Portugal's democracy turns 50: Thousands to commemorate Carnation Revolution

By Sergio Goncalves and Miguel Pereira

LISBON (Reuters) - Thousands are expected to take to the streets to celebrate the 50th anniversary on Thursday of Portugal's "Carnation Revolution" that toppled the longest fascist dictatorship in Europe and ushered in democracy.

Antonio Oliveira Salazar ruled Portugal from 1932 to 1968, but the regime lasted for a further six years under successor Marcelo Caetano, only crumbling on April 25, 1974.

The almost bloodless revolution was conducted by a group of junior army officers who wanted democracy and to put an end to long-running wars against independence movements in the African colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

They regarded those wars, which were killing thousands of young Portuguese conscripts, as unjust and unwinnable.

The military coup by the "April's Captains" group touched off rapid decolonisation, ending more than five centuries of Portuguese empire in Africa.

Lisbon University political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto said that while most Portuguese support democracy and are proud of the April 25 revolution, there would be "an elephant in the room" at this year's celebrations with the recent surge in support for the populist, anti-immigration Chega party.

"Chega attracts those who have a revisionist view of history with the idea that colonialism and the empire were not bad, and that the glorious Portuguese past and its symbols should be valued," Costa Pinto said.

A study published on Friday by Lisbon's Institute of Social Sciences ICS and research university ISCTE found that 23% of respondents felt that if current political leaders followed the "ideals" of Salazar, Portugal might "regain its greatness".

Chega makes frequent public use of Salazar's motto "God, patriotism and family", to which the party has added "work".

Chega leader Andre Ventura has denied that he or his party is fascist, despite being anti-establishment and wanting to change Portugal's constitution.

"I'm not a fascist, I was born after fascism...We never hide that we don't like this system, this Constitution. But that doesn't mean we don't like democracy," he said in 2021.

Founded in 2019, Chega is the third largest party in the European Union member state, having quadrupled its cohort of lawmakers to 50 in March's election.

Chega has capitalised on the housing crisis unleashed by steadily rising rents as well as low wages, sagging health care and cases of alleged corruption involving the mainstream parties in Western Europe's poorest country.

(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves, editing by Aislinn Laing and Mark Heinrich)