Ramalho Eanes was speaking before the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, during a class-debate on the 25th of April with students from secondary schools and universities, in the old royal arena, next to the Palácio de Belém, in Lisbon.
Regarding the background to the 25th of November 1975, the general and first President elected in a democracy began by saying that he did not want to “make any considerations about the PCP” and that he had “excellent relations with Álvaro Cunhal”, a man who “greatly esteemed ” and “very considered”.
“But at that time the PCP, perhaps harassed by the extreme left, was effectively preparing to establish a totalitarian regime in Portugal,” he said, adding: “I have no doubts.”
Citing Melo Antunes, Eanes maintained that at the time it was necessary to “reinstitutionalize the military apparatus” so that it could oppose “any armed attempt to conquer power”.
“For various reasons, and as things became more acute, the Document of the Nine appeared, which the entire Council of the Revolution practically signed and which was signed by thousands of officers. This demonstrated that the military institution was in very bad shape, it was deinstitutionalized, it had to In general, he lost his loyalty to the people and democracy and had created perverse loyalties in relation to party affiliations”, he continued.
Specifically regarding the events of November 25th, Eanes said that there was “a military offensive”, in his opinion “organized lightly by the extreme left, but in which the PCP could not have failed to intervene”, in the face of which he and others military personnel were forced to act.
“We had this action, finally, and I repeat that it could have led to a civil war and that the 25th of November was indispensable. I repeat: it was indispensable, so that the military’s promises of honor to the population could be fulfilled”, he defended.
According to Eanes, the outcome of the 25th of November was due to “the military who had remained faithful to the promise of honor they had made to the population, which was to give them back their freedom, but freedom without conditions” and who “resolved, in the face of an armed insurrection responds — well, and an armed insurrection, naturally, can only be responded to with weapons”.
“The 25th of April was unique, it was founding. It is what granted freedom to the Portuguese. It is what we must celebrate, celebrate and above all reflect on. But we must not forget the natural disturbance that followed, in which there was a battle of ideologies, of models of society, in which there was a PREC that created an unsustainable situation, a situation of fear and a situation that brought us close to a civil war”, he declared.
In this debate class, Eanes reported that he was in Angola and received the news of the 25th of April without surprise, because “he had participated in the different meetings that had been held to organize a response to the regime”, with “great joy” and “great hope “, because “the Portuguese would have freedom” and “finally, the colonial war would end.”
“But I had no doubt whatsoever that decolonization would be tragic, as it was. In fact, I say this with ease, with great ease. I know that many people will say that they think that decolonization was a wonderful thing. It wasn’t “, he considered.
In his opinion, it was tragic because “it left those countries, Angola and Mozambique, in a situation of war that lasted years and destroyed everything” and because it “made many Angolans return to the continent”.
“They were born in Angola, they were Angolans, they knew no other country other than that, they had no other land other than that, a land where they had their dead, where their children had been born, and suddenly they are forced, losing everything, to return to a land that had been that of their ancestors, but that they did not know, that they did not love. They are the returnees”, he added.
