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Mims hadi d doll emeadde lll IE

; By MARGRIT PITTMAN
} _ Antonio Dias Lourenco is the
| (ditor-in-chief of Avante! (“For-
Ward!””), publication of the Por-
tuguese Communist Party (PCP),
and a member of his party’s
Political bureau.
| _ He was interviewed by the
; US. Daily World correspondent
| x Margrit Pittman.
| = e
| _Q A new government (cabi-
_ het) has been formed in Lisbon,
the sixth provisional govern-
Ment. What is the PCP’s attitude
_ toward it and the PCP’s estim-
ate of its program?
| _A. The formation of the sixth
| Provisional government is the
} Tesult of extended and difficult
} Regotiations between the chief
_ Stces participating in Portugal’s
| Political life, including the PCP.
| 7 Our opinion the new govern-
| Ment is a compromise which, in
| Tf present political situation, is
the only possible way out of the
isis,
| One must understand the spe-
Mal features of Portuguese poli-
_ tics to understand why the sixth
Government is no coalition gov-'
| gament and why, at the same
| me, members of various parties
| Participate in it. The PCP has
| “Onsistently refused to partici-
| Pate in a new coalition govern-
| Ment with the Portuguese Socia-
"St Party (SP) and the Portus
pee Democratic Party (PPD) in
K Situation in which the Armed
;°rces Movement (AFM) has
Ree Much of its character of a
 “Volutionary vanguard of the
llitary,
S Well known members of the
3 alee took part when fascist ban-
'S brutally attacked and even
_ ,urdered members of our Party.
E tig the same time leading func-
| g aries of the SP fanned the
a SS of the anti-Communist
-;*Mpaign and thus clearly took
Position against the revolu-
Mary process.
Hihe Coalition government with
;- a zd PPD ee mean the
; of a right-wing’ polic
| abetted by the PCP. Hawegee
T pon’, Patties know that it is im-
B pee to solve the present
“iltical crisis without the PCP

saan

2

- tio

— the most highly organized
party in Portugal—or to resolve
it in opposition to the PCP. It
would therefore suit them if the
PCP remained silent about their
right-wing policies, if the PCP
were to abandon its ideological
and political principles. But. our
party will not yield to such man-
oeuvers or else it would cease to
be the revolutionary vanguard
of the Portuguese proletariat.

No Alternative

We Portuguese Communists
fully realize that difficulties and
inconsistencies will arise in the
new government, but because we
did not want to contribute to the
continuation and deepening of
the crisis, and because the alter-
native was a right-wing govern-
ment which would have led
rapidly to a fascist dictatorship,
the Communists proposed this
compromise which has now been
accepted.

This means that the PCP will
fight within and outside of the
government against every anti-
democratic measure and every
attempt of conservative counter-
revolutionary forces to reverse
the revolutionary process.

Therefore the PCP agreed only
to have members of its party
participate in the sixth provisio-
nal government after the repre-
sentatives of other parties pro-
mised to adhere to a minimum
program.

This program contains — on

suggestion of the CPC — the fol-

Icwing four important points:

1. To defeat the fascist coun-
ter-revolution,

2. To secure the defense of
democratic freedoms, public or-
der and democratic legality.

3. To strengthen and expand
the policy of nationalization.

4. To continue the agrarian re-
form as an important prerequi-
site for building socialism in
Portugal. ;

We have no doubt that the
majority of the ministers in the
new government will attempt to
sabotage the progressive planks
of this program and evade the
compromises they signed. One
of the most difficult tasks of the
Communists in the government

ANTONIO DIAS LOURENCO

will be to fight efforts to violate
this minimum program.

Q. What are your views about
the development in the AFM?
What is the situation regarding
unity between the people and the
AFM, which until now was the
guarantcr of the revolutionary
democratic process?

.Move to Right

A. The anti-Communist and
divisive maneuvers of the Social-
ist Party leadership have contri-
buted to the split in the AFM,
the military arm of the revolu-
tion and the vanguard of the
armed forces. The AFM has al-
ways appeared ideologically as
a nonpartisan movement united
by their program. But the AFM
did and does not stand above
class differences. Therefore the
splitting tactics of the SP leader-
ship, with its definite bourgeois
class character, has become in-
fluential in the AFM.

