Q. In the pre-election period, what are the main problems facing the rank-and-file soldiers?
A. First of all, I will try to explain the significance of the anti-militarist camDalen. wilch is aimed at unmasking the current offensive of the bourgeoisie. We are trying to explain the importance of the rank-and-file soldiers' vote, in opposition to that of the military leadCASHED. Elections One of the difficulties that faces us is that the military leadership has ordered special mobilisations during the pre-election period in order to keep the soldiers very busy and prevent the opportunity for mass meetings. An exampie of this is that the soldiers are being sent our special wamune. or beme moonsed to keco oract.
In this way the military leadership is aiming to prevent the soldiers from voting in the elections, by making sure that they are sent away on these 'special' mobilisations, far from the areas where they are registered voters, to protect the polling stations in oner districts.
However, in order to combat these manocuvics. we ac wanne a week of anti-militarist action, , organised on a a paper if possible. In this way we hope to launch a campaign of civil anti-militarism, going far beyond the soldiers temselves.
Q. How will you take up, within this campaign, the organisation of opposition to the project of the Portuguese ruling class for the professionalisation' of the army? A. Well, this project of professionalisation' is already underway. The Military Police and the Commandos have already been professionalised. In addition military service has been reduced from 18 to 15 months so that new recruits have less ume to become acave. and dis cipline and repression against the new recruits is much stronger now.
soldiers understand very clearly that the success of the campaign will depend very much on winning the new recruits to the side of anti-militarism as quickly as possible. Recruits I must also explain tat tere Is a big contradiction in this ruling class proJect, which we must use in our ravour To impose a strict military discipline means preventing all freedom of expres sion within the army. But most of the soldiers were radicalised during the prerevolutionary situation when the right to speak freely was generalised throughout the army.
Also, as far as the new recruits are concerned, they too have won certair democratic rights as workers within the factories. which the militarv leadershin attitude to the Campaign; had it played a Uniform sionals. not count on the army.
The revolutionary and anti-militarist made unions Nevertheless, this is no justification for is now trying to deny them within the army. This is why it is so important to bulla support for te anu-muntanst cam paign among the workers commissions, the neighbourhood commissions and in the trade unions, in order to prepare young workers for the struggle within the army and most importantly to educate the working class as a whole The rank-and-file soldiers see themselves as workers in uniform and have refused to attack workers' demonstrations and actual struggles. In fact, in the past they have joined these struggles The ordinary soldiers know very well that this is not the case for the profesAnd of course, the extra privileges that the professionals receive. like frei medicine and other social benefits, is another readily understood difference.
But as long as the professional contracts remain unsigned, the generals canQ. How strong are the links bet ween the soldiers and the trade A. Well. we demand that all the soldiers have the right to remain in their own - the ones they belonged to before joining the army. In this way we can have very close links with the workers movement, for example raising support for the soldiers who are still in prison, and forcing the reformists to support the soldiers movement. However, the links with the working class are less strong after 25 November.
Within the army, every structure and that allowed soldiers to meet together has been banned - even ones like the ADUs (Assemblies of Unit Delegates), which included officers and were only consultative. In addition, the most radicalised soldiers were expelled from the aruv some soldiers movemacut as a whole was forced into a retreat. All the highest forms of organisation, like the co-ordination of soldiers committees in Lisbon, have disappeared.
The soldiers movement is now faced with a new situation in which it must fight for economic and democratic de mands. The perspectives now are to bule ine an -multanst campaign.
SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN Delegates to the first meeting of the national committee of the Portuguese Solidarity Campaign last Sunday recog nised that the campaign has in front o it a hard political task Particularly important was consid ered the development of links between Portuguese and British women in many areas of struggle both as workers and as women for liberation; of work in the Labour Party to highlight the role of the Labour Government, particularly in its allowing the training in Britain of the experts for a new security force in Portugal and its equipment of this force with all kinds of gadgets recently tried and tested in Northern Ireland;
and the development of the work within areas of the trade union movement A meeting will be held in London around the elections; a culturalpolitical event around the theme of Portugal and Chile is being planned; and possible the Merseyside International Car Workers Committee Conference or 16 May on the role of the multinationals.
There are many projects to work on and all offers of help will be gratefully received - contact the Portuguese Solidarity Campaign, 12 Little Newport Street, London, WC2.
18 months from November 1973 to
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A soldier of the Revolutionary Soldiers and Sailors Front (FSMR) in Oporto talks to Red Weekly in a special interview.