A Turning Point for The Revolution?

Portugal edged close to a leftist dictatorship last week and then barely retreated--but the country lost more freedoms. A crisis had erupted over the issue of whether the country would be able to make its fragile coalition government work or would dispense with political parties altogether and install either a military government or an outright proletarian dictatorship run by workers' commissions and neighborhood committees. President Francisco da Costa Gomes, fresh from a bridge-building visit to Rumania, went into extraordinary, round-the-clock sessions with the 29-member Revolutionary Council, the government's highest authority. Said a Western diplomat in Lisbon: "This is the most critical point of the revolution."

Marathon Meeting. The newest crisis grew out of three issues: 1) the seizure by leftist printers of the Socialist newspaper Republica, which reopened briefly last week only to be closed again; 2) a takeover by workers of Radio Renascenc,a, the official station of the Roman Catholic Church, which led to violence between Catholic and anticlerical demonstrators; 3) a bid by the Socialists to turn the new Constituent Assembly into a more formal parliament; that move was opposed by the Communists because their representation, based on their 12.5% showing in April's elections, would be insignificant in such a body. The incidents were symptomatic of a growing power struggle involving not only the Socialists and the Communists but also an emerging "populist" third group, even further to the left than the Communists, led by the erratic General Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, 39, commander of the national security force.

Late last week, after a marathon session lasting into the early hours of Saturday morning, the Revolutionary Council delivered its new policies in a 15-page communique. While the document clearly tightened the military's control, particularly over the media, it seemed designed to effect a compromise among the increasingly polarized political factions. The Council endorsed "the very valuable role" of the political parties and reiterated its commitment to pluralistic democracy. But it rejected the Socialists' bid to enlarge the powers of the Constituent Assembly, which is limited to framing a new constitution. In a gesture to the populists, workers' committees will be permitted, but they will not be allowed to form in the military as Carvalho had wanted. At the same time, the Council warned that the parties in the coalition government must come up with programs to solve the country's worsening economic problems by the end of July "or the present coalition will be considered inadequate."

"False News." The overwhelming response was one of relief that Portugal once again had stepped back from the brink of dictatorship. Some Council members, it is believed, argued for the immediate establishment of a Communist state but were rejected by the majority. Said Socialist Mario Soares, leader of Portugal's largest political party: "There is more hope for parliamentary democracy today than there was yesterday." The communique, he added, "is very explicit because it rejects a dictatorship of the proletariat and the way of a people's democracy and reaffirms the original movement toward a socialism compatible with several political parties, fundamental liberties and the right of a legal opposition."

There could be little optimism, however, about the Council's limitations on press freedoms. Much of the media has already been nationalized, but the Council said that it would assert editorial control over radio and television. The Council also threatened foreign journalists who report what it called "false and distorted news" about Portugal, saying that though the "present law does not permit action against these prevaricators," it would consider new legislation to restrict them.

The harsh measures against the media--believed to have been a concession to radicals in the Council--do not seem to bode well for an early settlement of the Republica affair. The drama at the newspaper began last month when the paper's dissident typesetters demanded an editorial voice in the newspaper. The government sealed the paper, pending resolution of the conflict. After lengthy negotiations, it was reopened last week, only to be seized again by the workers.

The Radio Renascenc,a affair sharply echoes the Republica dispute. Trouble has been brewing at the station ever since Catholic authorities refused to allow newscasters to report the return from exile of Soares and Communist Party Chief Alvaro Cunhal after the 1974 revolution. Three weeks ago workers who wanted a say in the radio's editorial policy seized control and began broadcasting. When 3,000 anticlerical leftists turned out to demonstrate at the residence of Antonio Cardinal Ribeiro in Lisbon last week, they were met by 700 Catholics. The Catholics, including 150 priests and 30 nuns, hoisted paper crosses and rosaries. The leftists rushed them, shouting "Death to the fascists!" and pelting them with rocks.

The exact role of the Communists in the two incidents is unclear. Last week Antonio Dias Lourenc,o, editor of the Communist newspaper Avante, denied that the party was behind the Republica takeover. But there are already signs of a backlash against the Communists in the heavily Catholic north, where gun battles between conservative and left-wing elements have been reported. In addition, troops were called into one village to restore order after a left-wing politician shot his way out of a mob armed with shotguns, whips and hoes.

The Revolutionary Council warned that it would no longer tolerate such demonstrations. Said its communique: "Repression of various forms, including armed action if necessary, will be carried out against groups or organizations which systematically perturb public order and disrespect the rules fixed for the construction of socialism via pluralism." The clear implication was that unless the country attains some sort of social and political peace, even more freedoms may go.

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