Portugal

Portuguese politics have become very interesting in recent weeks. The parliamentary elections of October 4th saw a shift to the left in society that reflects the discontent and radicalisation sowed by the crisis of capitalism in one of the countries that has been hardest hit by it.

This is a transcript of a speech given by Jorge Martín at the 2013 world school of the International Marxist Tendency. He deals with the events of the Portuguese revolution, its inner dynamics and how it was derailed along bourgeois democratic lines.

April 25th marks 40 years since the beginning of the Portuguese revolution of 1974-75, better known as the Carnations Revolution. Not enough attention has been paid to the Portuguese revolution, despite being the most advanced attempt at socialist transformation in Europe since the Second World War.

Tens of thousands of people marched in Portugal on Saturday, October 19th, against the proposed 2014 budget which includes yet another set of severe measures to make workers, pensioners, civil servants and working people in general pay for the crisis of capitalism.

Today, hundreds of thousands of Portuguese workers went on a 24 hour general strike. This is the fourth general strike in two years that the centre-right government has faced. Today’s strike though, was by far the largest show of strength by the unions in the past few years.

The recent ruling by the Portuguese Constitutional Court that four of the austerity measures in the government’s 2013 budget are unconstitutional is a major blow to the Portuguese ruling class. However, without the organisation of working people in defence of their rights, this ruling could mark a wave of devastating new attacks on ordinary Portuguese people. While we can celebrate the working class victory in the courts, we must realise that if the workers are to ultimately win the legal battle they, not the capitalist class, must be the ones making the laws.