National Issues

Restrictions on 5G: Portugal needs to diversify economic relations instead of letting itself be captured by interests that are not its own

1. The PCP considers of enormous gravity the decision to exclude from 5G networks – for alleged security reasons –the technology of countries that are not part of NATO, the EU, or the OECD. This decision, which goes even further than what was "demanded" of the country by the US and the EU (in an unacceptable exercise of external imposition), is directed against countries like Brazil, China and India, which are not only some of the largest world economies but also traditional partners, with whom Portugal has developed economic relations for a long time.

«We reject the assumption that the Interior is doomed. It is not and we do not accept that they doom it»

Here we are holding our parliamentary conference in Serra da Estrela. Yet another opportunity to talk about the problems that the workers, the people and the country face, at the national level, but also in the districts of Castelo Branco and Guarda. And, more than the problems, the solutions, in districts that have registered a sharp loss of population in recent years.

Stop the war! Give Peace a chance!

We are in a situation where war is spreading across the world, from Syria, to Sudan, in Palestine, Yemen, Ukraine, with a dimension that we all know well. And what is being asked at this moment is to create all the conditions to put an end to war and give an opportunity for peace, like the call for this initiative today.

Escalation of interest rates favours banks, harms the people and the country

The ECB announced today the eighth consecutive increase in the reference interest rate, raising it, for now, by another 25 basis points, that is, from 3.75% to 4%, in a movement that, without measuring the consequences, will be repeated in July as announced.

Wage, price and profit – A topical issue

First, I would like to thank the valuable contribution of all those who shared their opinions here on fundamental issues that span Portuguese society, from the world of labour to economic and social relations. Opinions on unavoidable and highly topical issues. The people and the country are rocked by a higher inflation than has been admitted, lengthier than some announced and certainly unfairer in the distribution of its impacts than they would have us believe. The starting point for this debate was Marx's text, “Wage, Price and Profit”.

The decisive factor is to be there, to organise the workers from within, to respond with the class struggle to the onslaught of big capital.

Here we are in this great initiative in the context of the action «More strength to the workers». An action that reinforced our presence in companies and workplaces and where we contacted thousands of workers. A work that is important to continue and intensify, at the gates of companies and workplaces, but above all inside and inserted in the concrete problems and in the definition of the ways to overcome them.

A great mass action demanding access to health care and defense of the National Health Service

This was a large mass action, demanding better conditions. People are here today, and in Oporto, and this morning in Coimbra, in great force, demanding access to health care. There are 1.6 million people without a family doctor: this is a problem of great dimension. The problem of retaining professionals in the National Health Service, valuing the National Health Service, ensuring that everyone has access to medical care – this is what we need a response to, not other matters with which we are merely wasting time, this is what demands solutions.

Seventh consecutive increase in interest rates worsens the situation of the People and the Country

The European Central Bank – ECB - announced yesterday a new increase in the reference interest rate by 25 basis points, setting it, for now, at 3.75%. It is the seventh increase since July 2022 and, according to the ECB itself, it will not stop here.

Dream on, so that, with great joy, you can transform the present we have into a better life, transform the dream into life.

On behalf of the leadership of the Party, I extend a warm, fraternal and heartfelt greeting to all of you, to all students and youth. It is a source of pride to be here and to know that the young communists are, each passing day, stronger, more connected to the youthful masses.

The state of science in Portugal

The holding of this hearing, which is now ending, is part of the Science and Technology Roadmap that the PCP is carrying out and which includes a series of visits to research centres, such as those already carried out at the Gulbenkian Institute of Science and the Renewables Energies Chair of the University of Évora. A hearing that portrays the current situation in the sector, the profound difficulties faced by its workers, the real potential that exists to move forward, as well as the fairness and urgency of our proposals.