Thousands of Portuguese took to the streets of over 20 towns and cities on Saturday, February 1, demanding an end to the coalition government’s austerity measures and calling for a new leadership with different policies.
After a few heady days where PSD/CDS-PP policymakers basked in praise for having met last year’s budget deficit targets, it was ‘back to reality’ in Portugal.
Promising a fight “all the way to the European elections”, CGTP union boss Arménio Carlos gave his own reasons for the “impossibility” of Portugal satisfying the Troika and exiting the country’s adjustment programme without more controls.
“There can be no clean exits with 1,400,000 people out of work, unmanageable debt, insupportable interest payments and a State Budget that sees us tied to policies that cut investment, reduce the State’s social functions and fuel poverty by increasing exploitation and inequality,” he said.
Vowing to crank demonstrations up right through to March, the leader of the CGTP workers’ union exhorted Portuguese voters to take advantage of the European elections to “show a red card to those there, as well as those here”, highlighting the fact that “they are committed to policies that are ruining our lives and hinder the development of the country”.
He said the Portuguese should use the elections to make a stand for “the left and sovereignty”.
However, the well-attended protests up and down the country – as well as in Madeira and the Azores – received scant mention in the national press.
The largest demonstration was in Lisbon, starting at Cais de Sodré and slowly winding its way to Praça dos Restauradores.
Arménio Carlos also stressed the importance of a “no-holds-barred” calendar of protests, saying the next “big one” would come on March 8 to signal the International Women’s Day.
Throughout the week of March 8 to 15, under the slogan “enough of injustice and inequality”, there should be “strikes, go-slows and other actions” all over the country, he said, with “the resolution of problems affecting workers’ lives being the central objective”.
Photo: CGTP union boss Arménio Carlos
