, which aggravates unemployment, which aggravates recession and aggravates the debt, which requires Portugal to ask for more loans, which aggravate the crisis. 89

But because of the mass demonstrations, the victory of the teachers and the success of the general strike, it was impossible to talk openly about the bailout. The political crisis has created the window of opportunity. The troika will arrive shortly to carry out its eighth review, and this will potentially exacerbate the political crisis. But it is important to understand the popular reaction to this situation.

On July 6, the unions together with the social movements called for a demonstration to demand new elections, but only 500 people showed up in Lisbon and 100 in Porto, making it one of the smallest protests of the last few years. The reasons for this failure can be partially explained by the time frame (the demonstration was called on only a few days notice) and by the weather (the temperature was 107 degrees Fahrenheit in Lisbon). But this alone doesnt explain what happened.

One factor is that the possibility of elections frightened people. One day of political instability caused huge losses in the markets, and people were faced with the clear threat of a second bailout and more austerity. It will be harder now to build resistance calling for the downfall of the government because people are more scared.

But beyond this, the problem is that people see no alternative. The centerleft Socialist Party (PS), by far the biggest party of the opposition, also signed the memorandum with the troika. Thus, many people conclude that its not worth enduring some months of political instability to end up with a government that largely applies the same disastrous recipe.

There are forces to the left of the PS. The Left Bloc (BE) and the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) together have around 22 percent in opinion 90

polls, but the BE actually lost support during the days of crisis, although only a small amount. I believe this is because the BE has been calling for a left government that would represent an alternative to austerity, while engaging in conversations with the PS and the PCP--and no one can imagine what this left government would look like.

Some Clues for the Resistance

The last year of mobilizations in Portugal has shown that people are willing to ght austerity and reject the demands of the troika.

However, most of the resistance has been conned to limited events--big demonstrations on days of action and one-day general strikes. The lack of structures that can organize day-to-day resistance--that can practically show that problems like unemployment, poverty, hunger and lack of housing cant be dealt with individually and must be challenged collectively--is one of the biggest weaknesses of the Portuguese left.

The experience of the teachers strike shows us that prolonged strikes can lead to important and inspiring victories that can shift the relation of forces. At the same time, it becomes clearer with each passing day that an electoral solution isnt convincing for many people. No one knows precisely what a left government could look like now. And the big question--the greatest limitation of the left in Portugal--of a lack of sustained grassroots resistance in Portugal is left unanswered.

I believe the task of the left is to deepen its roots and turn the generalized

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feelings of discontent and anger into action, organization and hope. Only in action--in our schools, universities, workplaces and communities--can we learn that we are powerful when we are not alone. Only in action can we articulate the possibility of alternatives to capitalism. Only in action can people come to believe that these alternatives are possible if we build them together.

To Be Continued

On the night of July 10, the president of the republic, Anibal Cavaco Silva, who belongs to the same party as the prime minister, the PSD, announced that he would not accept the shake-up of the government and proposed a National Salvation government that would include the three parties that signed the memorandum with the troika--the PSD, the CDS-PP and the PS--in a ruling coalition. If this happens, he says, he would call for early elections in June 2014, which is when the troika intervention is scheduled to end in Portugal.

The PS refused to join such a government, and the prime minister announced that he wont resign. But two days later, they had already started negotiations. The coming days will tell us more about the precise composition and agreements of this coalition.

One interesting question is why Cavaco Silva stirred up the political crisis when it seemed more or less resolved. I think this was about creating the political conditions for a new bailout, which is already being negotiated. This maneuver by the president of the republic aimed to pull the Socialists into a

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coalition government--or, if they refused to join, make them as a scapegoat for the ensuing political instability.

Also, this would delay early elections until after the second bailout has already been signed. Under those circumstances, they would become a kind of ritual with a democratic appearance, which actually changes nothing. This was exactly what happened with the rst memorandum: the three parties that signed it did so after the last PS government fell, but just before the elections.

People on the left rightly argue that not all parties have signed on with the memorandum--the BE and CP didnt. The demand for elections right now-before a second bailout is signed--is a matter of basic democracy, so people can have a say.

However, the chances of the anti-troika parties forming a government right now are low, so even early elections would not fundamentally shift the balance of forces. It is important to call for elections as soon as possible. But more than elections, we need resistance--resistance that reaches a new level--to reject the troika and its demands.

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PART IV: Revolution?

