Comrades and friends,
Greetings to all the participants, members of the Party and JCP and the many friends who are here with us today on the 104th. anniversary of our Party.
Special greetings to all the women present, at a time when we are marking International Women's Day, a symbolic moment in the struggle for women's rights, equality and emancipation.
We celebrate the 104th. anniversary of the Portuguese Communist Party, proud of its unique history, firm and confident in its present intervention and with its eyes set on the future.
We remember a Party that resisted, grew and asserted itself as a great national Party under the difficult conditions of fascism.
We remember a Party that, through its struggle, made an invaluable contribution to the April 25 Revolution and that, together with the workers and the people, achieved important victories and fought for their defence and future projection.
We remember the men, women and youth who gave their strength and energy, their intelligence and creativity, some their lives, so that the Party could fulfil its role, against exploitation and injustice, for freedom, democracy and socialism.
We are marking the 104th. anniversary of a Party that has not bowed down in the face of the attacks it has been and continues to be subjected to. Since 1921, many have worked to attack and destroy it, the silencing and manipulation operations have been cyclical, and many were and are the attacks, which have created difficulties, it is true, but they have not stopped our intervention and here we are, determined and confident.
We held the XXII Congress, a great success that was an important milestone in the fight for the values of April, for Democracy and Socialism.
In a context marked by the structural crisis of capitalism, in the face of the continuing resistance and struggle of the workers and peoples, and within the framework of a broad and complex process of rearrangement of forces at world level, the United States of America, as well as the other G7 capitalist powers, are carrying out a particularly aggressive, exploitative and reactionary offensive whose main aim is to counter their relative decline, safeguard their hegemonic dominance and attack all those who resist their aims and assert their own sovereignty.
The developments in the international situation, particularly those resulting from the measures and positions of the Trump administration, are an expression of the main trends that are marking the evolution of the world. Trump is not an accident of the system's path, but rather a path and instrument of capitalism.
The current tactical repositioning of US imperialism, particularly with regard to the war in Ukraine, has nothing to do with peace and cooperation among peoples, but is rather a reconfiguration of a strategy in which the US continues to try to impose its interests and diktats on the world.
A strategic reconfiguration, which, despite the difficulties at home and abroad, seeks to make the US focus even more on the policy of confrontation with China.
This explains the change in US tactics regarding relations with Russia and the conflict in Ukraine, which has caught the other imperialist powers of NATO and the European Union by surprise.
At a time when you're trying to stir up confusion, it's time to remember the essentials!
And the essentials are to be found in the PCP's positions.
We never tired of warning that NATO's insistence on enlargement to the east and the deployment of its weapons in the region, were aimed at Russia.
We never tired of warning that interference manoeuvres and coups d'état, sponsored by Washington and Brussels, could only lead to conflict.
Reality has proved us right. As we said years ago, the PCP does not allow itself to be trapped in the logic of the inevitability of confrontation and we have condemned all the actions that have led millions of people to the current situation of war and destruction.
Rejecting the path of the Biden administration, the EU and the UK, which have instigated and fuelled war, refused all initiatives and appeals for Peace, and embarked on a spiral of sanctions that are always paid for by the people, the PCP reaffirms that all this could have been avoided and that it is urgent to put an end to the propaganda of war and to chart the path to peace.
Unfortunately, faced with the possibility of the start of a negotiation process, the European imperialist powers insist on prolonging the war, counting on the power in place in Ukraine to continue sacrificing Ukrainians as cannon fodder; and they launch into an increase in military spending and an arms escalation, pushing the peoples of Europe towards the abyss.
There is no end in sight to the militaristic drift and the obsession with war that pervades the decision-making centres of the European Union. And now, even that dogma of the deficit and its limits, that ‘sacred cow’ invoked to impose impoverishment and exploitation that we know so well in our Country, can be ignored if it results in more spending on arms and war. For healthcare, education, social protection and housing, pensions and salaries, the threat and choke of the deficit. For war, it's all about spending to the hilt, because the deficit no longer matters.
After 11 years of war in Ukraine, more and more people are realising that, as the PCP has said, there is an urgent need for initiatives that “contribute to a process of dialogue with a view to a political solution to the conflict in Ukraine, a response to the problems of collective security in Europe, compliance with the principles of the UN Charter and the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference”.
How many deaths, how much suffering, how much destruction could have been avoided if calls for dialogue and Peace - such as the one courageously made by the PCP - had been heard and not violently attacked and distorted by those who, then as now, are committed to advocating war.
