attacks so far on those sections of the workers movement which it regards as the most vulnerable. A sign of its growing confidence in this respect was its decision on 24 December to order the closure of the worker-controlled paper Republica, which had taken on an increasingly important role as an organiser of the vanguard of the workers' movement. At the time of writing it was still unclear as to what the response of the Republica from the south.
the drift of the meeting, which started out by calling for a halt in the agrarian reform and ended riated - even if they were legally taken over, and even if they hadn't then been under cultivation.
Agriculture Minister, Lopes Cardoso; when it was pointed out that he was a member of the Socialist Party there were shouts of 'obviously a Communist infiltrator'. The vicious anti-Communist campaign conducted by SP leader Mario Soares is thus already beginning to rebound on his party.
CO-OPERATIVE
ing in a position to go along with these reactionary demands. Indeed, the very day after the Rio Maior demonstration the official journal of the Government published a decree ratifying the expropriation of a further 50,000 hectares in the southern Alentejo. This is a sign not of the Government's good intentions but of the strength built up by the agricultural workers movement, which cannot just be turned aside at will.
But the north is a different question. dent which curiously enough went unreported in the British press was the forcible suppression of the Torre-Bela agricultural co-operative less thai 20 miles from Rio Maior. At the beginning of December it was surrounded by seven tanks on the pretext of a search for a big arms dump. But The effect of their presence was clearly seen in up by demanding the restoration of all lands expropSpeakers also demanded the resignation of the The Government, however, is still far from beOne inciMartin Meteyard formed at my University since 25 April.
We were very varied a group, spanning most of the revolutionary parties of our _nomeiana We have, though, been continually surprised and impressed by the articles that appear in Red Weekly. Not only do they represent events as they happen - many papers, notably those of the Communist Party, the capitalist press, and to a lesser extent those of groups like IS seem incapable of reporting the facts.- but we have been more and more swayed by the logic of the analysis that Red Weekly places on events.
M.B. (Birmingham).
(MES) - between the Socialist Party and 'those parties which carry fascism in their belly, like the PPD Popular Democrats, CDS Centre Democ rats] and the PDC | Christian Democrats]'.
In the next two months the LCI, the LUAR, the MES and the Maoist UDP will all be holding national congresses. The opportunity thus exists for the development of a real discussion around the fundamental questions facing the Portuguese revolution - most notably, the need for a united front policy aimed at the members of the Communist and Socialist parties. It is an opportunity which, if it is grasped, can make a decisive contribution towards reorienting the workers' movement against the attacks of the Azevedo Government and the fascists which hide behind it. The first national conference of the solidarity campaon witn the rorcucues Working Class has been called for 13 March at Conway Hall in London. The function of the conference will be to continue the building of a massive campaign in solidarity with the Portuguese working class - The need for such a campaign ha: never been greater. The present economic crisis in rortugal becomes weekly mor pronounced. The Sixth Provisional Government, heartened by the defeat of 25 November, is attempting to make the workers and peasants pay a heavy price in solving the crisis. A package of austerity measures is on the way. The Azevedo Government is attempting tu snatch back the gains the working class nas made over the past eignteen months The Portuguese ruling class has not been short of international support. The multinationals have played a prominent role in the efforts of the United States, britain and me ceo to destablise ta Portuguese economy by refusing credit. transferring production abroad, and blocking the despatch of spare parts.
However, those with the most to lost in Portugal are the British firms who have been maintaining the centuries old Anglofirms like Plessey, GEC, ICI, British Leyland, Courtaulds, Sandeman-Allen