A very brief history of a revolution

Catarina Principe

Before the 25th of April 1974, the Portuguese people had suffered under a dictatorship for 48 years. Portugal was the least developed country in Western Europe, with high levels of poverty and illiteracy. Thousands of people had migrated to escape unemployment, impoverishment and repression. The Portuguese economy depended on imports of raw materials from its African colonies which it manufactured in order to export. The growing independence movements in the colonies posed a real threat to the fascist government as it escalated into a full-blown war which lasted more than 13 years.

In 1974, the regime ran out of solutions: the military was exhausted by the war efforts, the costs had spiraled out of control13. This resulted in an economic crisis. Political and social agitation became commonplace in the armys ranks. Between October 1973 and April 1974 more than 100 000 days were lost due to strike action in key industries and services. Dozens of students were arrested and universities shut down. The police (PIDE) acted violently against the opposition, and closed the cultural cooperatives. Yet, the social and political unrest was not able to bring down the regime until the military coup of the 25th of April opened the political space for it.

On the night of the 25th of April, the MFA (Armed Forces Movement), a progressive clandestine organization inside the military - composed mainly

(13) These amounted to more than half the national budget

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by intermediate soldiers occupied the public radio and played Alfonso Zecas song Grndola Vila Morena2. It would become the anthem of the revolution. The song signalled armed groups to leave the barracks and take the streets of the capital city Lisbon. After seizing the public television and announcing a coup, the Portuguese population unexpectedly disobeyed the military orders to stay home and took to the streets in the thousands to support the coup. They occupied the general headquarters of the police to force the resignation of the leader of the regime, Marcelo Caetano, who was hiding there. The following day people brought red carnations and distributed them to the soldiers, who stuck them in their gun barrels, turning the ower into the symbol of the revolution. That would set the tone for the next two years of revolutionary upheaval in Portugal.

This coup did not intend to unleash a revolutionary uprising of the people. It was a product of the colonial wars which were a fetter on Portugals economic growth. The dictatorship had made it impossible for the opposition to organize itself. Thus it started with middle-rank soldiers inside the Armed Forces. These commanded broad support from the rank and le as they were the men who actually coordinated military actions. While high-ranking ofcers stood on the side of the regime these soldiers believed that only democracy could end the war. This led to the breakdown of the chain of command inside the Armed Forces, and the transformation of sections into a political-military revolutionary movement. Under other circumstances this movement would have been crushed but state power had been undermined by the continued economic crisis and general backwardness.

As the revolutionary process deepened the popular initiatives became stronger. The Portuguese people dismantled the repressive state apparatus. They assaulted the headquarters of the political police, liberated political 96

prisioners, destroyed the headquarters of censorship, and forced bosses, managers and heads of school associated with the fascist regime to leave the country in a process labelled Sanamento (cleansing). The popular movement conquered civil rights such as the freedom of assembly before the provisional government installed them. The revolutionary movement was able to make economic gains with immediate effect. The people won the right to form trade unions, the minimum wage, the reduction of the work week, paid holidays, sick pay and food subsidies. Social democracy was a direct result from the peoples struggle.

In the following one and a half years there were two failed coup attempts, six provisional governments, the process of independence in the colonies, several massive strike-waves, demonstrations, occupations of thousands of houses, a profound agricultural reform, land occupations, the creation of workers cooperatives, workers councils, trade unions, and neighborhood commissions. Occupied and self-managed factories, businesses, ofces, newspapers and radios showed what popular power and real democracy could look like. Workers and soldiers helped peasants in the country side, children taught adults how to read, popular clinics and cultural centers ourished. Peoples tribunals were established. It was the most profound social transformation ever witnessed. It was the experience of real democracy where popular power rooted in all spheres of life. Most importantly, the revolution left a legacy which would shape the Portuguese state and the political dynamics for many years to come.

It was a revolutionary movement which built the foundation of the welfare state: education, health, social security. Old morals and customs were questioned. Sexual freedoms were conquered. Women won the right to choose and divorce. This was a real leap forward in a country where the Catholic 97

Church was strong, or the so-called ideological arm of the dictatorship. New television and radio channels lled the airwaves. Films and theatres were inspired by the revolution. Murals lled empty city walls. There was an explosion in creativity, when anything seemed possible and people experimented with new ways of coming together and relating to one another. With capitalism in the West, and the Soviet system in the East, Portugal became the symbol of freedom and the future of humanity. In those 19 months it became the freest country in the world.

