destroyed, with another 12 physically damaged In various towns in the north of Portugal local Communist militants have found themselves besieged by crowds, and have been forced to resort to the desperate measure of opening fire on their attackers in order to hold them at bay. This has created a vicious climate of hatred in which many working class militants have been forced to flee their homes and jobs.
This anti-communist campaign has, for the first time since the downfall of the old regime, given reactionaries the chance to appear openly and gain a mass hearing. It has created a very dangerous situation by opening up splits among the Portuguese masses, and strengthening the hand of pro-capitalist politicians and their co-thinkers in the armed forces.
In the face of this crisis-the most serious since the downfall of fascism-the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and its supporters in the Government have proved to be powerless. As the situation continues to get worse and the dangers grow, all they can do is issue vague calls for the 'unity of democratic forces' and appeals for 'order"
UNDERLINED
This was underlined by the most recent meeting of the PCP's Central Committee on 10 August, held to discuss how to meet the present danger. After deliberating for an entire day the Central Committee of this- the most powerful workers' organisation in the country-could come up with nothing but yet another appeal for order and unity, coupled with a few flimsy proposals to try and tackle the problems of the economy and decolonisation, and ... set up a fund to rebuild its headquarters that had been destroyed!
The dangerous paralysis of the Communist Party is no accident. It is a direct product of Catholic Church and exploited by all sorts of reactionary forces that have been lying low since the downfall of the fascist regime. While trade unions and various left-wing groups have been attacked, the brunt of this counter-revolutionary violence has been borne by the Communist Party, which has faced violent attacks in 12 of Portugal's 18 districts and seen its headquarters in 25 centres completely capitalist groups who were prepared to go 1 along with such a 'democratic and national At this time the PCP (again in line with stalinist theory) identified its capitalist allies as small and middle-sized businessmen, whom they saw as in conflict with the handful of great monopolies that dominated the Portuguese economy and served as the pillar of the fascist regime, which in turn fostered their interests.
But after 25 April the PCP found themselves in a very difficult position, for an important factor in ensuring the success of the coup was that it was supported by some of the most important monopolies, whose interests were no longer adequately served by the old regime. Thus the regime which followed the coup was headed by the foremost political spokesman of these groups, General Spinola, who was on the board of directors of a com. pany belonging to one monopoly, Champalimaud, and had his famous book Portugal and the Future published by a firm belonging to another, CUF.
Despite the reactionary background of Spinola and the strongly pro-monopolist colour of his regime, the PCP joined the Government at his invitation and loyally supported it. This led them into quietly swallowing a whole series of anti-working class measures, like the anti-strike laws and curbs on press freedom. In order to woo their potential allies among the ranks of small and middle capitalists, and ensure the monopolist Government of their responsibility', they went further and openly backed strike-breaking (as, for example, with the postal workers) and opposed militant measures to purge reactionaries from positions of influence (for example, the newspaper wotkers' struggle against the reactionary editor of Jornal do Comercio.)
MONOPOLISTS Only when the monopolists and their backers made an aggressive bid to take a tighter grip on the political reins through strengthening the power of Spinola as President did the PCP turn towards putting up a fight against the schemes of the monopoly capitalists. In the period leading up to the showdown on 28 September 1974 the PCP had worked to demobilise the masses and lull them into a false sense of security (they told the Lisbon newspaper workers, for example, that their struggle against reaction was 'only secondary').
The victory of the working class and left forces in this struggle was due only to their powerful position arising from the collapse of the fascist state and the political ferment in the army after 25 April, and to the important preparatory struggles carried on by the more far-sighted sections of the working class against the opposition of the Communist Party. (What this victory proves, incidentally, is that the working class had sufficient power tionism. immense prestige in the country. heart of that programme, but it now had a choice of how to organise this class-collaboraOn the one hand, it could base itself on continuing the present coalition Government which included outright capitalist representatives (the Popular Democrats) and the pro-capitalist leaders of the Socialist Party. Alternatively, it could base itself on building up an exclusive alliance with the Armed Forces Movement (AFM), which had made the coup, was now in control of the state, and had The AFM had begun as a movement of professional officers concerned to develop their privileges against the influx of conscript officers during the colonial wars. But under the impact of the defeats of Portuguese colonialism in Africa they rapidly became concerned with broader political questions, and were radicalised both by the developing mass struggles before 25 April and, in particular, by the mass upsurge following the downfall of the regime, which had a big effect on the ranks of the armed forces.
The AFM contains a broad spectrum of political views, ranging from right-wing supporters of Spinola who are lying low and waiting for brighter days, through reformist supporters of the Socialist and Communist Parties to elements who are genuinely prepared to stand alongside the working class in the strugg against capitalism and imperialism. But all these conflicting groups can only be kept together on the basis of a programme that, while carrying out major reforms, stops short of a clear break with the capitalist system and the political power of capitalism enshrined in the capitalist state machine.
Thus a Government built around the AFM offers important assurances to the Portuguese capitalists and international imperialism that the defeats they have suffered in Portugal are not irreversible. Moreover the background of a number of figures in the AFM who occupy political posts offers further guarantees that the revolution will not be carried "too far. General Costa Gomes, for example, who has been the President since the ousting of Spinola, was head of the army under the fascist regime, comes from the ruling class circles who staffed the top echelons of the army, and cut his teeth as chief of military operations against the FRELIMO freedom fighters in Mozambique.
For the leaders of the PCP there were important advantages in channelling their class collaborationism along the road of the 'People Labour s BUSINESS OF FINANCING