TO AWAKEN THE TRAILS OF MEMORY

by Fátima Lopes Cardoso–Univeristy Professor and Reseacher

IMAGINING WHAT the generations born before April 25 were forced to face, especially if they had a more interventionist attitude, can be a complicated premise for those born into freedom. Defending a point of view contrary to that imposed by the Estado Novo regime was considered a crime, with violent political persecution and subsequent attempts at ideological silencing turning the lives of those considered dissidents into a living hell.

The experiences of escape and liberation were told in the first person to the students of the School of Communication and Media Studies (Lisbon-please see below), Mafalda Tomás and Mariana Ferreira, who, in this edition of O Referêncial magazine, share the memories of José Zaluar Basílio, a university professor, and Luís Cília, a musician and composer, two political exiles in France in the 60’s.
The country of President Charles de Gaulle, who resigned from power in 1969, welcomed them as exiles, but even from a distance, those who left their homeland for political reasons knew that there were places not recommended for sharing opinions and that this information would easily reach Portugal. PIDE had “snitches” everywhere, from the most unsuspecting citizens to infiltrators in political organizations who reported movements and some revolutionary activities to the Portuguese government. According to studies published by the Emigration Observatory, the French Secret Services themselves passed information on to the Political Police and, among the many Portuguese citizens living in France, whether they were emigrants or exiles, the climate of fear continued to exist. In the company of the right people and friends, José Zaluar Basílio managed to circumvent this maze of suspicion and, from a distance, fought until the day he was free.
During the same period, Luís Cília tried to explain to the French what was happening in poor Portugal and how the Colonial War devastated the country. Through his words, he raised awareness, but with the humility he preserves, at the age of 80, he considers “music to be a grain of sand in the Revolution.” These two unmissable stories prove to us that it will always be essential to commemorate April.

MEMORIES OF TWO MEN
In the “orderly” Portugal that political propaganda wanted to sell to the world, many people imagined, albeit silently, what it would be like to live in a land that offered them other opportunities. Students Júlia Gibelli and Maria Beatriz Batalha share the memories of two men who were born in rural areas but who, due to life’s circumstances, ended up escaping hunger and the arduous toil in the agricultural fields to which a significant part of the Portuguese population, including children, was condemned.
From different places but with similar human geographies, Manuel Rito and Fernando Calhas describe their memories of the “poor but happy country,” where the simple act of chatting in the street with colleagues could be considered a sign of conspiracy against the regime, where many children didn’t go to school or, if they had the opportunity to study, went barefoot to class, without food in their lunchboxes and with the little mouse of hunger in their bellies. They often learned to read, write, and count after working in the fields since sunrise.

The reality of the country where the grandparents of the students who write the “April and Young People” texts were born was very different from the situation of comfort and relative stability in most Portuguese homes today, despite the regression we are witnessing. Studying is no longer just a stroke of luck, but an obligation Disagreeing with a point of view and defending an idea are rights in the democratic society in which we live. Young women, who in this case will be future journalists, know that someone has fought for them so that their quality of life today is closer to that of their European counterparts. That’s why it’s essential to use the word and, with the power of journalism, awaken the trails of memory. Reading these stories, we realize that it’s still April every day as long as every child grows up believing in freedom.

in O Referêncial – January-March of 2023

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)