The beginning of the end of the revolutionary process occurred on 25 November 1975 when the moderate and right-wing sections of the armed forces nally regained control over the radical and revolutionary sections of the infantry. On November 25 the soldiers returned to the barracks. It marks a turning point. It is a difcult moment to grasp, so complex in nature. As Orwell had argued in Homage to Catalonia the startling change in the atmosphere is difcult to understand unless you actually experience it.

Retrospectively, there are several developments which facilitated this rapid change: the over-reliance of the revolutionary left on the military, the small scale of class struggle compared to that of military organization, the skepticism towards political parties, many of which had been formed amidst the revolution, the contradictory role played by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP). The PCP had operated under clandestine conditions during the dictatorship. It was deeply implanted in the Portuguese working class. Many of its rank and le members were radical however its party leadership subscribed to a stagiest theory which implied that the the left needed to make agreements and compromises with the Portuguese bourgeoisie in order to guarantee industrial and productive development of Portugal. Only when secured, could workers take control of the means of production. They 98

quickly became part of the provisional governments and even passed some anti-worker laws.

On the November 25 the Communist party leadership decided against supporting the rebelling soldiers that occupied a barrack on the outskirts of Lisbon. This heralded the end of the revolutionary process. The newly formed Socialist Party in fact, set up by the German SPD - attracted many people who were tired and wanted a return to business as usual after the socalled hot summer of 75 in which right-wing groupings around the country bombed left-wing organizations headquarters and killed people in order to destabilize the revolutionary efforts. The Socialist Partys radical rhetoric veiled the partys intention to liberalize Portugals economy and move toward reform. However, even if parliamentary democracy was a way to stop the revolutionary process, the revolutionary upheaval created a legacy which would shape Portuguese democracy.

This is especially the case at a time when the Portuguese people are under attack once again. Today the memory of the revolution continues to play a crucial role in the resistance. Yet its legacy is contested. The right-wing argues that the fascist regime was opening itself and that it was on a natural path towards democracy. They claim that the revolution was an unnecessary process and endangered Portugal to fall prey to communism. Some years ago, when Duro Barroso (the leader of the European commission) was the Prime Minister, the government celebrated the April 25th with a campaign called Evolution (Evoluo), cutting out the R of Revolution (Revoluo). Today they propose deep changes to the Portuguese constitution which was written in 1975. However, the popular story of the revolution is a very different one. This book hopes to play a role in linking the revolutionary struggles of the past with the demonstrations and movements we have seen 99

since the economic crisis. The ofcial poster for the celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the revolution of carnations features a big question mark against a red background. It implies that Portugal stands at crossroads and its future is unknown. As the revolutionary poet Ary dos Santos wrote: No one will ever close the doors that April opened.

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The Revolution of Carnations re-loaded? Crisis and social struggle in Portugal

Ismail Kpeli

We can draw some preliminary conclusions about the development of the protest movements in Portugal in 2011-2012.

First of all, it is difcult to foresee the way social movements start and continue to develop. It is astonishing how quickly protests are mobilized for, how structures and organisations develop and then lose relevance or even disappear in the shortest amount of time. The reasons and motifs for protest cannot simply be explained on the basis of material and objective conditions such as poverty and unemployment. At times they appear to be grounded in the subjective perception of ones own conditions such as dignity and powerlessness. To that extent critical sociology has to tackle both the objective and subjective bases of social movements.

Increasingly, traditional actors which mobilise opposition have lost in power and credibility. Parties and trade unions with their huge apparatuses and resources lag behind the self-organised and independent protest movements. When actors - such as the PCP - attempt to dominate mass movements these attempts are often unsuccessful.

The uidity of the independent mass movements is to no avail when people demonstrate and strike regularly but structures and networks rarely crystallise. Sustainable organisations are necessary so that mere routinized protests can become a real political power. On the other hand, mass movements could strengthen the already existing left opposition parties such as 101

the PCP and BE. These could ght for political change inside of parliament. But that hasnt happened either.

One should emphasise that regardless of the moderate balance sheet of social struggles in Portugal, the masses of people have learnt to articulate their political interests. They organise themselves against the basic political and economic crisis as well as the governments self-destructive policies.

Conclusion: The revolution of carnations re-loaded?

Portugal experienced a number of political revolutions and regime changes throughout the last century: The monarchy which ruled the country for centuries was replaced by an instable republic in 1910. Only 16 years later a military coup replaced the Republic.