The AFM’s more conservative
elements have changed the lead-
ing bodies of the movement in
their direction. Such consistent
revclutionary military leaders as
Gen. Vasco dos~Santos Goncal-
ves, Brig. Gen. Eurico Corvacho
and Maj. Jose Costa Martins
were removed from the Revolu-
tionary Council as were a whole
number of Left-wing officers.

These changes haye detracted
from the revoluticnary character
of the AFM and will influence its

~— Canadian-Latin American

_ By ALBERTO RABILOTTA

. ime Minister Pierre Tru-
oe Slated visit to Venezuela,
ae and Cuba will mark the
Beatin American journey for
Oh a high ranking Canadian
: Cial. The tour which will
Bey take place in January
bet: Serve to tighten the bonds
Ween Canada and these Latin
Merican nations.

A document regulating Cana-
dh Policy toward this region
Pines up in 1968 states that
‘on © Telations should be based
a neutual respect.” It also men-
; muty that “advantages should be

str ot and useful in order to

ang 8then Canadian sovereignty
| With independence, A dialogue
| Prob these nations on world
Fan; pe will help to improve

dene 4S ability to play an in-

tig, went role in the interna-
ae affairs,” the document
| *Pecifies,

4 - the three nations that Tru-
P will visit, Venezuela: occu-

pies the most important place in
Canadian trade.

In 1974 Venezuelan imports
from Canada were worth $203-
million and its exports, more
than $2,290,000,000 (the largest
part in petroleum).

It is thought that one of the

aims of Trudeau’s visit to that
South American nation will be

to try to compensate the trade —

balance . deficit between both
countries, comments the Finan-
cial Times. Another aspect will
be to guarantee the shipment of
Venezuelan crude oil necessary
to eastern Canada.

Mexico occupies third place in
Canadian trade. In 1974 imports
from Mexico were $114-million
and exports, $187-million. Rela-
tions between industrialized cap-
italist countries and developing
countries will be amply dealt
with by Trudeau and Mexican
President Luis Echeverria, says
the Financial Times.

According. to the same publi-
cation, in Cuba~ Trudeau “will
harvest the results of Canada’s

attitude toward this country in
recent years.” It adds that while
other governments followed the

U.S. policy of an embargo

against Cuba, Canada (and Mexi-
co) kept up relations.

Cuba occupies fourth place in
trade with Canada. In 1974 the

Caribbean nation imported prod-

ucts worth $114-million dollars
and exported $76-million.

(Prensa Latina)
5

Hawker-Siddeley Canada Ltd.
will build 50 Air Side Dump rail-
way freight cars at its Trenton
Works Division plant for export
to Cuba. The contract with Em-

presa Cubana Importadora de

Ferrocarriles is valued at ap-
proximately $3.1-million and in-
cludes the supply of spare parts,
machinery and equipment, as
well as technical assistance.
. Delivery is scheduled for com-
pletion by April 1976.
Financing has. been made

political activities in the future.
But in spite of these changes the
AFM can still play a positive
role in the solution of the crisis
and the continuation of the revo-
lutionary process.

The condition for this is a
strong mass movement which
must. be _ consolidated and
strengthened to defend and ad-
vance the revolutionary process.
In the course of the revolution
its two main forces — the peo-
ple and the AFM — did not al-
ways have the same pattern of
change. In the history of the alli-
ance, the people’s movement
was sometimes split when the
armed forces were more united.
At the moment, the greatest pos-
sible unity force of the people’s
movement can ‘prevent political
inconsistencies which may show
up in the AFM.

The building of mass move-
ments, the furthering of unity,
the develcpment of solutions for
the people’s problems, the integ-
ration of the military, political
and social activities of the peo-
ple’s movement — all that can
be developed and strengthened
by the alliance of the people and
the AFM.

