Porto, Portugal – On the 52nd anniversary of Portugal’s 1974 Carnation Revolution, thousands of people marched on April 25 to pay homage to those who fought against the country’s 40-year right-wing dictatorship and to vow to continue the struggle for fundamental change in Portugal. The march began outside the location of the Portuguese secret police’s prison during the dictatorship.

April 25 is officially commemorated as “Freedom Day” (Dia da Liberdade) in Portugal. On that date in 1974, lower-ranking military officials, fed up with Portugal’s bloody wars against the growing national liberation movements in Portugal’s African colonies, rebelled against the government. Thousands of people flooded into the streets greeting the rebelling officers with carnations. The hated regime quickly fell.

This ushered in a two-year period of mass workers’ and people’s mobilization as workers took control of many workplaces and communities. The Communist Party, which had been banned and severely repressed under the Salazar dictatorship, played a key role in navigating toward the creation of a new progressive constitution. After more than 40 years with almost no democratic rights, the 1976 constitution guaranteed workers’ rights, including the right to unionize and strike, created a national health care system, committed to gender equality and outlawing racial discrimination, proclaimed the goals of land reform, nationalizing means of production, and moving toward socialism. In the 50 years since then, the right wing has chipped away at many of these gains and blocked the larger goals, and their attacks have accelerated in recent years.

The far-right party in Portugal, Chega, openly praises the dictatorship era, whitewashes Portugal’s colonial history, and echoes Trump’s racist attacks on immigrants.

In this context the large turnout on April 25 was a strong rebuke to attacks such as an anti-worker bill that right-wing parties are now pushing in parliament, as well as legislative attacks on the democratic rights of transgender people and immigrants.

Marchers chanted in Portuguese, “April 25 forever! Never again fascism!” and many marchers carried signs honoring the revolutionary spirit of April 1974 and expressing outrage at today’s far right and fascist political movements.

There were large contingents in the march from the Portuguese Communist Party and their youth group, Portuguese Communist Youth. There were numerous contingents from unions affiliated with the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP). There were also contingents of student organizations, women’s rights organizations, several left organizations, anti-fascist organizations and organizations fighting for LGBTQ rights, housing rights, anti-war organizations.

After the march, the Portuguese Communist Party posted on social media: “Once again, the people took to the streets to celebrate April with joy, conviction, and confidence in the future. Streets were full in Lisbon, Porto, and dozens of cities across the country, a powerful testament to popular participation on this April 25th. Amid carnations, slogans, and many generations united, it was affirmed that April lives on in the achievements attained and in the determination to defend and deepen them.”

The PCP also encouraged people to mobilize on May 1, International Workers Day.

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Lisbon, Portugal – In a spirited rally March 6, the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) kicked off a series of events around the country to celebrate the 105th anniversary of the party’s founding. The rally highlighted the party’s accomplishments throughout its history as well as the party’s role in today’s ongoing struggles.

In a statement, the PCP said, “On March 6th, 1921, 105 years ago, a group of young workers formed a political party in Portugal. Trade unionists, active in the struggle of the early 20th century, encouraged by the gains following the October Revolution, felt the need for a party that would give political expression to their class struggle. That party is called the Portuguese Communist Party. Since then, the PCP has fought for the emancipation of workers, for the people and for the country. There has been no progress in the history of these 105 years in which Portuguese communists have not been involved. This was the case in the resistance and overthrow of fascism, in the achievements of the April Revolution, in the struggle in defense of rights, freedoms, national sovereignty and peace.”

PCP General Secretary Paulo Raimundo spoke at the March 6 event, saying, “With the same joy as always, with the enthusiasm of youth, with the wisdom of the people and above all, with the decisive strength of the working class and the workers, here we are, 105 years later, with the same profound conviction that there is no ideal more beautiful, more just and more necessary than ours.”

The PCP continues to play a key role in working class and internationalist struggles in Portugal. This includes playing a leading role in the union movement like in the nationwide general strike in December 2025 to oppose an anti-union and anti-worker “labor package” that Portugal’s right-wing parties are trying to push through. The PCP stands for defending democratic rights and public services that are under attack such as health care, education and social security, and opposing privatizations.

It includes organizing mass anti-war demonstrations, standing firmly against NATO, and standing in unwavering solidarity with countries and peoples under attack by U.S. and Western imperialism, from Venezuela to Palestine to Cuba to Iran. And it includes resolutely opposing attacks on immigrant workers by Portugal’s far right party, Chega, which are similar to Trump’s racist attacks on immigrants in the U.S.

More commemorative rallies and events are planned throughout Portugal in the coming weeks to mark 105 years of the Portuguese Communist Party.

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Porto, Portugal – At an event in Porto on July 4 attended by around 200 people, leaders of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) firmly condemned the privatization of a key state energy company, Efacec, to a German shareholder. Mutares, the German shareholder, submitted a bid to acquire a 71% ownership of the currently nationalized company that specializes in transformers, appliances and equipment, automation solutions and electric mobility.

The Communist Party leaders who spoke at the event said that this new privatization would deepen the process of deindustrialization and have a serious impact on the country's financial situation, negatively impacting the working class.

Paulo Raimundo, general secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party, spoke at the event in Porto, condemning the privatization and announcing actions the Communist Party will take to try to stop it. One action he said the party will take is that its members who are elected to the Assembly of the Republic will present a resolution there to try to block the imminent privatization.

Privatization and other harms inflicted on the Portuguese economy by multinational capital have resulted in one in five people leaving Portugal to work in richer countries – the highest emigration rate in the European Union.

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