Subsequently, the authoritarian Salazar regime continued the status quo by relying on the political and economic elites of the country. The Salazar dictatorship would prove itself to be one of the longest living dictatorships in Europe - despite various insurrectionary and opposition movements. The colonial wars in Angola and Mozambique took their toll in the 1960s. As a consequence, discontent with the regime grew inside of the military. This led to the formation of the clandestine MFA.

The coup by the MFA in 1974 overthrew the dictatorship and ignited the revolution of carnations. The years following the revolution were determined by a dispute over the achievement of immediate goals: the end to the colonial wars and the introduction of democracy. Would that hail the end of the revolutionary process, or should a social revolution follow the political revolu102 tion? During a short socialist phase big landowners were expropriated to

the benet of agricultural workers and many enterprises were nationalised. In the end, conservative and social democratic forces asserted themselves and Portugal drew closer toward a neoliberal Europe.

The socialist measures were cast aside. In the 1980s Portugal was shaped by the neoliberal zeitgeist. The markets were liberalised and the nationalised industries privatised. The conservative and social democratic governments concentrated on its export industries supported by the countrys low wages. The economic growth and nancial support of the EMU led to higher prosperity in Portugal. Thats why Portugal remained politically dormant. Bigger protest movements didnt occur.

This tendency was reversed at the end of the 1990s last not but least because countries such as Turkey also banked on export industries with low labour costs. In many areas Portugal was forced out of the market. The collapse of economic growth went hand in hand with factory closures and downsizing. With vague hopes of economic recovery on a world scale the Portuguese state and its people indebted themselves. These hopes ended with the economic crisis in 2007.

Cut off from further loans Portugal was forced to implement neoliberal austerity measures under the auspices of the Troika (EU Commission, ECB and IMF). Living costs increased and wages stagnated for the majority of people. Peoples deteriorating conditions led to new protest movements against the austerity policies and the neoliberal EU. These new movements and its actors primarily mobilise young precarious workers. These form an important plank next to the traditional left opposition of PCP, BE and CGTP. Furthermore, the repertoires of contention of the social opposition have widened in scope. Next to demonstrations and strikes, there are occupations such 103

as the Es.Col.A in Porto. People are radicalising not at least because of the growing confrontations between police and protesters.

The current crisis and resistance against the hegemonic neoliberal policies in Portugal show how fragile the seemingly insurmountable political and economic structures are. Social movements can develop (and collapse) quickly. It is clear that social struggles cant and wont stop at a countrys border. For a while now, the economic processes have been networked on a European-wide level. No longer are politics from above conned to the national arena. The internationalisation of social movements will (have to) follow suit - a process which has started in countries such as Portugal.

Despite increased levels of social struggles it would be disingenuous to speak of the revolution of carnations reloaded. Neither the traditional or newly formed left opposition parties have the power to bring down the government. Nor are the international power structures the same as in 1974. The overthrow of the Salazar dictatorship was welcomed across Europe back then. Today the European Union constructs and demands an anti-democratic and neoliberal policy package. Portugal doesnt stand ahead of a re-run of the 1974 revolution. Instead the social movements (not only in Portugal) have the difcult task to break the neoliberal hegemony in Europe and halt the collapse of standards of living for wide sections of the population.

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Further Resources

Further Readings on the 1974/1975 Revolution

Ed Barker, Colin. Revolutionary Rehearsals, Haymarket Books

This book contains a chapter by Peter Robinson who spent most of 1974 and 1975 in Portugal. It draws out strategic lessons why the revolutionary upsurge ended in a socialdemocratic transition instead of popular power from below.

Gonzales, Mike (2013) The Arms and The People, Pluto Press
This book contains a chapter by Peter Robinson why pays particular attention to the role of the disillusionment and radicalization of Portugals middle-ranking military cadets who organized the initial coup which unleashed the dynamics of popular revolution. It draws out tensions, and contradictions between the soldiers and popular classes in the revolutionary development.

Mailer, Phil, Portugal: The Impossible Revolution? Also available online: http://libcom.org/library/portugal-impossible-revolution-phil-mailer
This book is a diary of the young Phil Mailer who witnessed the coup, radicalized in the course of the rst few days and became an active participant in the revolutionary struggle that would follow.

Robinson, Peter (1999) 1974-1975 Portugal: The Forgotten Dream, available at: http://www.socialisthistorysociety.co.uk/robport.pdf
This article written for the Socialist History Society gives a particular good overview of the balance of forces inside the revolution, and the role that organizations such as the Communist and Socialist Parties played.