We should not be dismayed.
The full re-establishment of the
alliance between the pecple and
the AFM can be attained by the
democratic forces and the revo-
lutionary military who support
the defense and development of
the democratic revolution.

Important Tasks

Q. What are the next tasks of
the-PCR2. .

A. The first and most impor-
tant task is to alert the urban
and rural working class and
other people’s forces to the
dangers of the present situation
and to show them how they can
be overcome. That requires a
comprehensive educational cam-
paign which will take place in
daily revolutionary activities.
From this flow other important
tasks:

1. To pursue actively the fur-
ther development of the trade
union movement, strengthen
labor unity so that it can par-
ticipate even more effectively in
the working class struggles for

democracy and socialism, vigor-
ously to oppose attempts to
split the union movement and
at the same time prevent sec-
tarianism which might isolate
the trade unions from the mass-
es of working people;

2. To strengthen and expand
the organs of unity on the basis
of various people’s activities.
That requires great attentiori to
the formation of workers com-
missions, neighborhood commis-
sions, workers’ control commis-
sions, commissions for the de-
fense of the revolution and
others needed for our life and
struggle;

3. To strengthen and. extend
democracy in the mass move-
ment through people’s assem-
blies in neighborhoods, villages
and towns, to unite these demo-
cratic structures and enhance
their breadth and importance.

Restore unity

4. To further the restoration
of unity and to strengthen the
AFM by attempting to reinte-
grate those who removed them-
selves temporarily from the re-
volutionary process and by
fighting against all forms of left-
sectarianism which might rob
the truly revolutionary forces of
the ability to act and influence.

Finally it is necessary — as a
task of forces of the democratic
revolution—to develop a strug-
gle against fascist reaction, to
destroy its centers of conspiracy
and to weld together a broad
front of all anti-fascists in order
to prevent a return of fascism
in Portugal, the fascism which
enslaved the Portuguese people
for nearly a half-century.

In the struggle for the realiza-

tion of these tasks the Commu-

nists will warn the people, in-

cluding those in uniform, against
the criminal manoeuvers of im-
perialism and the monopolies. It
will augment its efforts in the
struggle for national independ-
ence, against foreign interven-
tion in the internal affairs of
Portugal and against the viola-
tion of the people’s will. To
unite and mobilize the people,
that is one of .the most impor-
tant tasks of the Communists in
the present situation.

trade prospects

avaiable by the Export Develop-
ment Corporation, a federal gov-
ernment crown corporation in
conjunction with the Bank of
Montreal and the Royal Bank of
Canada. ;

Negotiations which began last
fall have involved extensive
meetings in both Canada and
Cuba. These are the first rail-
way freight cars to be exported
to Cuba by a Canadian company.

L. T. Corey, vice president and

-R. C. Frost, export marketing

manager, who were involved in
bringing this contract to a suc-
cessful conclusion, feel that re-
lations with the Cuban represen-
tatives are favourable.

The purchase of the 50 rail-
way cars from Hawker Sidde-
ley’s Trenton division was just
part of an overall loan agree-
ment between Canada and Cuba
totalling about $20-million and

a previously announced air pact

to provide scheduled service to
Cuba. ‘

Trade Minister Alastair Gilles-
pie said at a signing ceremony

that the loan agreement is to
support sales by four Canadian
companies of equipment and ser-
vices. 3
The agreements activate the
first part of a $100-million line
of credit extended to Cuba in
March. Trade officials said the

credits can be renewéd each.

year to support up to about
$500-million of potential sales to
Cuba.

The loan agreements also
cover the sale of 20 diesel loco-

motives by MLW-Worthington ©

Ltd. of Montreal, worth about
$12.5-million; 73 electric power
transmission equipment servic-
ing vehicles worth about $2.2-
million to be made by Wajax In-
ternational Ltd. of Toronto, and
a plant for pulp moulding equip-
ment to make egg cartons that
is to be supplied as a turn-key
project by Roy W. Emfery Ltd.
of Toronto and is worth about
$1.2-million.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—OCTOBER 10, 1975—Page 7

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