The Central Committee of the PCP, meeting on March 1 and 2, 2026, analysed the evolution of the international situation and the developments in the national situation, outlined the tasks ahead for the Party's intervention, initiative and organisation, and adopted the Resolution “A stronger PCP. It is necessary! It is possible!”

I - International situation

1. The escalation of confrontation and aggression promoted by imperialism, inseparable from the structural crisis of capitalism and the difficulties faced by the major capitalist powers, represents the most serious threat to the peoples of the world.

The significant increase in the aggressiveness of US imperialism, in open confrontation with the principles of the UN Charter and international law, is responsible for the serious worsening of the international situation.

The US is seeking, by all means at its disposal, to counter its decline and ensure its dominance on the world stage, betting on increased confrontation and attacks on the sovereignty and rights of peoples, announcing its intention to impose neocolonial and colonial tutelage and control over resources, strategic infrastructure and markets.

Using its military, economic, political and ideological manipulation power, the US, with the support of its allies, intensifies blackmail, destabilisation and aggression, targeting in particular those countries and peoples that resist imperialism's attempts and assert their sovereignty and rights, seeking to impose their economic and political isolation, prevent or contain their development and hinder their bilateral or multilateral relations of cooperation.

This violent onslaught, while reflecting the difficulties and limitations of imperialism's actions, sets in motion a whole plan, increasing pressure – particularly in the military field – to try to contain and reverse positive trends at the global level and create the conditions that best enable the US to wage its battle against China, which it points as its strategic adversary.

2. Imperialism’s aggressive escalation is articulated with a brutal offensive by big capital aimed at intensifying exploitation, attacking labour and social rights, democratic freedoms and rights, and promoting anti-democratic, reactionary and fascist concepts, forces and projects.

More than a show of strength, the increase in violent confrontation led by the US, with the alignment and subordination of the other imperialist powers that make up the G7, NATO and the European Union, is inseparable from the impasses and lack of solutions to overcome serious internal problems and contradictions. These problems and contradictions reflect an economic reality marked by financialization, parasitism, rentier, speculative and criminal activities, deindustrialisation processes, growing indebtedness, increasing centralisation and concentration of capital and wealth, and a brutal increase in social inequalities.

The increasing bet on confrontation, militarism and war shows that the US is unable to continue imposing its hegemony with the economic rules and instruments that it itself dictated and imposed on the world since the end of World War II and, above all, after the end of the Soviet Union.

3. The proclamation of the primacy of US imperialist interests, even above those of its allies, has exacerbated cleavages and highlighted contradictions between the US and the other imperialist powers that make up the G7, leading to growing mistrust and unease. These cleavages and contradictions, however, do not call into question their concertation on the policy of confrontation, militarism, increased military spending, war, increased exploitation and attacks on the rights and sovereignty of peoples.

In this context, the warmongering escalation of the European powers of NATO and the EU is particularly serious, intensifying war propaganda, stirring up false external threats to justify the arms race, prolonging the war in Ukraine and counteracting possibilities for dialogue that could pave the way for a political solution to the conflict, peace and collective security in Europe. A warmongering escalation that diverts billions of euros of public resources to the military-industrial complex, mainly from the US, at the expense of the living conditions of workers and peoples and the indebtedness of countries.

4. The Central Committee of the PCP strongly condemns the continuation of Israel's genocidal policy against the Palestinian people, with the support and complicity of the US and the EU; the US military aggression against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the abduction of its President, Nicolás Maduro; the escalation of US aggression against socialist Cuba, with the worsening of the blockade; as well as the military aggression of the US and Israel against Iran, which further destabilises the entire situation in the Middle East and entails serious consequences.

The Central Committee of the PCP condemns the shameful alignment and subordination of the Portuguese Government to the strategy and purposes of US imperialism and the imperialist powers of NATO and the EU – an example of which is the permission to use the Lajes Base in the Azores for operations of aggression against other peoples, namely Iran – which violate the principles of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and international law and are contrary to the interests of the Portuguese people.

