On behalf of the Portuguese Communist Party, I would like to greet and thank all those who participate in this session of remembrance of the birth of Urbano Tavares Rodrigues, this man of culture, writer, teacher and communist militant, born 100 years ago.
An undeniable figure in Portuguese literature, in all fields of writing – from journalism to novels, novels, short stories, plays, poetry, chronicles, essays, travels – whatever the form, the human values that guided the life of Urbano were always present.
A man whose generosity was unmistakable in every moment, as Manuel Gusmão so well portrayed.
From theatre reviews, where he forced himself “to find that minimum that deserves respect for the helplessness of those who expose themselves”, to presentations and prefaces to books by newcomers, “in an attempt to cherish the small spark of talent, to promote the gestures of possible creativity.”
He was born in Lisbon, but early on, while still a child, his family settled in Moura, in Alentejo.
In that Alentejo, which is an indelible mark on his creation, but also on the creator, in his literary work and in his political and party choices.
Urbano discovered a lot, learnt and travelled, but it was in Alentejo that he always left the innermost part of himself.
In his own words: «What is quite certain is that I have known the pleasure of writing above all by evoking, reinventing, and writing the Alentejo, which may seem paradoxical, since some of these stories are dark, dramatic, like the fate of the people with whom I grew up and with whom I opened my eyes to life.”
When just over 20 years old, he began working at Diário de Notícias and, as a journalist, he also works at Diário de Lisboa and O Século.
His first fiction book, “A Porta dos Limites”, was published in 1952.
His first novel, “Bastardos do Sol”, was published in 1959, the year in which he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Writers Society.
At the Congress of the European Community of Writers, in Rome, he denounces the destruction of the Portuguese Society of Writers by PIDE political police, following the award given to the book “Luuanda”, by Luandino Vieira, at the time imprisoned in Tarrafal.
With political activity since early in his life, in 1947 he participated in the student strike in solidarity with medical students.
He participates in the electoral campaigns of General Norton de Matos and Humberto Delgado.
Urbano Tavares Rodrigues was one of the writers with the most books seized by the political police.
He would undergo several arrests throughout the sixties, in all of them subjected to brutal torture by PIDE and serving nearly 5 months of isolation in the Caxias political prison.
As José Casanova wrote in Avante! four days after the death of Urbano Tavares Rodrigues, «neither persecution, threats, arrests, nor torture made him slow down his practice of resistance».
In 1969, in the electoral campaign that intended to simulate democratic elections, he participated in the slate of the Democratic Electoral Commission of Beja and that same year he joined the Portuguese Communist Party.
And it is in the midst of fascism and in the midst of colonial war, at a time when lovers and fighters for peace were taking so many risks by fighting against the war and for solidarity and friendship between peoples and workers around the world, that Urbano Tavares Rodrigues actively participates in actions by the World Peace Council and the Portuguese Council for Peace and Cooperation.
He would join the World Peace Council and in 1971 he participated in the important Brussels Conference, preparatory to the Helsinki Conference on Peace and Disarmament.
A militancy for peace that constitutes an example of great and important topicality.
Today, as then, imperialism spares no means to justify and prolong war and massacre.
Today, as then, the PCP's coherent, important and firm defence of peace, against war, of solidarity, friendship, cooperation among the peoples of the entire world, in respect for international law and the United Nations Charter and the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference, proves to be not only fair but also an increasingly urgent need.
Today, just as at that time, the Peoples need peace and not war, and we would like to take this opportunity to send a strong, warm and heartfelt greeting to the people of the whole world and, at this moment in particular, to the heroic people of Palestine, urging the Government, once and for all, to recognise the Palestinian State, and to base its actions on respect for the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, compliance with United Nations resolutions, acting in favour of a permanent ceasefire and the end of the war.
At a time when the arms escalation and the real risks of a large-scale conflict, with all the dangers and developments that could result from it, it is the right time to remember the action, the example and the fight for peace carried out by Urbano Tavares Rodrigues, an example that drives and inspires us today.
After being forced, following support for Humberto Delgado's candidacy, to abandon his position as assistant professor at the Faculty of Arts of Lisbon, where he began teaching in 1957, Urbano Tavares Rodrigues was invited to return after the 25th. of April.
He had an active intervention in the revolutionary process and in the struggle to defend the achievements of the Revolution.
He was a PCP candidate for the Constituent Assembly.
