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Colin Chambers, reporter for
the British Communist news-
paper Morning Star, spent two
weeks in the Portuguese indus-
trial city of Barreiro. Two feat-
ure articles about the city which
appeared in the British paper
are reprinted here:

“They’re all Communists in
Barreiro,” Portugal’s first fascist
dictator Salazar once said—and
the people of Barreiro are proud
to be called that.

Their town, south of Lisbon
across the river, is dominated
by the tall chimneys of the CUF
factory, one of over 100 enter-
prises owned by the chemical
monopoly which also produces
tobacco, textiles, soap, paper and
runs shipbuilding and _ repair
yards.

The .CUF workforce in Bar-
reiro, 15,000 strong, has a mili-
tant tradition. Police were moved
into the houses next to the fac-
tory to quell strikes. Many of
them then left the force and it
soon became a punishment to be
posted to Barreiro.

Workers remember the strike
to win ventilation for those
making sulphuric acid. The man-
agement called in the police who
batoned the strikers and. made
mass arrests, which were fol-
lowed by interrogations by the
secret police.

Unity Committee

Yet the workers, organized in
unity committees, won some
concessions under fascism: sick
pay at half the normal wage rate,
four weeks holiday with pay, a
small maternity leave allowance,
a 40-hour week for white-collar
workers and a 48-hour week for
shop-floor workers.

The chemical and office work-
ers are unionized, each section
under a works committee co-
ordinated by the unions. They
are affiliated to the Portuguese
Intersindical (TUC) which emer-
ged in April, after severe re-

_ pression in 1971, with a mem-

bership of over 200 out of the
300 unions, representing some
14% million workers out of an
active work-force of three mil-
lion.

The CUF complex, with its
own rail system, has its own
creche (CUF employs some 6,000
women) and hospital, but this is
still staffed by some fascist doc-
tors because of the shortage of
qualified progressives. Many
workers try and avoid using the
hospital, especially the pregnant
women.

Wage Increases

After the overthrow of the
fascist regime on April 25, the
workers at CUF, like those at
other plants with a tradition of
struggle, reserved the use of

their collective strength for
Wage increases from monopoly
firms and for removing fascists
from office.

The CUF workers also gave
one day’s pay to the provisional
government for public welfare
spending.

Since the ’30s and ’40s the
people of Barreiro have mainly
organized in the Portuguese
Communist Party (PCP) and. in
the democratic movement.

The Socialist Party has a
centre near the CUF factory, and
progressive Catholics have or-
ganized in support of the provi-
sional government. But neither
has much influence in Barreiro.

Groupings

Some of those who consider
themselves to the left of the
Communist Party are running a
cultural group, others stay in
their sectarian organizations and
do little work, except to paint
slogans on the walls and attack
the CPC.

The democratic movement has
altered its name to meet the
changing conditions of struggle.

During the last five years, it
was only allowed to organize in
regions and not nationally, which
gave rise to names which still
have local significance, like the
CDE in Lisbon.

Since April, the separate
groupings have come together
nationally as the Movement for
a Democratic Portugal (MDP),
which embraces Catholics, So-
cialists, Communists and other
democrats.

On April 26 in Barreiro, the
people came on to the streets
and demanded the removal of
the fascist mayor.

The Movement of the Armed
Forces (MFA), which had organ-
ized the toppling of Caetano,
had moved into every major
town and told each mayor he
had two days to give himself up.

The people surrounded the
mayor’s house, he surrendered
and is now in prison awaiting
trial with other fascist adminis-
trators.

Prepare Elections

MDP called a popular as-
sembly, which chose new people
to guide local affairs until elec-
tions could be held. Electoral
registers are either false or

don’t exist, so the MDP is work-

ing out the complicate for com-
piling electoral registers.

In Barreiro, all those chosen
were MDP representatives, and
throughout Portugal 90-95 per-
cent of those chosen were from
MDP. It has no program as it is
not a political party, but three
main aims: the end of fascism,
democratization of Portugal and
independence for the former
colonies.

The spanner and ear of wheat
symbolize the Movement of Young
Workers on a poster publicizing
a national meeting attended by
thousands.

3,000 Committees

There are about 3,000 local
MDP committees, which elect
representatives to an executive
in each of the 18 districts and
the islands, which in turn elect
three to four representatives to
a national central committee.

MDP in Barreiro ran a clean-
up-the-streets campaign for a
big demonstration and as part
of a civic awareness drive.

It is trying to show people

«that questions like gas and elec-
tricity supply, or pollution from
the CUF factory, are political
issues which need political solu-
tions acceptable to those who
are affected by them.

