manoeuvre right from the word "go". The mass of Portuguese people saw the coup as opening up the road for them to fight for all the things they had been denied during the decades of fascist rule: freedom of speech and political organisation, the right to their own class organisations, better wages and living conditions.
As a result the coup was followed by a massive wave of struggle in which workers took things into their own hands. They demanded the dis mantling of the old fascist police machine and the punishment of those associated with the old regime. They launched a big round of strikes and factory occupations to back up demands for shorter hours, paid holidays, and a minimum monthly wage of 6000 escudos (C100).
RANK & FILE SOLDIERS Faced with this mass movement, supported and joined by thousands of rank-and-tile soldiers and sallors, the ruling class and their political flunkies had to give way on many things. Only the willingness of the Communist Party to sell the birthright of the Portuguese working class for a few miserable crumbs allowed the capitalists to pull some of the fat out of the fire, The Communist Party Joined a Government headed by a conservative capitalist politician, and in which a majonty of members were fest the State and industry.
Red Weekly 12 October 1974 Page 6 When workers went into struggle against these efforts to bail out the Portuguese capitalists at their expense the Government cracked down viciously. The post office workers' strike was broken by the threat to use the army in a mussive scabbing operation. Striking seamen and airport ground crews were drafted into the army and forced to return to work under threat of court-martial, pletely by the Communist Party. During the postal workers" strike they even ganising mobs to stone the Lisbon central post office and occupy the Porto postal workers union offices to demand that the workers return to work.
Little wonder, then, given these dedicated efforts by the Government (backed by the Communist Party) to restore the power of the capitalist class, that the right-wing should have started to reorganise. Among the dosens of political parties that sprang up after the coup, there were several org anisations of the extreme right. Rightwingers continued to have important sympathisers among the capitalists and to hold important positions of wuthority in the Government and industry.
Kenewed tascist activity was ut first directed against black immigrant workets in Lisbon who sympathised Soldiers arresting a member of the PIDE (secret police) after 25 April. Such use of the array against the right has been seen again recanaly. Many right-wingere sell in-