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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria University College, Wellington N.Z. Vol. 21, No. 9. July 23, 1958
The Riddle of Salazar — Fascist or Saint?
The Riddle of Salazar — Fascist or Saint?
When Dr. Antonio de Oliveira Salazar became Premior nearly 30 years ago few people expected that his regime would bring with it such relative prosperity and such extraordinary longevity. Formerly a professor of economics, Dr. Salazar, in the short period of three months, gave Portugal her first balanced national budget in 74 years. He has been described as a "bookkeeper of genius" and as a "sagacious negotiator"; this is undoubtedly true; but it is equally the truth that Dr. Salazar is no democrat. The people of Portugal have had to pay for their state housing and pensions, introduced some years before the Labour Party came to power in New Zealand, with their political freedom.
Opponents of the regime have been rigorously suppressed. Last March Captain Henrique Galvao, a former National Union deputy in the so-called Portuguese parliament, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. In 1947 Galvao was sent on a special fact-finding mission to the Portuguese slave-colony of Angola in order to answer charges laid against Portugal by the United Nations. Galvao was appalled by the corruption, maladministration and slavery and produced a report highly critical of the regime. The report was suppressed and Galvao was dismissed from his position as a deputy, to be subjected to continual persecution by the regime. Because he gave his support to the opposition candidate in the 1951 Presidential "election", Galvao was sentenced to three years' imprisonment in 1951 for "conspiring against the state". Now he has been sentenced for a further 16 years on the charge that while he was in gaol previously he printed and circulated leaflets criticising the Head of State. The trial was a farce. It was held in secret and Galvao was not permitted to call witnesses for his defence. The result was a foregone conclusion.
In the last few months Dr. Salazar was quietly preparing the scene for the presidential "election" which was held in May. Salazar's political police have been systematically persecuting the Portuguese democrats who are known to the regime. The opposition printing firm in Alviero has been raided and is now under police supervision, and all documents at the opposition headquarters in Oporto have been seized. A number of prominent democrats have been arrested. Among these are Judge Sebastio Ribeiro, author of a book attacking the regime. Professors Azevedo Gomes and Samara Reis have been ordered by the police to disband the democratic clubs which they had organised.
The Presidential election last May was decided by a carefully pruned electorate. Whereas in New Zealand approximately three persons in five are eligible to vote, in Portugal a mere one in six have this right. At the most a mere one and a half million out of nine million can register their vote. The opposition has to campaign in an atmosphere of fear. Mass arrests and political trials have taken place, and the offices of the Liberal opposition were subjected to continual raids.
It seems that the Catholic Church is the only group that can oust Salazar. It ousted Peron in Argentina and Pinilla Rojas in Colombia, and could well do the same in Portugal. The opposition candidate in the presidential "election" was himself a practising Catholic and received a considerable measure of unofficial support from the clergy. Many Liberal committees in the villages were set up with the aid of the local parish priests. As in Spain it seems that the Church has in mind the establishment of a Christian Democrat Party. It is certainly significant that in recent months every Portuguese bishop has been individually summoned to the Vatican. If the Church succeeds in ousting Salazar and introducing democratic elections it will be a great victory for justice.
—T.J.K.