On this day, when the national celebration for democracy coincides with the national mourning for the death of Pope Francis, we would like to extend, on behalf of the PCP, our sorrow and condolences to all Catholics and their Church, and express our appreciation and deep respect for Pope Francis' actions in favour of dialogue and against intolerance, and his great closeness to the causes of Peace and the defence of the economic and social rights of those excluded from this society subjected to financial interests.
51 years ago, the military of April, crowning the long resistance of the Portuguese people, liberated Portugal from a 48-year terrorist dictatorship which, based on corruption, the suppression of freedoms and a hateful repressive apparatus at the service of a monopolistic oligarchy, doomed the country to misery and obscurantism, and sacrificed an entire generation of young Portuguese in a war with no end in sight.
And exactly 50 years ago, in fulfilment of the Programme of the Armed Forces Movement, 91.6 % of Portuguese over the age of 18 voted in freedom for the first time. Men and women, without discrimination, turned out en masse to elect the Constituent Assembly, whose members were able to carry out the honourable task of drawing up the first truly democratic Constitution in our history, with wisdom and in line with the deep feelings of the people who elected them, and which we have an inalienable duty to defend and enforce.
Most of those who voted then are no longer with us, but they left a testimony to History of civic commitment, of joy in the exercise of freedoms, of hope in building a better life that, 50 years on, we have a duty to carry into the present and into the future and to fight to ensure that this hope is not betrayed.
On this day when we celebrate freedom and democracy, it is a day to honour the military of April and the constituent MPs, without ever forgetting the anti-fascist resistants who, facing repression, jail and torture and even sacrificing their own lives, were willing to suffer everything so that, once the freedom they fought for had been won, we could all fight for our convictions without suffering the trials they had to bear.
For many Portuguese, the moment we are experiencing can be one of disenchantment, disappointment and disbelief. Disenchantment with the failure to fulfil promises made and the letdown of expectations created; disappointment with a government action that is far removed from the promises made and insensitive to people's real concerns; disbelief at a political practice that does not contribute to solving the problems of the people and the Country.
Democracy is today under threat from those who seek to denigrate and destroy its achievements, but the decades-long struggle of the Portuguese people for freedom and democracy, the progressive changes achieved in the April Revolution, the capacity for struggle already demonstrated in numerous situations by workers and the population in defence of their rights, and the vitality with which the affirmation of April's values is present in the new generations, are reasons for confidence that Portuguese democracy is strong enough to defeat its enemies. Reasons for confidence that today, as yesterday, show that it is in the hands of the people and their action to materialise the better life that April ushered in.
At the antipodes of a retrograde, obscurantist and profoundly reactionary right-wing, there are the capacities and the courage needed to affirm the values of democracy and for the just social discontent to become a force in the struggle for progressive social change.
The alternative will have to be built by those who, with courage and coherence, fight for a policy that values labour and workers, that respects the economic, social and cultural rights of our people, that fights for peace and national independence.
Democracy is defended and affirmed in the struggles of workers in companies and workplaces for better wages and more decent working conditions; in the struggles of people for better access to the National Health Service; in the struggles of pensioners for better living conditions; in demonstrations for the right to housing; in the struggles of students against tuition fees and for access to education and teaching; in the struggles for the right to cultural creation and enjoyment; in the women's struggles for equality; in the struggles against racism and xenophobia, and against all forms of discrimination and violence; in the resistance to an arrogant and obscurantist far-right that, claiming to be against the system, represents the worst of the system; in the grandiose popular celebrations of 25th. April and May Day; in the resistance to an oligarchic Eurocracy that is increasingly distant from the people; in the demonstrations for peace, against all wars and against the normalisation of the extermination of the Palestinian people at the hands of Zionism; in the elections, transforming struggles into votes and giving more strength to those in this Assembly of the Republic who, in the words of the communist poet and Constituent MP Manuel Gusmão, represent ‘the hope that does not wait’ and have the courage to never give up transforming into certainties the best hopes of April.
Long live the 25th. of April.
Long live Portugal.