Thousands of people celebrate the 50th anniversary of democracy in Portugal

Thousands of people celebrated this Thursday the 50th anniversary of the “Carnation Revolution” in Portugal, which overthrew Europe’s longest fascist dictatorship and ushered in a period of democracy, although support for the far right in the country has seen a resurgence in recent years. years.

António Oliveira Salazar governed Portugal from 1932 to 1968, but the authoritarian and ultra-conservative regime lasted another six years under the command of his successor Marcelo Caetano, only collapsing on April 25, 1974.

The almost bloodless revolution was led by a group of Army officers who wanted democracy and an end to the long wars against independence movements in the African colonies. The military coup by the “Capitães de Abril” group led to a rapid process of decolonization.

This Thursday’s celebrations began at Praça do Comércio, in Lisbon, on the banks of the Tagus River, where two frigates were docked while military vehicles and more than 400 soldiers paraded, singing the national anthem while fighter jets flew over the area.

Thousands of people turned out to applaud the parade. One of them, João Marcelino, 74, said that the recent “very strong” rise of the populist far-right in Portugal, echoing trends in other European Union countries, is worrying because it “does not bring good solutions for any country”.

“I worry that, after 50 years of democracy, people are not enlightened… but the far right is advancing because the main parties are not developing our country,” he said.

Although multi-party democracy has proven stable and the country’s infrastructure has been greatly modernized since 1974, with the help of EU membership and development funds, Portugal remains the poorest state in Western Europe.

Discontent with the housing crisis triggered by the constant increase in rents has driven the far right, as have low wages, poor health and cases of alleged corruption involving the main parties.

Political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto of the University of Lisbon said that although the majority of Portuguese embrace liberal democracy and are proud of the April 25 revolution, the growing popularity of Chega, a populist, anti-immigration party, was the “elephant in the room” in this year’s “Carnation Revolution” celebrations.

“Chega attracts those who have a revisionist view of history, with the idea that colonialism and the empire were not bad and that the glorious Portuguese past and its symbols should be valued,” said Costa Pinto.

Chega makes frequent public use of Salazar’s motto “God, country and family”, to which the party added “work”.

Chega’s leader, André Ventura, denies that he or his party are fascists, while at the same time positioning himself against the establishment and wanting to change Portugal’s Constitution.

“Fifty years ago, we had a revolution that gave us freedom, but along the way our dignity was taken from us,” Ventura told Parliament this Thursday, accusing the current and previous governments of failing to end poverty.

Founded in 2019, Chega is currently the third largest party in Portugal, having quadrupled its group of parliamentarians to 50 in the March elections.