5. In view of the aggressive escalation led by US imperialism, with the threats it poses, including for the future of Humanity, the struggle of workers and peoples is decisive in favour of Peace, rights, sovereignty and internationalist solidarity; the strengthening of communist parties and their cooperation within the international communist and revolutionary movement; the convergence of a broad anti-imperialist front that can contain and push back imperialism and pave the way for the construction of a new international order of peace and social progress.

The Central Committee of the PCP calls for the continuation and expansion of the struggle for Peace and disarmament, for the dissolution of NATO and the rejection of the militarisation of the EU, for the establishment of a collective security system, as well as solidarity with the Palestinian people's struggle for the implementation of their national rights and for an end to the policy of genocide that continues to be carried out by Israel, with the complicity of the US and the EU; with socialist Cuba and for an end to the blockade imposed by the US and its escalating worsening; with Bolivarian Venezuela and the struggle of the Venezuelan people in defence of their homeland and for the release of President Nicolás Maduro and MP Cilia Flores from prison in the US; with the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Europe and around the world who are resisting the threats, interference and aggression by imperialism, defending their sovereignty and rights.

II - National situation

1. The national situation, following an electoral cycle and the resulting institutional configuration, is marked by intense class struggle, by open conflict between those who seek to complete the counter-revolutionary process – in confrontation with the Constitution of the Republic – and the forces that resist it. This conflict, accompanied by an intense ideological offensive to support the ruling classes' agenda of exploitation, lays bare the irreconcilable contradiction between the interests of the monopoly bourgeoisie and those who oppose them in their struggle: the workers, the youth, the people, who are increasingly subject to exploitation and injustice.

The current institutional framework and the resulting balance of power favour the dominance of an economic power present in all spheres of national life, which benefits, in pursuit of its objectives, from the actions of the Government and other political forces and finds support in the main bodies of sovereignty. It is in this context, which involves the intensification of a retrograde, neoliberal and anti-social agenda that attacks rights, democratic freedoms and the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, that the Party and the workers are called upon to intervene. An intervention that is decisive to resist and fight setbacks, but also to affirm, guarantee and win rights, proving that while the power of those who dominate should not be underestimated, the strength and struggle of the workers and the people are there to oppose it.

2. The PSD/CDS Government's clear policy of favouring the interests of economic groups, which benefits from the commitment and support of Chega and IL and counts on the active complicity and permissiveness of the PS, is accompanied by an offensive on the political, economic, social and cultural fronts.

This offensive aims to increase exploitation and attack labour rights, roll back social rights, deteriorate public services, healthcare, education and social security, promote privatisations, or weaken public structures and capacities through a so-called reform of the State, reconfiguring it according to the interests of economic groups, heightening injustices and inequalities and jeopardising economic development and the sovereign affirmation of national interests.

An offensive that is characterised, on an ideological level, by intense and coordinated manipulation and demagoguery which, through powerful means, aims to promote ideas favourable to the agenda and objectives of big capital and reactionary forces, but which does not erase the profound injustices, weaknesses, constraints and dependencies that mark national life.

A situation in which, due to submission to the impositions of the European Union and the Euro, public investment and the response to problems are collapsing, and in which the opulence of the profits and tax benefits of economic groups contrasts with the low incomes of the overwhelming majority of the workers and the people, who are struggling to cope with the brutal increase in the prices of essential services and goods, particularly food.

The response to the country's problems will not be achieved by resorting to the blackmail of the “lesser evil”, which has not only failed to solve the problems of the workers and the people, but has exacerbated them, while paving the way for a reactionary drift.

3. The Central Committee of the PCP reiterates the particular seriousness of the Labour Package, a project that attacks labour rights and constitutes a declaration of war by the PSD/CDS Government and big capital on workers, which was rejected with the remarkable success of the General Strike on December 11, as well as with the large demonstrations and other actions of struggle that continue with the aim of defeating it.

