The most conceited progressives tend to transform themselves into theologians of political reality. They dictate that social progress can only be born from the left: the new divinity. But this is not true. There is also a large right, capable of new panoramas. A right that displaces these leftists. In Portugal, on April 25, 1974, a revolution that, visually, looks like an epiphany of red carnations, would not have been successful without the participation of an important part of the Lusitanian right that existed at the time. At the crossroads of the city of Lisbon where things could have gotten out of control between the lyrical captains and the forces of the regime, there was a magic word that solved everything: “Spínola”.
António de Spínola, the general with a traditionalist profile who defended the political path for the colonial problem, had been in Nazi Germany in 1941, on a mission of the Portuguese army; he had visited Francoist Spain in 1947, as part of another study mission. He had no problems with Salazar. But when, in 1968, he was entrusted with the direction of the colonial war in Lusitanian Guinea, this military man realized that the Estado Novo regime had begun a journey to nowhere. In Angola and Mozambique, the war situation was not catastrophic, but Guinea was turning into a Portuguese Vietnam. His book Portugal and the future was one of the levers of April 25.
When, already in the early hours of April 26, 1974, with his medals lined up in his uniform chest, Spínola read a three-minute statement on television, a part of conservative Portugal understood that the revolution could also be his Without the presence of this general, who functioned as a perfect hinge between the Estado Novo and the Portugal of the Red Carnations, everything would have been different and, probably, less peaceful.
In contrast to Adolfo Suárez, another of the faces of this great right that annoys the left, and also the most carpetovetonic right, Spínola was not a skilled politician. However, on April 25 he rose to the occasion: he was the one who visited Marcelo Caetano, the last president of the Government of the Estado Novo, besieged in the Convento do Carmo, in Lisbon. He thus prevented Marcelo from shooting himself in the temple, which was what he had in mind, and, after a hasty transfer of powers, sent him, together with the President of the Republic, Américo Tomás, towards Madeira and , then, towards Brazil. There were therefore no revenges, revolutionary trials or express executions in the backyard of some palace. Spínola was the first president of the republic after April 25.
This article is not a likeness of Spínola. The aim is to pose this question to them: Where is today this truly brave right that knows how to open horizons? We do not see anyone who resembles Merkel, for example, capable of risking the acceptance in Germany of a migratory avalanche. Our most shocking right-wing leaders, in many cases, exude a dangerous pus, as is the case with Donald Trump, Javier Milei and so many others. Left-wing evangelists gloat and claim that conservatism is always like this, which is not true. But it is true that we are, as of now, in front of a right that scares, dark, and Spain has, unfortunately, given some very own brushstrokes on this dark fabric.
But, from Portugal, we can give you good news: in the general elections on March 10, Lusitanian voters will be able to vote between three right-wing parties, and one of them seems to be this right-wing that many of us miss. On the one hand, there is the cold economic radicalism of the Liberal Initiative; on the other, Chega, a dark version of the most sinister extreme right; finally, Aliança Democràtica, a center-right coalition that includes the PSD, the CDS-PP and the PPM, parties that have just stood up with courage and bravery in the face of Chega’s demands.
This has happened in the Azores Islands, where there were autonomous elections on February 3: the Democratic Alliance, which emerged victorious, was three deputies short of an absolute majority. Chega had five decisive seats. Immediately, André Ventura, the leader of this formation, appeared on television demanding that his party participate in the government of the region. The temptation was enormous, but the people of Aliança did not give in. There may be agreements, but Chega will not be in the regional executive. Contrary to what has happened in Spain, where the regional governments functioned as runways for a national cabinet, which then did not emerge.
In this way, Aliança Democràtica presents itself in the elections of March 10 as another right wing, much more focused. To understand the bravura of this attitude, we note that, in some polls, Chega currently gets 20% of the votes. Electoral periods are usually a great theater of all kinds of mirages, but it seems that this decision by the Alliance is very serious and will be one of the keys to their campaign for the elections.
Luís Montenegro, the leader of the coalition, does not want his journey to the government to be carried out with an extremist trailer, in front of which the wall would be erected, with Spanish patent, of the majority of Portuguese society. He probably also realized the real historical danger that Chega represents. His goal is to win the elections and govern in a minority: another trait of value. All this is another way of being right-wing, which still exists. The walls contain conservative radicalism. But perhaps we will only really get rid of the extreme right when the right itself confronts it and crushes it. This has already started to happen in Portugal.
