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.