Once again, we warn that there is an urgent need to put an end to this madness of confrontation and war.
Peace and security do not lie in increased military spending; they do not lie in the militarisation of the European Union and turning it into a warmongering bloc.
Peace and security can be achieved with more diplomacy, more dialogue and political solution of conflicts and with more respect for the principles of international law.
Portugal is not an instrument of the US, NATO and the European Union. Portugal is a sovereign Country that, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic, must promote Peace and cooperation, not militarism, arms race and war.
Convinced that it is right, and not backing down in the face of falsehoods and distortions, the PCP remains firmly and courageously in defence of Peace.
That's why the PCP remains committed to the defence of a general, simultaneous and controlled disarmament, the dissolution of political-military blocs and the establishment of a collective security system, with a view to creating an international order capable of ensuring peace and justice in relations among peoples.
The PCP reaffirms its determination and long-standing positions in defence of Peace and the rights of peoples.
We condemn Trump's statements, which, in line with the criminal Zionist regime, proclaim the expulsion of the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip and its occupation by the US, and we reaffirm the demand for: an end to Israel's genocide and criminal policy; the implementation of a permanent ceasefire and urgent access to humanitarian aid; the creation of the State of Palestine, in accordance with United Nations resolutions; a just and lasting Peace in the Middle East - an objective that has been deliberately boycotted by the US and Israel.
We reaffirm our solidarity with Cuba, demand an end to US imperialism's destabilising actions against the Cuban people and their socialist revolution, and call for participation in the solidarity campaign that has been launched in Portugal under the slogan “For Cuba! End the blockade!”
To the Palestinian people, to the Cuban people, to the peoples who resist and fight for their rights, we say: you do not stand alone! You can count on us, you can count on the Portuguese people, who have been so solidary with your struggles.
We are not backing down in the face of war propaganda, nor are we letting ourselves be dragged down by the discourse of hatred and confrontation.
We are here at all times as a force for Peace, cooperation and friendship with all the peoples of the world.
Looking at the world, we see what the capitalist system is, its exploitative, oppressive, aggressive and predatory nature, we see imperialist action and its tragic consequences. We see the use of fascism and war. We see the attempt to impose lies, censorship and manipulation. We see and we are increasingly certain: capitalism is not and will not be the future of humanity.
There is another way. The path of struggle and the affirmation of the communist ideal and project. A path that is possible and necessary to build a world based on Peace, cooperation and friendship between peoples, an end to exploitation, justice and equality, ecological balance and that points the people towards a new society, socialism.
Today, as in the past, the strength of the workers and peoples, of internationalist solidarity, is powerful and will ultimately determine the future.
The situation in Portugal is characterised by the domination of big capital over the life of the Country, which is being carried out on the margin and against the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.
The PSD/CDS government serves these interests, has the support of Chega and IL in everything that serves big capital.
This path is expressed in the worsening of exploitation, the squeezing of wages and pensions, the attack on workers' rights, the attack on and dismantling of public services, the denial of the right to healthcare and housing, privatisations, the favouring of real estate speculation and the undermining of national sovereignty.
Mired in growing contradictions and problems, the PSD/CDS government was pursuing a planned course that was deeply damaging to the interests of the workers, the people and the Country and at the service of the economic groups and multinationals.
The development of the government's actions and the succession of facts that have accumulated involving its members and the Prime Minister himself are not the work of chance. They reflect and express a mingling between the exercise of public functions and private interests, and the promiscuity between political and economic power.
Apart from the seriousness of the deplorable facts and events, the essential issue, however much some want to hide it, is the government's policy of increasing exploitation, injustice and the growing vulnerability of workers, youth and pensioners.
The government's policy and practice show that it neither intends to, nor is in a position to, respond to national problems, and that in itself is a factor in discrediting political life. The government's policy and practice demand that its agenda of regression and degradation of political life be stopped as quickly as possible.
Eluding the compromises made by those who, in words, declare themselves to be in opposition but who continue to stand beside the government, the PCP's initiative to present a motion of censure was the decisive element in clarifying political life.
It was clear, contradicting all those who sought to diminish its value in chorus, that the PCP's motion of censure had an undeniable merit - forcing the government to announce a motion of confidence which, as we know, was far from decided.
