Portugal

Portugal’s Wildfires A Result Of Timber Industry

June 23, 2017 Campaign to Stop GE Trees, www.stopgetrees.org Resist! GE Trees, Portugal, Timber Industry, Wildfires

By the Campaign to Stop Genetically-Engineered Trees. Wildfires in Portugal have been called “the worst such disaster in recent history.” Dozens of people burnt to death in their cars while trying to escape the inferno. But this horrific tragedy was human-made. One-quarter of Portugal’s forested landscape (more than 812,000 hectares or 2 million acres) has been replaced by non-native eucalyptus plantations. On top of that are expansive pine plantations. Oliver Munnion, Co-Director of Biofuelwatch, lives in Portugal’s wildfire zone. “We spent last night in a local school after some 30 villages were evacuated in our area. News reports say that a quarter of the municipality has burned. We’ve been lucky so far and still have our home, but many others have lost so much.

Portugal Announces World’s First Nationwide Participatory Budgeting Project

December 22, 2016 Cat Johnson, www.shareable.net Create! Participatory budgeting, Portugal

By Cat Johnson for Shareable - Participatory budgeting is becoming increasingly popular, with more than 1,500 programs worldwide. The concept is simple: People submit ideas for what government should spend a portion of its money on and then vote on the best ideas. Until now, however, the process has been limited to cities and regions. Recently, Portugal became the first county to instate a nationwide participatory budgeting (PB) process with Orçamento Participativo Portugal. While the amount allotted for the project is relatively small in its first year...

Portugal 15 Years Of Drug Decriminalization

October 16, 2016 Will Godfrey, theinfluence.org Create! Decriminalization, Portugal, War On Drugs

By Will Godfrey for The Influence. “Will decriminalization solve the drug scourge?” wonders a Washington Post column today. It’s a question being widely asked in the wake of a major report published yesterday by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch, in which those two prestigious organizations called for the decriminalization of all drugs for personal use. The many reasons to support such a move include the right to self-determination when it comes to drug use; better prospects of reducing drug-related harms; and ending America’s appalling, racially biased levels of drug-related arrestsand incarceration. Portugal decriminalized all drugs back in 2001, eliminating criminal penalties for consumption and possession in quantities deemed to be for personal use. Portugal’s bold approach has been in place for long enough to allow meaningful analysis of its results. The result, It’s easy to answer the question of whether or not the US should decriminalize drugs. Indeed, the only debate should be around whether decriminalization goes far enough—whether full legal regulation . . .

A Message Of Hope For The New Year

January 6, 2016 Jack Balkwill, www.dissidentvoice.org Strategize! #BlackLiveMatter, Antarctica, Banks, Bolivia, BXE, Capitalism, China, Climate Change, Cooperatives, Democracy, Ecuador, Elections, Empire, Energy, Environment, Finance and the Economy, Greece, Kurds, Marijuana, Media, militarism, Occupy, Portugal, Russia, sHellNo!, Spain, TPP, Ukraine, Venezuela, Wall Street, Zapatistas

By Jack Balkwill for Dissident Voice. There have been many victories and we need to celebrate them. Among the victories was stopping the northern portion of the KXL pipeline, various new laws in 24 states to prevent police violence and an increase inprosecutions of police who commit violence, and the increase in wages across the country and winning the critically important battle for net neutrality. These were people-powered victories that showed when we act together we have the power to defeat corporate interests. Another ongoing series of victories is seeing local people, who have not been involved in activism, working along with experienced, often young, energy activists, taking on big energy companies in an aggressive way. This is a victory.

Portugal’s government ousted by anti-austerity alliance

November 11, 2015 Staff, www.aljazeera.com Educate! Anti-Austerity, Portugal

By Staff of Aljazeera - Portugal's centre-right government has been forced to resign after an alliance of leftist politicians rejected its policy proposals, paving the way for a socialist-led administration to end years of austerity. The dramatic collapse of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's government on Tuesday came less than two weeks after it was sworn into office, and raised questions about the country's commitment to abide by the eurozone's tough fiscal rules. In an unprecedented move, the moderate Socialist Party teamed up with the Communist Party and the Left Bloc to get a 122-seat majority in the 230-seat parliament, which it used to vote down the proposed government programme.

Portuguese Elections: Shift To The Left – Crisis Of The Establishment

October 29, 2015 Rui Barbosa and Arturo Rodríguez, www.marxist.com Create! Elections, Portugal

By Rui Barbosa and Arturo Rodríguez for In Defense Of Marxism - Portuguese politics have become very interesting in recent weeks. The parliamentary elections of October 4th saw a shift to the left in society that reflects the discontent and radicalisation sowed by the crisis of capitalism in one of the countries that has been hardest hit by it. The main left-wing forces – the Socialist Party (PS), the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) and the Communist Party (PCP) – together command a handsome majority, whilst the right-wing coalition Portugal à Frente (PàF, formed by the two main right-wing parties, PSD and CDS) saw its support plummet. But the post-election period has seen an attempt from the right and the whole establishment to misrepresent the results and prevent the formation of a left-supported government.

Portugal As A Model For A New Socialism?

April 25, 2014 Leila Dregger, www.terranovavoice.tamera.org Educate! Capitalism, Portugal, Socialism

Lisbon, December 1960. In a bar two students clink their glasses to freedom – “A Liberdade!” They are spied on, denounced and finally sentenced to seven years in prison. Under the Portuguese military dictatorship the word ‘freedom’ is prohibited. It was reading about this incident in the London Times which moved the lawyer, Peter Benenson, to found Amnesty International. It would still be thirteen years to the end of the dictatorship in Portugal. On April 25, 1974 left-leaning troops move into Lisbon and within hours take over all key strategic places in the country. The head of state and secret service give up after a short resistance. Forty-eight years of dictatorship are over. The dream of socialism awakens. Today Portugal suffers under a dictatorship again – the dictatorship of capital, as countless graffiti on the walls attest. Austerity measures, debt and tax regulations pressure the workers, small business owners, craftsmen and farmers above all others. The wave of privatization pushes masses of people into unemployment. The number of young people leaving the country today is almost as high as during the dictatorship – back then they fled military service and prison, today they flee from the prospect of a bleak future.

Portugal: Anti-Austerity Protesters Occupy Government Ministries

December 1, 2013 Staff, www.euronews.com Resist! Austerity, Human Rights, Portugal

As parliament passed the 2014 budget on Tuesday, paving the way for more cuts, austerity-weary trade unionists occupied four government ministries for several hours in protest. Public sector workers are set to face salary cuts of up to 12 percent as well as reductions to their pensions. “I am nearing retirement and, after 40 years of working, I don’t think I will have enough of a pension to live on. It’s really borderline,” said one elderly woman. Some marched to parliament, denouncing what will be a third straight year of austerity. The government says cuts are “inevitable” as it struggles to reduce the deficit but many on the sharp end are not convinced. “They drive people to despair, suicide and starvation,” said another elderly woman. “It can’t go on like this. This is not what the people wanted.” The opposition has vowed to challenge some measures in the Constitutional Court. But the ruling centre-right coalition is determined to satisfy Portugal’s international lenders and avoid having to ask for a second bailout.

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