LISBON LISTS EVEN MORE TO THE LEFT

After two weeks of intense political infighting, Portugal last week got its fourth provisional coalition government since last April's revolution. The new 21-member Cabinet, headed by Premier Vasco dos Santos Gonc,alves, predictably confirmed the country's lurch to the left in the aftermath of an abortive right-wing coup staged three weeks ago by forces loyal to former President Antonio de Spinola. Unlike the preceding Cabinet, it has a majority of civilians (14) rather than military men (seven), but it is also clear that Communists and proCommunists predominate.

The major change was the inclusion of the relatively small but increasingly influential Democratic Movement Party, a leftist group that moderate Portuguese view as a Communist front. Both the Socialists and the slightly left-of-center Popular Democrats vehemently objected to the Democratic Movement being counted in as a fourth party in the coalition because it would enhance the power of the Communists. The two parties threatened to pull out of the government, but in the end both stayed rather than leave the field entirely to the far left.

The Communists, the Popular Democrats and the Socialists each retained two portfolios in the enlarged Cabinet, and the Democratic Movement was given one. But Socialist Leader Mario Scares was replaced as Foreign Minister by Major Ernesto Melo Antunes, who was Scares' chief assistant in negotiating the independence of Portugal's African territories of Mozambique and Angola. Antunes, a Marxist moderate, is not expected to make any significant changes in foreign policy, particularly with regard to Portugal's ties to NATO. Like Communist Secretary-General Alvaro Cunhal, Scares will remain as a minister without portfolio. That is a considerable comedown for the Socialist leader, who has frequently been mentioned as a possible Premier in a future civilian government. Scares and other moderates seemed weary and depressed by the swift turn of events that in only three weeks has seen:

1) The swift crushing of a right-wing coup and the flight of the revolution's first hero and president. General Spinola, to Brazil.

2) The hasty creation of a strongly leftist 28-member Revolutionary Council with extraordinary powers to legislate and override an elected government for up to five years.

3) The abrupt nationalization of banks and insurance companies, with the possibility that steel, mining and chemical companies will soon follow.

4) The banning of three parties, the intimidation of others and the installation of a Cabinet with strongly leftist representation.

At a rally in Lisbon's bullring. Scares declared pointedly, "We want to construct a socialist society in Portugal with respect for liberty, not copied after foreign models -- neither Russian nor Swedish nor Chinese but Portuguese." And at another rally, in Coimbra, he told several thousand followers, "The people have a right to know if an authentic democracy is to be established; or is it to turn into a dictatorship?"

That question is increasingly being asked, not only in Portugal but also in Europe and the U.S. In the wake of fears that the Communists would seize control of the government, possibly jeopardizing American bases and imperiling NATO's southern flank, Lisbon has sought to reassure Washington of its desire for continued good relations and its commitment to the Atlantic Alliance. Last week President Francisco da Costa Gomes also promised that the outcome of the April 25 elections for a constituent assembly would be respected. But it was almost impossible to see how the elections could any longer be considered an accurate measure of Portuguese opinion, with some parties outlawed and others fearing to stage rallies.

The atmosphere of uncertainty is taking a heavy toll on tourism and foreign investment. At Lisbon's 300-room Ritz last week, there were fewer than 40 guests. Because of fears for the country's economic stability, Portugal's 2 million workers abroad have cut back sharply on the funds they customarily send home. In a television broadcast last week, Premier Gonc,alves exhorted migrant workers to pay no heed "to the defamatory and reactionary campaigns of certain organs of information" and to come home and "verify that the country is happier than the sad Portugal you used to know."

For their part, American officials seemed to be of two minds.

At a luncheon for U.S. businessmen in Lisbon, Ambassador Frank Carlucci emphasized that Portugal's ties to NATO are "extremely strong" and that the military is "determined to work within the NATO framework." Added Carlucci, under attack from Portuguese leftists for alleged ties to the CIA: "Most Armed Forces Movement members will tell you Portugal has to find its own path to socialism, and that will take a while."

Reaction in Washington was less sanguine, as Secretary of State Kissinger indicated during his press conference when he spoke of the disquieting evolution under way in Portugal.

Some top-level officials said the Administration was consulting its European allies about a means of imposing a kind of quarantine within the NATO alliance, should that become necessary. In a somewhat similar situation, ad hoc measures to ensure security were taken when Iceland had a Communist coalition in 1956.

Meanwhile, high-level Portuguese military officials announced that they had uncovered a Portuguese Liberation Army whose aim was to overthrow the government and halt the decolonization of the African territories. The secret right-wing army, they said, was based in Spain, with cells in Angola and Mozambique, and had participated in the March 11 coup attempt. Officials went out of their way, however, to point out that no links had been found between the mercenaries and the CIA, although at least one newspaper claimed otherwise.

In the final analysis, the implications of Portugal's leftward turn may not be quite so bleak as they would at first appear, at least in the short run. No responsible Portuguese political leader, including Communist Party Leader Cunhal, has suggested that the U.S. give up its airbase in the Azores -- yet. But many have hinted that the facility is a question for "later." As for NATO, even the Communists are notably reluctant to make any threats about pulling out of it, repeatedly declaring that "the question is one for five years from now."

There is evidence that Communist parties in Italy and France, as well as Spain, are exerting considerable pressure on the Portuguese left to go slowly so as not to provoke a torrent of reaction all across the Continent. The Soviet strategy, meanwhile, has been to offer adroit public reassurances of its friendship, send to Lisbon what one Western diplomat describes as "every dance troupe and chorus in Russia" and quietly beef up the sizable staff it has had quartered in a modern office building in Lisbon since diplomatic relations were established last year.

Reflects one NATO country analyst, "I can't believe that the Soviets want another satellite here. Portugal is far from the Soviet Union. It is the poorest country in Western Europe. If the Russians made a concrete move, they know that it would drive the West Europeans through the roof. Ultimately, detente would be at stake. When things are going your way, such risks are unnecessary, and if I were thinking this through in Moscow that is how I would see it." Another Western diplomat offers an equally disquieting thought: "The diabolical theory is that the Soviets will be very happy to see Portugal remain in NATO as a thorn in the side of the alliance -- not a cancer but a thorn." Portugal already is a thorn in the alliance's side. What worries the West is that it may eventually begin to feel more like a dagger.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.