Thousands in Portugal protest austerity (videos)

In yet another example of the fact that austerity just doesn't work, hundreds of thousands of Portuguese people took to the streets in around 30 cities all over Portugal on Saturday and protests will continue on Sunday.

The mass protest, probably the largest since September last year, was dubbed 2m, and will continue on Sunday under the name 3m, and is also generally known as "Que Se Lixe a Troika", or "Screw the Troika."

Organizers are estimating numbers at around 500,000 in Lisbon, with many thousands more countrywide. Some protests are also being held in other cities around the world outside Portuguese embassies.

Coinciding with a quarterly review by the EU/IMF bailout inspectors, thousands of people hit the streets, protesting the austerity measures imposed by a government which hopes to avoid the bailout, and lift the country out of recession. 

As with similar ongoing protests in Spain recently, the protests were coordinated with several different groups. In Lisbon, teachers protested outside the Ministry of Education. Healthcare workers demonstrated outside one of the major hospitals which may be closed as a result of government cuts. 

All the various groups joined together for a major protest march through the center of Lisbon in the afternoon and an estimated 200,000 people filled the Lisbon street leading up to the Finance Minister's office. 

People have had enough of the Troika, referring to the lenders from the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. Banners and placards seen in the street reading, "It's time for the government to go!" and "Screw the Troika, we want our lives back."

 Other protesters were heard to sing "Grândola Vila Morena", which is a protest song from the 1974 "Carnation revolution" which ousted the fascist dictator Antonio Salazar and brought the end of the military rule in the country. 

Apparently activists have been heckling government ministers throughout the week by singing this song when they make public speeches. The video below shows a speech by the Prime Minister in a recent plenary session, interrupted by activists singing the protest song:



Major reasons for the mass protests countrywide are cuts in public wages and an increase in taxes, which has been imposed by the "Troika" in exchange for the 78 billion euro bailout which was agreed in mid-2011. These measures have effectively pushed unemployment in Portugal to record levels of 17%. 

On Thursday last week, Portugal's Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coehlo, promised yet more spending cuts as part of a deep reform. He says these are necessary to make lower taxes possible in future. 

However, protesters are this weekend demanding a complete change of government policies in an aim to revive Portugal's economy, as the country faces the worse recession since the 1970's. 

Veronica Pereira, is an unemployed mother who has no means to send her daughter to college. She said: "Our people have the habit of letting things happen, but I think this is changing radically now. We need to protest to change things." 

49-year-old journalist and protest organizer, Nuno Almedia told the WSJ, "We want the government out because it is pushing through a program that is only bringing hardship to the population." 

"People are desperate, seeing their incomes fall sharply, their families and friends without jobs." he added.One elderly protester in Lisbon who preferred not to give his name told Reuters, "We are in a new dictatorship. Everything that the revolution achieved is being destroyed." 

Euronews interviewed protesters including a woman, angry at Portugal's prime minister, who said, “I just want to tell Passos Coelho that I have the right to scream and show everyone how revolted I am at his incompetence, mediocrity and dishonesty – at everything.” 

Another man told the news service, “If the government pays attention to what is happening and understands that the people are against them, they should get out. If not, this wont stop.” 

Reuters quoted one of the protesters, Fabio Carvalho, a movie-maker, as saying, "This government has left the people on bread and water, selling off state assets for peanuts to pay back debts that were contracted by corrupt politicians to benefit bankers."

 "If not today, things have to change tomorrow and we need to remain in the streets for the government to fall," he added.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/344711

Protests mark Angela Merkel's visit to Lisbon, Portugal (video)

During Angela Merkel's visit to Lisbon, protesters gathered peacefully to denounce Germany's decision to back a recent series of austerity measures in the bailed-out Eurozone state.

Playing with puppets representing Portugal's Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho (L), Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in front of the presidential palace, dozens of protesters demonstrated against Merkel's visit to the city. 

Merkel met with the Portuguese President on Monday at the Palace of Belem in Lisbon. She also held talks with Prime Minister Coelho and attended a conference by leading German and Portuguese corporations. 

Merkel told a joint news conference with Coelho that "The program is being applied by Portugal in an excellent manner. It is a great exploit." "My visit is a chance to get to know the country better and to bring hope. I sense a great determination to overcome a difficult situation. Germany wants to support Portugal."