The deterioration of the National Health Service is deepening, with the closure of services, delays in response, lack of valorisation of its professionals, transfer of public resources to private groups, namely with the creation of new PPPs in healthcare, aiming to favour the business of disease; in terms of housing, a policy of favouring speculative activity continues, with consequences in terms of price increases – around 30% in just three years – and the growing denial of this right enshrined in the Constitution; and the attack on Public Schools continues, paving the way for the interests of private groups in this sector.

The policy that the PSD/CDS Government intends to pursue and intensify is still evident: in plans to attack Social Security under the pretext of European Union deliberations; in the privatisation of TAP and part of SATA or in the intention to privatise the most profitable lines of CP; in the takeover of Galp by Moeve (formerly Cepsa), with the Government's blessing; in the acceptance of the threat and blackmail by CTT in relation to the postal service; or in the announced renewal of road PPPs. These intentions and measures confirm an agenda that aims not to respond to the Country's problems but to bow to the interests of big capital.

The diversion of billions of euros in tax revenue to the main economic groups – through the reduction of IRC (corporate income tax), tax benefits and tax breaks, among other measures – is equally revealing of the choice in favour of the interests of big capital, while at the same time claiming that there are no resources to meet the Country's collective needs and public investment continues to fall far short of the needs, with the planned measures not being implemented, as was the case under PS governments.

The Central Committee of the PCP also warns of the consequences of subordination to EU policies and impositions and to the interests of the major powers, clearly expressed in the recent EU/Mercosur agreement, which poses a serious threat to productive sectors, particularly small and medium-sized agriculture and family farming; in the debate on the budget and EU funds after 2027, including the CAP; in dragging Portugal into increased spending on the arms industry and the escalation of war; or in the unenforceable rules for implementing the PRR, an instrument that not only fell short of what was propagated, but also served to channel large millions of euros to economic groups and multinationals.

4. The country is confronted, as a result of decades of right-wing policies, with structural deficits and problems that came to light again with particular evidence.

The serious consequences of the storms and inclement weather, and the late, uncoordinated, and insufficient response of the PSD/CDS Government, lay bare not only its inadequate choices and actions, but also a Country with serious problems of critical infrastructure security and sovereignty, with political power at the beck and call of economic power, and a State lacking the means and instruments to respond to the devastation that has struck the territory.

Denouncing the propaganda operation of successive announcements, which includes the so-called PTRR, without precise identification of the measures to be adopted and the means to support the investments to be made, the Central Committee of the PCP emphasises the urgency of, without prejudice to the requirement that insurance companies fulfil all their obligations, providing answers: to the populations, so that they can rebuild their homes and resume their lives; to the companies, so that they resume operations while safeguarding full wages, jobs, and rights of the workers; to Local Government authorities, so that they replace equipment and infrastructure serving the populations; to public companies and decentralized bodies of the Public Administration, so that they carry out urgent and structural interventions; to the structures of the associative movement, so that they resume their activities.

In this regard, the PCP has been advocating for an integrated plan to respond to the impacts of the storms, covering the entire affected national territory, guaranteeing the protection of wages and rights for workers, support and income for SMEs, farmers and fishermen, ensuring the reconstruction of homes, equipment and infrastructure, as well as the restoration of productive capacity, aiming to overcome the shortcomings of the response presented by the PSD/CDS Government.

The Central Committee of the PCP also calls for the provision of the necessary resources for interventions and major works to prevent the effects of catastrophes, drawing particular attention to the measures needed to prepare the Country to prevent and deal with the danger of forest fires.

5. The conditions under which the Party, mass organisations and movements, democrats and patriots, the workers and the people are called upon to intervene and fight are more demanding today. There is an intensified attempt to condition opinion, attitudes and positions on a mass scale through the dissemination of lies, anti-communism, xenophobia and racism, promotion of prejudices and stereotypes, division, isolation and the weakening of the action and organisation of the workers and the people in the face of the interests of capital. Conceptions contrary to freedom and democracy, the rewriting of history, attacks on the values and achievements of April, and the glorification of war are increasing. What is presented as new is the most retrograde and outdated aspect of capitalism, with the exacerbation of individualism, the breakdown of solidarity ties, and the devaluation and questioning of the essential role of the State in promoting social rights and the development of the Country. Reactionary discourses, forces, and interventions that have no place in democratic Portugal are normalised.

