May Day in Lisbon—thous-
ands throng the streets celeb-
rating the first free May Day
in decades.

By JEANNETTE MORGAN

LISBON

“We are so busy.”

“We have so much to do.’”

“We are so happy now.”

“It is so exciting.”

“I must work for the move-
ment.”

These were the expressions
that I heard from the moment I
was met at the Lisbon airport
by two women from the Movi-
mento Democratico de Mulheres
(women’s organization). They
immediately took me to their
headquarters, a third flood room
ina building in central Lisbon
that had been the headquarters
previously of a Fascist Girls
Club; the building now has been
taken over by various commit-
tees and organizations of the
CDE/MDP (Commission for De-
mocratic Elections, originally
founded in 1969, and now merg-
ed with the Movement for De-
mocratic Portugal). .

The offices of this building
with its parquet floors, solid
mahogany doors with makeshift
numbers and signs on them, are
filled with the bustling activity
of people who have been work-
ing underground, have been in
prison, or are new to the move-
ment because they realize that
to have a democratic Portugal
they must work to educate and
politicize the people to under-
stand what they will be voting
for when the elections-come up
in the next year.

One young woman said that
she was working in the office
during her holidays and they
were the most “exciting holidays
she had ever had.” Volunteers
(for there was as yet no paid
office staff in the women’s office)
were learning to do things they
had never done before — hand-
ling the busy telephone ex-
change for the building, typing,
running mimeograph machines,
managing a small information
office, organizing public meet-
ings, appearing on TV with ap-
peals to the people and much
more.

International Children’s Day

On the Friday of my arrival
the women were busy working
on a mammoth celebration in a
city park on International Chil-
dren’s Day, June Ist, which was
the next day — Dia Mundial da
Crianca (The World of the

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, JULY 5,

Canadian eyewitness in Portugal

People working for |

their new freedom

Child) — for the’ underpri-—

vileged children of Lisbon; they
were planning food, games, en-
tertainment, and _ information
for the children to give to their
parents on the program of the
Women’s Movement. They kept
saying, ‘“We’ve never. done this
before; we hope it will be suc-
cessful.” It was! They were
mobbed: over 3,000 children
plus parents came to the park
between 3 and 10 p.m. — at
times things were out of control
but only one child got lost—and
the weary volunters knew they
had succeeded in reaching a
large portion of Lisbon’s popu-
lation. |

The program being prdposed
by the women is the same as
women around the world are
proposing, but to these Portu-
guese it is so especially vital
now: better salaries, better hous-
ing, a real social security, better
education and a democratic
Portugal; they want their chil-
dren to have a chance to deve-
lop emotionally and physically,
hence they need social security
and health programs for mo-
thers and children, the creation
of kindergartens and nursery
schools, free child care across
the country, the return to a free
kindergarten system, an increase
in quality and availability of
primary education, and creation
of schools for special education.

‘So Much To Do’

Everytime I could find a
woman in this group who spoke
English, her immediate com-
ments were to the effect that
“we have so much to do; the
people of Portugal have lived
under the dictatorship so long
that they are not sufficiently
aware politically — we must

politicize them, we must help,

them to understand the program
and be able to vote intelligently
—particularly the women.” And
many of these were women who
before the coup had not been
politically active themselves,
like a young doctor’s wife who
told me she had just come to
the office that week to offer her
services.

At the office the group was
looking through a stack of pic- -

tures of some of the prisoners
that had been released — the
typical three-view mug shot type
pictures—and. were picking out
all of their friends, men and
women, laughing about how
unlike the pictures looked, com-
menting from time to time on
how long some had been in the
prisons or how much they had
changed.

One picture was of a woman
journalist who was in the office
and they immediately started
kidding her about how danger-
ous she had been. :

But the chance to have public
meetings, to gather and demon-
strate publicly without fear of
arrest was also a main subject
of conversation. Their May Day
celebration was something that
will live in their minds and
hearts for years to come.

Massive Rally

On May 3lst I attended
another huge rally sponsored by

1974—PAGE 6 °

Jeannette Morgan, an execu-
tive member of the Canadian
Peace Congress, visited Portugal
following attendance at the
World Peace Council’s recent
25th anniversary meeting in Pa-
ris. The Tribune’s request for her
comments brought the moving
documentary on this page.

the CDE/MDP at the sports
arena; it started about 9:30; the
place was packed with at least
4,000 people and since we
arrived late,-the only seating
space left was behind the stage;
however, this: was good for it
gave me a.chance to look over
the crowd. It was a young group,
predominantly below forty years
of age, but all ages were scat-
tered around the huge stadium,
from a four year-old who kept
strutting across the platform, to
the elderly, stately couple in the
front row who cheered as vigor-
ously all evening as everyone
else.