A cloud of dust hangs over
the town where there is a vast
construction program spreading
outwards. Behind blocks of new
flats, some people rear chickens,
goats, ducks and geese on the
sandy wasteland. Horsedrawn
carts ride side by side with
scooters and old Leyland buses
on the narrow streets.

People crippled from the colo-
nial wars or deformed by indus-
trial accidents are often seen,
some forced to beg.

There is only one park for
10,000 people.

It was named after Salazar so
the new local council renamed it
after a Communist militant,
Catarina Eufemia, who was mur-
dered by the secret police as she
led a protest by agricultural
workers.

Celebration

The. council also decided to
turn other parts of the town into
parks and playgrounds.

The memory of Catarina Eufe-
mia was celebrated at a annual

regional festival in the town of.

Setubal, not far from Barreiro,
in a special exhibition by the

Democratic Women’s Movement
(MDM).

“For the first time it’s a fes-
tival of freedom,” said Ana, a
factory worker, who is on the
Barreiro MDM committee.

Different groups set up stalls
and exhibitions about their his-
tory and: present campaigns.

Luiza Araujo, Setubal district
women’s organizer, showed me
the section on women in the
fight against fascism, and articles
on Clara Zetkin and Rosa
Luxembourg.

Women

There were lots of facts and
figures on the position of women -

in Portugal, especially concern-
ing-the literacy campaign. In a
country with a national average
of about 38 per cent illiteracy,
48 percent of women are illiter-
ate. Books ranging from Mead
and Kinsey to Lenin and Kollon-
tai were on display.

Luiza told me that she went
to work in England in 1969 and
someone asked, “What’s it like
living under fascism?” She re-
plied, “What's that?” and they
started talking, and when she
returned to Portugal she did
political work and became a
Communist militant: Luiza took
great pride in showing me sto-
ries of the many women who led
the fight against fascism.

Achievements

A 20 ft-high Lenin watched
over. the Communist Party’s
marquee, which showed the
achievements of the Soviet
Union, the German Democratic
Republic and the’ anti-imperialist
struggle of the African libera-
tion movements.

There was a section telling
the history of. the Portuguese
Communist Party (PCP).

Copies of the formerly clan-
destine party monthly, Avante,
and theoretical paper, O Mili-
tante, were on display next to
the hand machines which print-
ed them. Very thin paper was
used, so that if you were caught
with a copy you could swallow
it easily.

Another section marked the
anniversary of the storming of
the Moncada barracks in Cuba.
Many told me they felt very

“close to Cuba and Latin America,

not just because of the language
but because Portugal was a colo-
nized colonializer, politically try-
ing to advance beyond its Euro-
pean neighbors but economically

an underdeveloped Third World:

country.
* * a

EVERYONE in Barreiro knows
the Communist Party centre. If
you want to know what’s going
on that’s the place to find out.

Bacy

From there, people go J
leafleting, or with loudspe
vans, or to one of the &
meetings, concerts or film $f
You can follow the old we
with his beret and 3 ft, re
tied to his bicycle to see ¥
something’s on.

People are going in and
the centre all the time
the evenings it’s overcroy

Those with the skills
hand to decorate the ne
ing. Others come to
leaflets and magazines,
ones on Latin America,
come to buy the man
papers or Marxist boa
have been published sin
25, like the broad |
paper Margem Sol, or
anod produced by th
children of Barreiro.
talks about the latest

Possible =

“People believed tha
fascism they would still
fused, but they have foun
they are much better pre
and have developed more.
ly than they thought. The dat
ness lifted very quickly,”
Communist said to us.

“Now everything is possibl
another said. Others were mr
cautious but always o
They talked of “the es
fascist campaign to issue 40,
posters with the swastika equ
ing the hammer and scikle, _

They also talked of how t
fascists were waiting and fe
ganizing, but added, “the peop
are getting even stronger.”

The party was or
unity rallies in surrounding are
and the range of meetings
different groups advertised
the centre underlined the
eral confidence. It also refl
the deprivation of political |
pression under fascism. )

- Reminder
The centre itself was covet
with posters commemora

militants murdered by the
ret police as a reminder of
history of a struggle which
still going on, though in a @
ferent way and of the terror é
a system not yet fully destroytl
On the counter was a vase
red carnations — symbol of
movement which overthrew
fascist regime on April 25,
ave ane counter, a 2
pointed to photographs on
wall showing the amaea May!
rally in Lisbon, and the 10
strong demonstration in Be
reiro, addressed by -the
general secretary Alvary €
A student explained: “The
tures will be shown to #
children who will not remem
fascism, as records of the beg
nings of a new life.” aa

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PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 1974—PAGE 4