The most conceited progressives tend to become theologians of political reality. They rule that social advances can only be born from the left: that new divinity. But this is not true. There is also a great right, capable of new panoramas. A right that disorients these leftists. In Portugal, on April 25, 1974, a revolution that, visually, seems like an epiphany of red carnations, would not have been successful without the participation of an important part of the Portuguese right that existed at that 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 to the colonial problem, had been in Nazi Germany, in 1941, on a mission with the Portuguese army; He had visited Franco’s Spain in 1947, part of another study mission. He had no problems with Salazar. But when, in 1968, he was entrusted with directing the colonial war in Portuguese Guinea, this soldier 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 becoming 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 on the front of his uniform, Spínola read a three-minute statement on television, a part of conservative Portugal understood that the revolution could also be theirs. 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.
Unlike Adolfo Suárez, another of the faces of this great right that bothers the left, and also the more carpetovetonic right, Spínola was not a skillful politician. However, on April 25 he rose to the occasion: it was he who visited Marcelo Caetano, the last president of the Estado Novo government, besieged in the Convento do Carmo, in Lisbon. Thus he prevented Marcelo from shooting himself in the temple, which was what he had planned, and, after a hasty transfer of powers, he directed him, together with the president of the Republic, Américo Tomás, towards Madeira and, later, towards Brazil. There were, therefore, no revenges, revolutionary trials or express shootings in the backyard of some palace. Spínola was the first president of the republic after April 25.
This article is not a profile of Spínola. The objective is to ask them this question: Where is today this truly brave right wing that knows how to open horizons? We do not see anyone who looks like Merkel, for example, capable of risking Germany’s acceptance of an avalanche of migration. Our most impactful right-wing leaders ooze, in many cases, a dangerous pus, as happens with Donald Trump, Javier Milei and so many others. Left-wing evangelists grow up and claim that conservatism is always like this, which is not true. But it is true that we are, today, facing a frightening, dark right, and Spain has, unfortunately, given some of its own brushstrokes on that dark canvas.
But, from Portugal, we can give you good news: in the general elections on March 10, Portuguese voters will be able to vote between three right-wing parties, and one of them seems to be the one that many of us are missing. On the one hand, there is the cold economic radicalism of the Liberal Initiative; on the other hand, Chega, a dark version of the most sinister extreme right; finally, Democratic Alliance, a center-right coalition that includes the PSD, the CDS-PP and the PPM, parties that have just stood up with determination and courage in the face of Chega’s demands.
This has happened in the Azores islands, where regional elections were held on February 3: the Democratic Alliance, which won, was missing three deputies for an absolute majority. Chega had five decisive seats. Immediately, André Ventura, the leader of this formation, went on television demanding that his party participate in the government of the region. The temptation was enormous, but those from the Alliance did not give in. There may be agreements, but Chega will not be in the regional executive. Quite the opposite of what has happened in Spain, where regional governments functioned as launch pads for a national cabinet, which later did not come out.
In this way, the Democratic Alliance presents itself in the March 10 elections as another right, much more focused. To understand the bravery of this attitude, let us note that, in some polls, Chega currently receives 20% of the votes. Electoral periods are usually a great theater for all kinds of mirages, but it seems that this decision by the Alianza is very serious and will be one of the keys to their campaign.
Luís Montenegro, the leader of the coalition, does not want his journey to government to be carried out with an extremist trailer, before which the wall, with Spanish patent, of the majority of Portuguese society would be raised. Probably, he has also realized the real historical danger that Chega represents. His goal is to win the elections and govern as a minority: another valuable trait. All this is another way of being right-wing, which still exists. The walls contain conservative radicalism. But perhaps we will only truly get rid of the far right when the right itself stands up to it and crushes it. That has already started to happen in Portugal.
