Miguel Afonso Caetano<p>"The old and new right-wing parties are amalgamating into a neoliberal and hyper-conservative ‘pleiad’ (social notables) that comprises neo-Christian fundamentalists, including Fatimists (a Catholic religious faction). The new desire to celebrate November 25 emerges from here. The latest extreme on the right is embodied in the anti-communism of IL (the Liberal Initiative) and the neo-fascism of Chega. The media normalizes it all as milquetoast ‘liberals’ rather than what they are – figures of the ‘radical / extreme right’. These groupings want to celebrate November 25 for what it was: a coup d’état against democracy at work, against the duality of popular power. In short, they want to celebrate the counter-revolution, the beginning of the end of the Revolution.</p><p>November 25 heralded Portugal’s reconstruction from a ‘national capitalism’ dependent on forced labour in its African colonies until 1974 to a subservient capitalism that is a de facto protectorate of the leading European power of Germany, France, and Britain. Portugal now helplessly depends on investments and capital goods from North America, Spain, China, and other countries.</p><p>The ostensible ‘democratic counter-revolution’ of 25 November 1975 is a central political event for understanding what happened in Portugal, and it was far less democratic and far more reactionary in its roots. As we rescue the authentic memory of the Carnation Revolution and lament its demise, no wonder Father Martins Júnior said in a piercing manner that what remains is “50 neo-fascists in the hemicycle 50 years after the April Revolution.”</p><p>The impossible became possible on that day 50 years ago. The dreams unleashed on April 25, 1974, neither have been vanquished nor fulfilled. The slogan could not be more urgent: April 25 forever, fascism never again!"</p><p><a href="https://socialistproject.ca/2025/04/the-carnation-revolution-of-portugal-today/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">socialistproject.ca/2025/04/th</span><span class="invisible">e-carnation-revolution-of-portugal-today/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Portugal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Portugal</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/CarnationRevolution" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>CarnationRevolution</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/25deAbril" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>25deAbril</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/25deNovembro" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>25deNovembro</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Fascismo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascismo</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/Fascism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Fascism</span></a> <a href="https://tldr.nettime.org/tags/EstadoNovo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>EstadoNovo</span></a></p>