He was part of the Intellectual Sector of the PCP’s Lisbon Organisation and was a candidate for MP representing the emigration circle.
He was elected president of the board of the Portuguese Writers Association in 1980, and, two years later, chaired the II Congress of Portuguese Writers.
In 2002, in addition to the honour he received at the Avante! Festival, he received the «Lifetime Literary Award», from the Portuguese Writers Association.
An award that began, the previous year, through the initiative and proposal of a group of more than 120 writers.
The award was a result of several factors, just one example of which is the long and continued literary creation, now exceeding 70 books, the work as a literary critic in numerous cultural magazines and newspapers, the participation in Literature congresses in numerous countries , or even for being part of numerous literary prize juries.
Deserved recognition for a figure who remains unique in our cultural and literary panorama.
This session takes place on the eve of the Government being dismissed and in a context marked by serious social problems reflected in low wages, the National Health Service, the right to housing, in the most varied spheres of our life, in which Culture is far from being an exception.
Culture continues to be forgotten, devalued and threatened.
So many cultural structures, eligible, but without support.
So many workers in Culture affected by low wages, precariousness, unregulated working hours, and so many other difficulties.
No budgetary manoeuvre, even if supported by a huge propaganda operation, can erase reality, and the reality is there, it is there and well expressed in the chronic under-budgeting of Culture.
We are not content with this situation, we are committed, as are the cultural agents, to changing the path, to changing the policy with regard to cultural production and enjoyment.
A new policy, the need and urgency of which is demonstrated every day, and which will be quicker to implement the greater the strength of the PCP and the development of the just and necessary intervention and struggle.
The time is to act, to fight, to affirm and reinforce the PCP and the CDU.
Next March 10 is an opportunity to make a change, it is an opportunity to vote and strengthen the CDU.
They can engage in surveys, they can try to draw lines around this or that, they can build all the scenarios they want, the only real line in everyday life is the one that separates those who defend the interests of economic groups and their 25 million euros of profits per day and those who defend the alternative of a general increase in wages, an increase in wages for all workers and in particular for the 3 million who earn up to 1000 euros per month.
This is the line between the bank and its 12 million euros in profits per day and the millions of people who are feeling squeezed every day, making every sacrifice to support their homes and their small business or company.
This is the line that separates the option of handing over 8 billion public euros to private disease business groups, and the alternative of saving the National Health Service, fixing professionals and responding to users' needs.
This is the line that separates policies at the service of the richest 5% who concentrate 42% of the wealth created and the difficult day-to-day lives of the two million who are in poverty, hundreds of thousands of children and the 72% of retired people with pensions below 500 euros.
This is the line that separates those who treat Culture as something secondary, those who believe in its commodification, who place obstacles to creation and enjoyment, who support and condemn cultural structures and projects to disappearance, and the alternative of aiming 1% of GDP in a near future and which defends a Public Cultural Service.
The fundamental line of every day, and that is there, is the one that separates the correct accounts of a few and the uncertainty in the everyday lives of many.
This is the great dividing line, the great confrontation, the great choice that is placed on March 10.
Let us therefore seize this opportunity, reinforcing the CDU with more votes, higher percentage, more elected MPs.
Right in the middle of the celebrations of the 50th. anniversary of the 25th. of April, which is one of the greatest moments in the History of our people, which is justly the event celebrated, celebrated, felt and cherished by our people, it takes on even greater significance for us to be present in this tribute to one of many builders of April, those who always defended its values, who fought reaction and counter-revolution, who participated, built and protected the achievements enshrined in the Constitution.
Let us remember the example and legacy of Urbano Tavares Rodrigues, who was always “on the side of those who suffer the blows”.
And he would be, as he was, until the end of his life, “on the side of the weak against the strong”.
It is with them, at their side, every day, in the workplace, in factories, in companies, in institutions, in schools, in healthcare centres, in public services, on the streets, that we will defend their labour, social, economic, political and cultural rights.
Here we are and we will be there, with them, by their side, every day, defending the interests and rights of those who work, of those who have worked, of those who produce wealth, of those who suffer discrimination, of those who suffer the blows, of those who have been weakened and exploited by a minority that thinks they own it all, but who are building unity, become aware of their strength, become aware that, as Urbano stated, “the group is the beginning of everything that a single man, locked in his prison, can never accomplish.”
And it is this group, this collective that sooner or later will take the destiny of their lives into their own hands.
