• dictatorship'. Faced with a threat from the SP to withdraw from the ts demands were met, the AFM finally backed down. DANIEL BEN what was really going on at Republica (left) and explains how a revol st policy could have exposed the SP's claim to be defending press tree ed the situation in the interests of the whole working class movement.
hand the ambiguity of the AFM's relationship with the 'structures of pation' has been posed most sharply by the development of such struc - army itself. In a 'round table' organised by our French sister-paper s of the Portuguese Revolutionary Soldiers and Sailors Front discuss of these bodies and their relationship both to the AFM and the broad nt. brass will be forced to it if the soldiers are to take part in demon- own struggles.
GANISATION mocratisation inside the er 25 April, but in most eal impact. The officers cluded in the assembly. t national reconstruction ired disciplipe, order, and a lot of work! After nore favourable situation he soldiers modified of forces and materially conditions (pay, transattempts. fascist terror which surnits after 25 April, began le so-called democratischt have expected, hardly t the level of the officers. result of the reaction28 September and farch that the officers in to appeal to the soldletending their own skins. een if you look at the he AFM assembly. it was made up entirely purged. error way. who did not inform us of what was going on. The result: five officers and the commander (the whole command) were It is obvious that the paratroopers were persuaded to attack RAL-1 because they were unorganised and lacked any political discussion: they were deceived by their reactionary commanders. We therefore reached the conclusion that the same tning could have happened to any unit and even to us if we hadn't been organised. Hence the need for the soldiers themselves to organise.
We organised a commission of democratically elected soldiers, as well as several progressive officers and sergeants, for the purpose of organising political meetings, an internal cultural dynamisation' programme, and also control over the orders of the commanders to prevent any repeat of the paratroopers' Self-organisation Francisco: There is an equally important example of self-organisation among the soldiers of the RIOC regiment. day after 11 March, in a mass meeting of soldiers, there was a motion to set up a commission to exercise control over all military operations. This was agreed and two representatives were elected in each company. They were instructed. that in the event of any military operation by one or several companies they were to ascertain immediately the aim of the operation; and if necessary to alert the workers commissions or trade unions in the area.
Abilio: Another example is the way the soldiers mobilised to demand free transport. They went in a body to make a train journey, got on without tickets, and when the inspector came along they off. In the latter instance it was the police who lined up against the workers trying to prevent the congress from taking place, while the military and the soldiers rightly took the side of the lasses.
There was an equally advanced experience which took place around the demonstration against imperialism, NATO and unemployment in January. This demonstration, organised by the workers' commissions in Lisbon, marched through the streets even though it had been banned by the third provisional When the workers tried to march past the American Embassy, the COPCON troops who had blocked off the street were once more obliged to step aside to let the workers pass. When they got to the Ministry of Labour they were met by the soldiers of RAL-1, who raised their fists, lowered their rifles, and shouted "Workers, soldiers — one struggle Francisco: Another example of a work ers-soldiers alliance occurred in the Cascais region when the local people took over a leisure centre used by the big capitalists at weekends. They way this centre had been run was a big fiddle-it hadn't paid any taxes for at least ten years. So the workers and local inhabitants decided to take over this pleasure centre for use as a creche.
Death-threats
But then the inhabitants started getting death threats over the phone: the big capitalists were trying to scare them into getting out. When the soldiers stationed nearby heard this news they voluntarily decided to go to defend the workers and inhabitants occupying the centre.
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FILE RS UT