The Central Committee of the PCP reaffirms that overcoming the problems of the workers, the people, and the Country requires clarity, courage, and initiative. Clarity in denouncing injustices, the nature of economic groups, and clarifying the central role of the confrontation between labour and capital. Clarity in identifying Chega and IL with the interests of big capital and the policies of the PSD/CDS Government. Clarity in denouncing the PS's commitments to the PSD/CDS Government and its support for making viable its policies. Courage in defending freedom, democracy, and the fulfilment of the Constitution. Courage in combating right-wing politics and demanding a break with the path of national disaster. Courage to confront the impositions of the EU and to denounce the aggressive action of imperialism and defend Peace. Initiative in boosting the struggle, strengthening mass organisations, and in the convergent action of communists with other democrats and patriots. Initiative in the action and strengthening of the PCP, with its irreplaceable role. Initiative in affirming the patriotic and left-wing alternative, and not its dilution, which would serve the interests of capital and further fuel reactionary projects and forces. Initiative in denouncing capitalism, which is the basis of the main problems faced by the workers, the people, and the Country, and in pointing the way to its revolutionary overcoming.

III - Mass struggle

The national situation and the lives of the workers and the people confirm the importance of developing the mass struggle, with its intensification, expansion, and convergence, as a decisive factor in confronting and defeating the objectives of increasing exploitation, degrading public services, and attacking the rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Following the major General Strike of December 11, the Central Committee of the PCP stresses the importance of the struggles carried out in workplaces, companies, and on the streets, based on the demands of the people, and which had as its defining moments the national day against the Labour Package; the demonstration of January 13, in which more than 190,000 signatures were handed to the Prime Minister; and the general mobilisation action "Down with the Labour Package. A better life is possible. More wages, Rights, and Public Services," which culminated in the large demonstrations of February 28 in Lisbon and Porto – initiatives promoted by the CGTP-IN.

In view of the ongoing offensive, which has its most visible expression in the Labour Package, the continuation of the struggle for its defeat and for the repeal of the grievous norms of labour legislation is crucial and must continue, articulated with action and claims for increased wages and rights, starting in companies and workplaces, especially in the mobilisation for the National Demonstration of Working Youth on March 28, promoted by CGTP-IN/Interjovem, and in preparation for the great day of struggle on May 1.

The struggle of women around March 8, International Women's Day, is also highlighted, with particular emphasis on the national demonstration called by MDM in dozens of locations and on the Equality Week promoted by CGTP-IN/CIMH, from March 2 to 8.

The struggles of the populations assume important significance; those of healthcare service users in defence and for the strengthening of the NHS; for the right to housing, especially the actions called for March 21; as well as those of the students on March 24, National Student Day.

The actions promoted by the National Confederation of Agriculture to alert the Assembly of the Republic and the Government to the difficult situation faced by farmers and the action of milk and meat producers in the district of Aveiro, called for March 4, are also valued.

In view of the escalation of confrontation, interference and aggression promoted by US imperialism and its allies, the action for Peace that has been developed and that must continue stands out, especially in the demonstrations called by various organisations for March 14, in Lisbon and Porto, in favour of “Peace, sovereignty and solidarity. End the threats and aggressions of the US”.

IV - Intervention of the Party

1. The political, economic, and social framework, along with the evolution of the international situation, confirms the need for intervention in accordance with the priorities decided at the XXII Congress of the Party.

This intervention requires, as was then emphasised, the integrated implementation of political initiatives, mass struggle, the strengthening of unitary mass organisations, action with other democrats and patriots, and the reinforcement of the Party.

In a context of an intense ideological offensive, which includes the wiping out and distortion of the PCP's positions and interventions, aimed at facilitating the worsening of exploitation and injustices, democratic regression, and the subordination of the Country, it is imperative to denounce and fight misinformation, lies, and censorship, as well as to take measures that deepen the Party's connection to the masses and confront attempts to silence the PCP.

