Portuguese junta under pressure

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33958, 26 September 1975, Page 9

Portuguese junta under pressure

(N.Z P A.-Reuter —Copyright; LISBON, September 25. Portugal’s military leaders face growing pressure from both Left and Right as they meet in Lisbon today to try to solve one of the country’s key political issues: Who should control the press?

The Council of the Revolution, the military policy-making body, will meet under the shadow of an ugly shooting incident in central Lisbon last night involving bitter Angolan refugees and radical soldiers.

More than 350,000 Angolan settlers are due to arrive in Portugal by the end of next month, and last night’s incident showed up the potentially explosive situation to which their mass return could lead. Most of the destitute refugees openly blame the country’s Left-wing leaders for their plight.

Military policemen fired into the air twice in a central Lisbon square last night during a clash with settlers tram Angola. Hundreds of people ran from the square in panic as about 50 soldiers fired bursts from their automatic weapons lasting about 30 seconds.

A few hundred people assembled again shortly afterwards, and the situation remained tense for some time.

The top-level talks today also follow a one-hour protest strike by Portugal’s steel and heavy engineering workers, held to try to persuade the Government to uphold a new pay deal passed by its predecessor.

the Administration of the p r o-Communist, General Vasco Goncalves. The press problem concerns the Roman Catholic Radio Renascenca and the Lisbon evening newspaper, “Republica”, both of which are occupied by workers.

The Socialists set the re-

turn of the radio 'to the country’s bishops, and of "Republica” to its Socialist management, as a condition for joining the new Government, in which they and their pro-Western allies dwarf the Communists.

Yesterday, a leading member of the Centre-Left Popular Democrat Party, a partner in the coalition Government, called on Portugal’s armed forces to forsake politics and return to the barracks “because they are incompetent to govern.”

Dr Francisco sa Cameiro, who was the P.P.D.’s secre-tary-general before standing down for health reasons last March, called for a national debate on the role of the Armed Forces Movement. He told a press conference: “The military should restrict itself to ensuring its own order and discipline.” Fighting in Angola A report from Kinshasa, Zaire, says that the National Front for the Liberation of Angola claims to have scored two notable victories over the rival Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in fighting over the last five days for control of the province of Mluanda. A senior member of the F.N.L.A. told the Associated Press that since Saturday, when F.N.L.A. forces retook the key city of Caxito, on the road to the Angolan capital of Luanda, it had also ousted the M.P.L.A. from the town of Quicabo, north of Caxito.

According to the latest information received by the F.N.L.A. headquarters in the Zairian capital, F.N.L.A. and M.P.L.A. forces are skirmishing today in the Piri region, an M.P.L.A. stronghold in the Luanda province.

Asked whether he foresaw any hope of a negotiated settlement with the M.P.L.A. either before or after November 11, the date set for Angolan independence from Portuguese rule, the F.N.L.A. spokesman replied: “At this moment we feel that the only solution is a military one. We have already reached three agreements for a political solution, and each time the M.P.L.A. has unilaterally violated them. “During the lull in fighting after the agreements, the M.P.L.A. took the opportunity to receive military supplies from the Soviet Union and its satellites.”

With the third Angolan “liberation” movement, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, the F.N.L.A. now controls about half of Angola.