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Further Readings on Contemporary Portugal

Kuepeli, Ismail (2013) Nelkenrevolution Reloaded?

This book in German traces the rise of neoliberalism in Portugal and the resistance against it. It contains valuable lessons from contemporary activism in Portugal

Video

Scenes from the Class Struggles in Portugal (Cenas da Luta de Classes em Portugal) Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS7t--jOkgY Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUqSlv5Z2e0

Portugal 74-75 - O retrato do 25 de Abril https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEIPkal6848

Grndola, Vila Morena no Terreiro do Pao, 3 March 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwXkqHRkUpk

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Links

These pages have published some of the material in this ebook.

International Socialism www.isj.org.uk

Socialist Review www.socialistreview.org.uk

Haymarket Books www.haymarketbooks.org

PM Press www.pmpress.org

Counterre www.counterre.org

Mark Bergfeld www.mdbergfeld.com

Bloco Esquerda www.esquerda.net

Ismail Kuepeli kuepeli.blogsport.de

MRZine mrzine.monthlyreview.org

PrecariosInexiveis www.precariosinexiveis.org

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About the Contributors

Mark Bergfeld is an activist and writer living in London. He was a leading participant in the UK student movement in 2010. He has written for The Nation, Al-Jazeera English, The New Statesman amongst others. He travelled to Portugal in November 2012 to report on the Bloco Congress, Merkels visit to Lisbon and the European-wide General Strike on November 14. He currently is a postgraduate research student at Queen Mary University of London.

Joao Camargo (b. 1983) is a political activist in anti-troika and precarious workers organizations. An environmental engineer and agronomist, he has written Que Se Lixe a Troika, an essay on the IMF, the ECB and European Commission and social response to austerity. Hes in the national leadership of the Left Bloc and an elected local representative in Amadora Town Council.

Ismail Kuepeli is a political scientist and activist. Amongst others he is active in the Bundeskoordination Internationalismus in Germany. He lives in Portugal, participates and critically engages in its social movements. He regularly writes about the consequences of the economic crisis and the protests against the neoliberal austerity policies. He is the author of Nelkenrevolution Reloaded? Krise und Soziale Kaempfe in Portugal (2013).

Francisco Lou is an economics professor at Lisbons Instituto Superior de Economia e Gesto. He is the author of numerous books and essays including Ensaio para uma Revoluo [Rehearsal of a Revolution]; As Time

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Goes By -- From the Industrial Revolution to the Information Revolution, with Chris Freeman; Portugal Agrilhoado -- A Economia Cruel na Era do FMI [Portugal in Chains -- The Cruel Economy in the Age of the IMF]; and most recently, co-authored with Mariana Mortagua, A Dividadura [The Dictatorship of the Debt] and Isto um Assalto [This Is a Robbery].

Lou was part of the student movement against the Salazar dictatorship in the 1970s. He was arrested for a protest against the colonial war in December 1972. He is one of the Left Blocs founding members, stood in the Portuguese Presidential Elections in 2006, and served as the Blocos chief coordinator between 2005 and 2012. He continues to play an active role inside the Bloco and the social movements internationally.

Catarina Prncipe is member of Bloco de Esquerda and has been active in the social movements against precarity and austerity. She now lives in Berlin where she is active in Die Linke.SDS. She studies Gender Studies.

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2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the Portuguese Revolution, also known as the Revolution of Carnations. Unleashed by a military coup on 25 April 1974 the popular masses dismantled the fascist Salazar dictatorship and created a real democracy in a land strip on Europes Atlantic Coast. For the next nineteen months Portugal would serve the radical and revolutionary left as an example in popular democracy and a viable alternative to both the Soviet system and Western capitalism.

The memory of the Portuguese revolution has faded like much of the left which celebrated it at the time. Yet today in the wake of the harshest austerity measures imposed by the Troika of the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund and European Union, the Portuguese people have rediscovered their own power.

While the Anglo-Saxon press has focused on the Indignados protests in the Spanish State, the square occupations in Greece the revival of Portugals social movements have gone unnoticed. In the last three years Portugal has witnessed the largest demonstrations since the fall of the Salazar dictatorship. What is the legacy of past events? Who are the main actors in this new wave of social struggle? Is Portugal heading for another revolution?

Drawing on their participation and observations of these movements, the authors in this collection debate and discuss, the strengths and limitations of these movements and outline the prospects for social change and real democracy in 21st Century Portugal.