2. The Central Committee of the PCP underlines the importance of the political initiative of the Party's organisations, centred on the problems of the workers and the population, and articulated with the affirmation of its project and identity.

In this sense, they call for the Party's initiative, as well as a specific and at the same time convergent response from the workers and the people: the claiming action in companies and workplaces and the development of the mass struggle against the Labour Package and for the valorisation of workers' wages and rights; the 50th. anniversary of the promulgation of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic; the defence of public services and the denunciation of the so-called Reform of the State and the privatisation processes of strategic companies, such as TAP, SATA or CP; the right to housing; the interests of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, farmers and fishermen; the struggle in defence of peace and internationalist solidarity, against the offensive of imperialism.

Lines of work and intervention objectives that, with the PCP as the driving force, call for action aimed at the involvement, participation and convergence of the various anti-monopoly sectors and that integrate, in addition to workers, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, farmers and fishermen, women, youth, the elderly, users of public services, namely the NHS, and all democrats and patriots.

In view of the demands placed on the Party's work, the Central Committee of the PCP points out the following lines of work:

• the development of the national action "Another course for the Country. Reject the Labour Package, exploitation and injustice", at the outset for its contribution to the development of the mass struggle;

• the development of the action "Storms 2026 - Respond, resolve and prevent", denouncing the Government's inability to respond to situations such as the devastation caused by successive storms, the choices that are at the root of the difficulties experienced, and affirming proposals for solving the problems and demanding their implementation, in close connection with the workers and affected populations;

• the defence of the right to housing, in view of rising costs and against the promotion of real estate speculation;

• the defence of the NHS emphasising the importance of mobilising the Portuguese people, calling for protests and struggles in defence of the NHS on April 21 in all districts of the country;

• the initiative in the framework of the Assembly of the Republic and the European Parliament aimed at solving the problems of the workers, the people and the Country, defending national sovereignty, peace and cooperation;

• the celebrations of the 105th. anniversary of the PCP, which is celebrated on March 6, under the motto “Project. Struggle. Confidence”;

• the clarification and mobilisation in defence of Peace and for the end of war, for solidarity with Palestine, Cuba, Venezuela and other peoples facing the action of US imperialism and its allies;

• the celebrations of the 50th. anniversary of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, on April 2, and the celebrations of the 52nd. anniversary of 25th. of April, bringing together those who understand the need to affirm, defend and comply with the Constitution – namely in what it enshrines in matters of labour rights, healthcare, housing or education, which meet the interests and aspirations of the population – and the development of unitary political work, with a view to expanding the participation of democrats and patriots in the defence of the democratic regime;

• The preparation for the May Day struggle, within the dynamics of the development of mass struggle, especially the struggle against the Labour Package;

• The preparation of the 50th. Avante! Festival, which takes place on September 4, 5 and 6, namely with the revitalisation of the various aspects of its organisation, affirmation, dissemination and sale of the EP (Entry Pass);

3. The Central Committee of the PCP adopted the Resolution “A stronger PCP. It is necessary! It is possible!”, concerning the Party and the strengthening of its organisation and intervention. Reiterating the assessment that the PCP carries out its actions under difficult conditions, supported by the intervention of a dedicated militant collective, with political, ideological and intervention courage, and aware of the demands and challenges to be faced, the resolution defines the tasks and measures necessary to fulfil the Party's role in current and future conditions.

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Aware of the demands placed on the Party and the complex circumstances in which communists and other democrats and patriots intervene, the Central Committee of the PCP underlines the potential that the current situation presents for the development of action and struggle. It particularly emphasises its confidence in the party collective, in its capacity, dedication, and courage, and calls for militant engagement in initiative and intervention for immediate objectives of struggle, for a break with right-wing politics and the affirmation of the patriotic and left-wing alternative, on the path to an advanced democracy with the values of April, with socialism and communism as its perspective.