After the carnation revolution when the people where fed up with the colonial wars portugal went through the “PREC” (Processo Revolucionário Em Curso) which was a short era of societal reform that included nationalization of companies, the collectivization of farmland and the general growing of popularity of various worker-movements/ parties like the PCP (MLs) the PCTP (Maoists) and others like the UDP and some trots but nobody really gave a shit about them. It was a period of unlimited potential for a revolution and yet it failed to establish socialism in the country. From what i can tell, the main problems were disorganization within the parties themselves (especially the PCP which was the largest communist party and could’ve done much better than this) and the restraint to overthrow the state by violence. The PCP, one of, if not the, leading leftist party of this period refused to establish dominance by violent means…they know that the only way to establish a socialist government is with a revolution yet they seemed so paralysed during this time. On the 25 November of 1975, communits and socialists unsatisfied with the more “soccdem” way Portugal would take, decided to start a coup but failed as armed “moderates” stopped the attempt before it having any effect. Since then Portugal is just another european “soccdem (nuts)” country with a Neo-liberal government. The PCP still has seat in the portuguese parlament but is loosing relevance more and more while the “CHEGA” (a quasi fascist party with anti-immigration plans and tax cuts for rich and whatnot) party is gaining more popularity. Portugal could’ve become “europe’s cuba” as Otelo Saraiva, a portuguese revolutionary put it. But at the end, fell victim to your average reddit-style “enlightened centrist” who wants a welfare system while conserving the neo-liberal mechanis.

  • Gosplan14_the_Third [none/use name]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    1 year ago

    What is the cause of the decline of the PCP?

    To my understanding, it had a stronghold in the south of the country where the CDU (their electoral alliance with a green party - the name is hilarious if you live in Germany. The name of the Conservative party, yet with hammer and sickle next to it) regularly got very good results… but nowadays that seems to be fading away, without much of a rise for the Left Bloc (the other supposedly -?- Socialist Party)

    • MarlKarx@lemmygrad.mlOP
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      to my understanding, the people who lived/ grew up during the PREC period supporting the communists are simply becoming old while the more out-of-touch people after it who were already raised in the aftermath, believe that the old communists are just senile and feel nostalgic or whatever.