However, protesters did not agree with her. Amidst a heavy police presence, white- and blue-collar workers joined with city students, draping statues in black mourning sashes to ‘mourn’ the German chancellor’s visit, carrying banners with slogans like ‘Merkel, no!’ and ‘Get out!’ Other banners had a Nazi theme, and said 'Merkel Nazi, Go Away!' and, in German, 'Merkel Raus' (Merkel Out). 

Artwork as sprung up all over the city, portraying Merkel as a puppet-master and also as a gambler in a casino, playing with Portugal's future.

One protester told RT, "These measures have been killing us, they give us no future, its only bringing unemployment and misery."  

Euronews reported that São José Lapa, a well-known Portuguese actress, was among 100 Portuguese academics and intellectuals who signed an open letter to Chancellor Merkel to tell her she is unwelcome in the country, reading: “I want to say to Mrs. Merkel: ‘You have to stop putting your paws in all the countries of Europe that have great problems like ours. It’s an indecency to our nationality. You seem like you are the owner, that this is your territory’.” 

A protest leader in the “Que se lixe a troika” (Damn the troika) movement, Marco Marques, said, “She’s not coming to re-evaluate her policies, she’s coming to sell Portugal. She is coming to Portugal with a group of businessmen to diagnose the misery.” 

On Monday, a Portuguese daily newspaper, Informacao, ran a photo of Merkel on the front page, captioned with ‘Hail Angela, those who are about to die salute you!’ 

Merkel told Rádio e Televisão de Portugal in an interview on Sunday, “People can't see the results yet, but the results will come.” while praising Lisbon for carrying out economic reforms and spending cuts, in return for a 78-billion-euro bailout package. 

Portugal's main trade union confederation is planning a 24-hour general strike for Wednesday, along with several other European countries. 

The reason for so much upset and protest in Portugal is the austerity budget for 2013, adopted by Portugal's center-right governing coalition government last month, which includes steep public spending cuts and tax increases. The final vote for this budget is set to take place on Tuesday and it is hoped that this budget will generate 5.3 billion euros, mainly through tax hikes.

With Portugal facing its worst economic crisis since the 1970's, and unemployment soaring to 16%, officials from the "Troika" (the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and other EU member states) are about to begin their sixth quarterly review of Portugal's implementation of the bailout conditions.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/336753#ixzz2C8dosebr

Portugal military protest austerity in Lisbon (video)

Holding red cards and banners, thousands of military personnel marched through the streets of Lisbon on Saturday, protesting the austerity measures and budget cuts imposed in Portugal. 

Wearing civilian clothing, with some proudly displaying their medals, an estimated 5,000-10,000 active and retired soldiers rallied against "unjustified cutbacks" in the 2013 budget. They called for Portuguese President Aníbal António Cavaco Silva to veto the controversial austerity budget adopted by the government. 

They marched quietly, carrying banners calling for respect for the military and for "national sovereignty." Some banners read, “Police are unhappy, military are unhappy, people are unhappy”. 

With some officers complaining that their monthly wages have been cut by as much as 25%, one soldier told AFP, "We are getting cut after cut and there is no light at the end of the tunnel." 

Sergeant José Paulo Leitão said, “The 2013 budget proposes we make higher payments for medical care, although the service is worse. We pay more for less.” 

According to retired navy officer, Armenio Teodoro: “All the soldiers – not just me – have the right to receive our pension with dignity, because they discounted the money from our salaries. Now I ask, where’s our money? Where’s the money we paid for so many years?” 

Other reasons for the protest are the decline in finances for maintenance and training, as well as the cuts in the social sphere and tax hikes. Several associations which represent the military called on Portugal's Constitutional Court to review the legality of next year's budget. The court ruled in July against a finance law, and told the government to revise the measure, which stripped bonuses from civil servants. The court argued that it violated constitutionally-guaranteed rights to equal treatment.

Now the protesters hope to receive a similar outcome with the austerity budget. Portugal received a €78-billion bailout package in 2011 from the Troika, comprised of the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Now austerity measures are needed to keep within this package. Lisbon must lower its budget deficit to 3% of GDP by 2014.

According to Eurostat, thanks to austerity measures, the economy is expected to shrink by 3% in 2012, while unemployment is around 15.7%. Euronews is reporting that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has praised Lisbon's efforts to reduce the deficit. Merkel is due to visit Lisbon on Monday.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/336609#ixzz2BuBketQv