Without the PCP’s initiative and determination, the government's continuity would have been guaranteed by the tactics of others. Whatever the outcome of the vote on the motion of confidence, the only reason the government wasn't defeated yesterday is because the majority of MPs did not want, as they could and should have, to defeat the government, its actions and its policies.
The question is not how to avoid a political crisis, the answer is how to get out of the government crisis, the political instability and, above all, how to deal with the instability in the lives of the people.
Regardless of future developments, let go on record the PS's choice to join the right once again. A choice that cannot be separated from the fact that the PS's disagreements with the government are limited to cases, which are undoubtedly serious and unacceptable, but which are only part of the reasons why this government must be defeated. A choice that has become clear in these months of the PSD/CDS government's life, when the PS rejected the PCP's motion to reject the government's programme, made the State Budget viable, supported the lowering of corporate income tax for economic groups, and joined the PSD and CDS on the land law.
Once the defeat of this government has been confirmed, once the manoeuvres to ensure its continuity with other faces have been ruled out, once the impossibility of finding the necessary response to the country's problems within the framework of the current composition of the Assembly of the Republic has been confirmed, the clarification of national political life calls for the dissolution of the Assembly and the calling of elections as the only way out.
The elections can and must be an opportunity to pave the way for another policy. It's in the action and struggle of the workers and the people; it's in the hands of everyone who aspires to an alternative policy to do so. Giving more strength to the CDU by contributing their support to ensure that it is a coherent and courageous force that doesn't yield to the interests of economic groups, a force that doesn't hesitate when it comes to choosing between Labour and Capital, a force that gives guarantees of real opposition and of not giving a hand to right-wing politics.
Faced with the country and the situation it has reached, the need for an alternative policy and a patriotic and left-wing alternative, inseparable from the defence of the democratic regime and compliance with the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, emerges as an essential issue. A policy, a sign of hope and possibility, that raises wages and pensions, valorises careers and working conditions, fights precariousness and unregulated work, defends public services, the National Health Service, public schools, guarantees the right to culture, housing, enforces the rights of parents and children, promotes fiscal justice, national production, economic planning, scientific and technological development, public control of strategic sectors, affirms sovereignty and national development.
We go forward with confidence and determination in the electoral battle, just as we are doing with the preparations for the local elections, working to serve the people, affirming the CDU, the driving force behind a broad unitary and popular front, its work and its project of work, honesty and competence.
Faced with the situation the country is experiencing, with the problems affecting the workers and the population, the Party is taking the initiative in political intervention, mass struggle, strengthening unitary organisations, involving democrats and patriots, preparing for electoral battles and strengthening the Party.
The workers and the people have defended their rights and interests and made progress, with an intense struggle that we welcome here.
A struggle that will continue right away with the national women's demonstration promoted by the MDM next Saturday, March 8, all over the country and here in Lisbon with a gathering in Praça dos Restauradores. It will continue with demonstrations by students, young workers, the population and other sectors.
We've developed mass contact, holding thousands and thousands of talks in the national action “Increase wages and pensions. For a better life”, which was translated into clarification and signing of the petition with this objective.
We acted in a wide variety of areas, and we need to extend the initiative, against the increase in the cost of living, for the defence and strengthening of the National Health Service, Social Security, housing, the rights of children and parents, among many others.
All of this is only possible with the remarkable militancy of the members of the Party and the JCP, of this great and selfless party collective. This Party of ours with its communist identity, its unwavering commitment to the workers and the people, and which we want to become stronger and more influential.
A Party that we want to be stronger and more influential, and which, in order to achieve this, needs to materialise the general movement to strengthen the work of leadership and structuring, which we decided at the XXII Congress, combined with giving responsibilities to cadres, the recruitment of new militants, political and ideological preparation, militancy, the means of propaganda, the press and financial independence.
We are aware of the concerns, the dangers, but above all we are confident and determined to build a new society, a world of progress, cooperation and Peace. We carry out our struggle for these goals with joy.
In an international situation that highlights the nature of capitalism and imperialist action, when Portugal suffers the consequences of the domination of big capital and external submission, which threatens sovereignty, heightens exploitation, inequalities and social injustices, and strikes at democratic values, here we are affirming the topicality of the communist ideal and project, the need to break with right-wing politics and national abdication, for a patriotic and left-wing alternative, for the values of April in the future of Portugal.
Here we are expressing our confidence in the power of the workers and the popular masses.
Here is the Portuguese Communist Party, the Party of the workers and the people, of democracy and socialism. With the strength, capacity, resistance, courage, initiative and will to fight and prevail.