CONTEXT AND BACKGROUND
Like other countries, Portugal has experienced some troubled times throughout its history, such as the post-liberal period in the 19th century, culminating in the Implantation of the Republic on October 5, 1910.
The struggles between the Liberals and the Miguelists (the brothers Pedro and Miguel) led to the victory of the Liberals, which brought Portugal a period of development that can be compared, with the necessary corrections, to the period after April 25, 1974.
The Implantation of the Republic, on October 5, 1910, was a revolt against the monarchy and, above all, against the potent powers of the Church at the time.
Another troubled period followed, with successive replacements of the Republic’s powers, causing political instability that was perhaps unprecedented in our history.
The events were conducive to the emergence of a military coup, the famous May 28, 1926, which would be assumed as the “National Dictatorship” (1926-1933) in 1928, with Carmona’s presidential mandate. A new Constitution was drawn up in 1933.
Oliveira Salazar took power with an authoritarian regime: he created the National Union, a one-party regime without universal elections; he made the International Police and State Defense (PIDE), later transformed into the General Directorate of Security (DGS), the regime’s political police; he instituted censorship in all media; he imprisoned various opponents; he conditioned industrial progress by protecting industrial and financial groups; he maintained and developed the Colonial War; all this became known as the “Estado Novo” (1933-1974).
Despite the apology of a state “with full coffers,” most of the country lived in extreme poverty, leaving many to emigrate and others to go into exile. The children of the people had to fight in the wars in the so-called Portuguese colonies – Mozambique, Angola, Guinea, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Cape Verde, where many lost their lives.
In 1968, António Oliveira Salazar was removed from office due to incapacity following the much-talked-about fall from a chair in which he suffered brain damage. He was replaced by Marcelo Caetano, who would be deposed on April 25, 1974.
After Salazar was ousted, there was some excitement about Marcelo Caetano’s rule, the so-called Marcelist Spring, but no substantial changes.
With its colonial policy, Portugal became highly criticized in many international circles, particularly at the UN. While other European countries were developing, Portugal was stagnating.
The first colonial loss came in 1961 when Portugal had to leave the enclaves of Goa, Daman, and Diu in a hurry.
In addition to poverty, repression, and budgetary problems, the armed forces began to organize themselves to overthrow the dictatorial regime and end the Colonial War, during which independence movements gained ground. General António de Spínola’s book Portugal and the Future was decisive in this overthrow.
In this context, the military coup, the Revolution of April 25, 1974, led by the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) military, took place in the early hours of that day; with great military movement, but with the great support of the population. Two officers became widely known as significant participants in the Revolution: Salgueiro Maia and Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho.
The April 25 Revolution became known as the Carnation Revolution because the flower was used in many places and props. Grândola Vila Morena became known as the song linked to the event, as it was the song played (password) on the radio for the start of the coup.
MY APRIL 25th of 1974
By force of circumstance and with great pleasure, I started working at a very young age in Angra do Heroísmo: at the age of 10, during the long summer vacation, with my father, who was a whitewasher; at the age of 11, full-time, at Casa de Bordados José Ramalho, followed by Taberna do Pão de Milho, Armazém Zeferino and, finally, at the age of 12, at Agência do Barcos in Praça Velha, until 1981, when I started working as an entrepreneur.
I worked for the longest time at the agency, and I can say without a doubt that it was a school for my future life. It had good people, work, hours, pay, etc. I started as an errand boy and ended up as a clerk.
As a result of my work dealing with boat arrivals and passenger lists, I must have been the person who most often entered the PIDE offices (1970-1974) in Angra do Heroísmo, located in Rua da Palácio, opposite the Episcopal Seminary of Angra. I have neither good nor bad memories of the place. My job was administrative, so I never witnessed anything related to the political repression of the time. Most agents looked in good spirits, except for two who looked like “few friends.”
Due to circumstances, I had only completed the 4th grade of elementary school. Still, my parents sponsored a so-called “entrance exam,” which was required to enter a preparatory school. Before working, they wanted me to take this 6th grade (called the Preparatory Cycle). I understood that our family life required me to participate in work, so I postponed that goal.
I lived, and still live, in the parish of São Mateus, about five kilometers from the city of Angra, home to the Liceu and the Escola Industrial, the educational establishments that taught these courses. The Industrial School had evening classes, but the lack of public transportation and the lousy winter weather meant many people, like me, didn’t attend.
In my parish of São Mateus, in the 1960s, three people did a lot for it: Urbano da Silva, a native of the island of Pico, married to a woman from São Mateus, and an employee of the American Base in Lajes; Januário Pacheco, then parish priest of the parish; and Manuel Gabriel Martins Gomes, married to a woman from the parish, and an elementary school teacher. In 1968, they joined forces to teach English in one of the rooms of the parish church to various applicants for jobs at the Lajes Base.
In the following years, the same group started evening external teaching for the Preparatory Cycle, called the 1st and 2nd years (5th and 6th grades), in one year only, with an external exam. Secondary education, grades 3 to 5 (grades 7 to 9) was also taught in just one year, with an external exam. In both cases, success was very evident. About three years after it started, it moved to Forte Grande, also in São Mateus.
I called this vibrant experience of free education the “University of São Mateus” in my book História de São Mateus. In addition to teachers who were qualified to teach, those who graduated taught the following year to those who were starting.
Most of the parish’s future leaders came from this group of well-intentioned and dedicated people who had some vision and political training. Cultural training transformed the parish, not the injection of money from subsidies.
Before April 25, 1974, most of these “University” members were already waiting for it; they didn’t know when it would arrive. On that Thursday, as on the other days, we went to class in the evening, but the atmosphere was so joyful that we got together in the cars we could and went to the center of Angra to sing the National Anthem. It was the first demonstration in Angra.
Like everyone else, I had spent the day at my workplace, but in my eagerness to learn more, when information was scarce, I bought a small “battery radio” to follow the events. In the evening, I joined the others in the car parade through the streets of Angra.
Militants emerged from this group for almost every party on the political scene at the time.
Long live Freedom.
Casa da Terra Alta, February 8, 2024
Liduíno Borba Editor and writer
This presentation was made to two Portuguese Language and Cultural Classes at California State University, Fresno, and Tulare Join Union High School District in Tulare for the community. Here are some images.
Liduino Borba is the editor and owner of Turiscon Editora, which was created in 2007. Since then, he has published 102 books. He has also authored and published 30 books dedicated to the Diaspora in North America, mainly in California.
Filamentos thanks the Luso-American Financial for their continued support of PBBI-Fresno State.
Filamentos (artes e letras) 