B
bombadil
Guest
Today I attended the funeral of man who nobody in Britain seems to have heard of, and yet, as the soul of the Partido Communista Portugues, spent the greater part of his life in the struggle against fascism. Alvaro Cunhal spent 12 years in exile, was arrested and tortured by the PIDE, Portugals' version of the Gestapo, and played a fundamental role in the bloodless revolution of 25 April 1974, which saw the end of 45 years of fascist dictatorship.
Today Lisbon was heaving with tens of thousands of people who had travelled from all over the country to march behind his cortege bearing communist party flags and red carnations (the flower that became the symbol of the revolution after soldiers put them in the barrels of their guns) in an act of truly moving solidarity. I have never seen such a gathering of people of all ages joined together for the purpose of celebrating a truly outstanding figure in Europes' modern history.
It is with a twist of bitter irony that Saturday sees a march in Lisbon of Portugals neo-nazi Frente Nacional, gut-churning proof that the world never seems to learn from its past.
Cunhal, Amigo, O povo esta contigo
25 de Abril sempre, fascismo nunca mais!
Today Lisbon was heaving with tens of thousands of people who had travelled from all over the country to march behind his cortege bearing communist party flags and red carnations (the flower that became the symbol of the revolution after soldiers put them in the barrels of their guns) in an act of truly moving solidarity. I have never seen such a gathering of people of all ages joined together for the purpose of celebrating a truly outstanding figure in Europes' modern history.
It is with a twist of bitter irony that Saturday sees a march in Lisbon of Portugals neo-nazi Frente Nacional, gut-churning proof that the world never seems to learn from its past.
Cunhal, Amigo, O povo esta contigo
25 de Abril sempre, fascismo nunca mais!