The speakers, who were
enthusiastically applauded and
at times interrupted with cheers
from groups in the hall or en
masse, were MDP _ executive
members, factory workers, a
member of the army, with the
principal speaker being econo-
mist Pereira de Moura who had
been released from prison and
is now in the government. Like
so many other leaders in new
government situations, he used
his speech time as a means of
explanation, of educating the
people. It reminded me of Fidel
Castro and his marvelous skill
in explaining to the people the
plans and programs of the
government. Sore-handed, but
thrilled, these people ended their

“The World of the Child”
reads a leaflet in honor of
International Children’s Day,
June 1st.

meeting well past midnight with
cheers and songs and, despite
the hour, with reluctance to let
the evening end. I sat there with
tears in my eyes.

Who are these people who are.
working for their new freedom?
The Movement jis made up of a

coalition representing the Social- _

ist Party, Christian Socialists,
the Portuguese Communist
Party, and other anti-fascist
groups — workers and _ profes-
sional people; one woman told
me that many of the professional
people are active leftists—doc-
tors, lawyers, people in theatre
and the arts. In fact, last Jan-
uary the doctors had a strike
in the hospitals protesting the

‘poor care the patients were

receiving. Imagine that happen-
ing in Canada!
- Communist Party Largest
Despite the long and terrible

years of oppression, the Com-.

munist Party is the largest, and
the socialist groups realize that
they must have the coalition in
order to get a program at the
election. One person even told
me that 99% of the population
was leftist, but that I-would take
with several grains. of salt. For
instance, I talked with a man
in a snack bar—obviously not
too politically minded—but will-
ing to discuss the new political
situation when I asked, who said
that the labor leaders were com-
munist and would therefore have

trouble with the government for
‘they need the support of the
-workers, many of whom are not

yet able to see farther than the
need for increased wages to the
need for such an organization to
work for them on a wide range
of social concerns.

On inquiring I was told that
the people who had been work-
ing underground all of these
years had no prior knowledge of
the present coup. In fact, one
leader of the movement told me
that at first they were afraid it
would be another right-wing
terror like Chile, and that it was
not until they got news on the
short-wave from Spain announc-
ing the release of Portuguese
political prisoners that . they
became aware of the new politi-
cal atmosphere. But not until
the prisoners were. actually
released—and many people I
met had waited outside of the
prison gates until late at night
—were they sure that they were
not being tricked again. The pic-
tures we saw in our press of
those first prisoners coming out
were the symbols to most of
these freedom fighters that they
were to enjoy political freedom
for the first time in their lives.

New Freedom

_And in Lisbon with its metro-
politan population of one mil-
lion, its two morning papers,
four evening papers, several

_weeklies, two TV stations, and

several radio stations, the free-
dom of the press was a new
experience. Public opinion, it is
felt, is now freely processed by
the newswriters, the TV. and
radio commentators, and is not
in the hands even of those who
own the facilities!

On the street the people look

With a flower in his ¢@
this Portuguese soldier.
| bolizes a new relations
tween the army o
people.

wont
happy; the men and
occasionally walk uP (mat!
in army or navy uniform ili
from worker-farmet oulde

and pat him on the 08?
Seeks him; they Jové A
who have, given them | fot
freedom. But as in cng sat
the fascist take-oveh, sil)
signs that tell an ole ayy
the road ahead will not qiv |
For example, Lisbon | ja |
of instant grafitti, eit) ot |

gone up on every W2), ql
ment, or space availed righ! :
extreme groups—left vail thes |
—are active in this yt? |
are referred to aS
Paint Signs on bist eh!
Movement workers ei media
all changes cannot be res, Sa
as the ultra-left ee vig!
that they must also ' ano
against the fascists ad try
infiltrate their work 4) 5
at We pit
we ip |

disrupt; they felt th
bread and bus strikes
voked by subversiVe™
this must not be
happen.
An Exciting bes to y
It is an exciting iting
in Portugal; it 3§ ext cull
meet these workers, P
for me, the bse i
as the symbol of "ihe
a peace dove flanking ant
of a young pregnan’
as a leader of a P
ance group,

“ demon,
Portugal; it is a name fig?
0

a
the fighters fo sh id
“ai

add to our long ae m @
, ol

for peace and fre

come by; Ae
even harder sometiM ” ail
And in Portugal,

certainly be
downs; but just a§ Popes
slip and fall on the g tre?

of the narrow windin jn if
Lisbon, and yet be
tant and on ee
wiser, though wit ical “sept
knee, so each polit expt ft
can be:a learning and

from which to TiS? artich i
forward once MOF | poi!

with wise leaders
proper way.