Não podia deixar passar este dia tão especial que foi notícia em todo o mundo. Vou inserir aqui (1) um poema cuja autoria desconheço, mas que vale pelo retrato; (2) uma fotografia de Eduardo Gageiro e o porquê do cravo; (3) dois excertos de um texto, em língua alemã, tirado da Portugiesisch-Hanseatische Gesellschaft e.V. - Associação Luso-Hanseática online. Vejam o que conseguem compreender...tenho a certeza que vão ficar espantadas com a vossa capacidade de compreensão que, logicamente, vai aumentando de dia para dia;(4) o monumento comemorativo em Grândola; (5) um texto em inglês para quem estiver interessado.
Dia do Ser Humano
As ruas floriram
as calçadas cederam
os passos não ritmados
ecoavam forte
tanta gente nas ruas
nunca se tinha visto
em Portugal.
Crianças, velhos
de todas as idades
fraternos
ingénuos
apaixonados
felizes
o povo anónimo
e reencontrado
mostrava a felicidade
de livremente expressar
o sentimento
num ajuntamento
de fraternidade
impensável
outrora.
Um outrora
que datava de há uma semana
mas tudo era tão diferente
parecia uma eternidade.
- Foi há vinte cinco anos!
(Hoje, diremos: Foi há trinta e três anos!)
O CRAVO tornou-se o símbolo da Revolução de Abril de 1974; Com o amanhecer as pessoas começaram a juntar-se nas ruas, apoiando os soldados revoltosos. Existem várias versões, sobre como terão surgido os cravos, mas uma delas é que um soldado, pediu um cigarro a uma senhora, uma florista, que transportava ramos destas flores para a abertura de um hotel. Em vez do cigarro, ela deu-lhe uma dos cravos vermelhos que tinha na mão e que ele, de imediato, enfiou no cano da espingarda. A senhora terá distribuído os restantes pelos outros soldados que depressa fizeram o mesmo.
A revolução dos Cravos diz-se, em alemão, die Nelkenrevolution.
Der 25. April
Das Lied, das den Staatsstreich auslöste.
Um 0 Uhr und 30 Minuten am 25.April 1974 liest der Sprecher des katholischen Rundfunks "Rádio Renascença" die erste Strophe des Liedes "Grândola Vila Morena" des antifaschistischen Protestsängers José Afonso. Es gehörte zu den zahlreichen von der Diktatur totgeschwiegenen Liedern des Komponisten und vieler seiner Gefährten. Den Machthabern war es ein Ärgernis, den Unterdrückten und Verfolgten eine Stimme der Hoffnung.
Grândola vila morena
Terra da fraternidadeGrândola vila morena
O povo é quem mais ordena
Dentro de ti ó cidade
Grândola kleine braune Stadt
Heimat der Brüderlichkeit
Das Volk ist es, das am meisten bestimmt
In dir, du Stadt
Nach der Lesung dieser Verse erklang das Lied selbst, gesungen von José Afonso. Aber in dieser Nacht hatten die meisten jungen Soldaten und ihre Kommandanten in den Kasernen des Landes keine Zeit, sich das ebenso populäre wie selten erklingende Lied bis zum Schluß anzuhören. Für alle militärischen Einheiten, die sich zum "Movimento das Forças Armadas" (kurz: MFA), das heißt zur "Bewegung der Streitkräfte", bekannten, waren die Verse das vereinbarte Zeichen zum bewaffneten Aufstand. Knapp 18 Stunden später hatte die "Bewegung der Streitkräfte" (jüngere Offiziere, meist im Rang eines Hauptmanns, bildeten den Kern des Movimento) Europas älteste Diktatur gestürzt. 48 Jahre der Verfolgung und Verbannung, der Unterdrückung und Ausbeutung, der Zensur und der Folter gingen zu Ende.
...
Gewehre und Nelken: Das Bündnis MFA-POVO
Der Zug der Kolonne aus Santarém vom Terreiro do Paço und die steilen Straßen hinauf zum Carmo (am Rand des Bairro Alto) glich einem Triumphzug. Tausende von Lissabonern säumen, allen Ratschlägen der Operations-Zentrale des MFA zum Trotz, die Straßen, jubeln den Befreiern zu, laufen neben den Armeefahrzeugen her, viele springen auf. Die ersten roten Nelken, die der Revolution den Namen geben sollten, tauchen auf, leuchten an den Uniformen der Soldaten und aus ihren Gewehrläufen.
A propósito de Grândola...não sei se sabem, mas existe lá este monumento, na entrada norte da vila, da autoria de Bartolomeu dos Santos, inaugurado em 24 de Abril de 1999, por altura da celebração dos 25 anos do 25 de Abril. É uma longa parede ligeiramente curva encimada por um círculo colocado no centro. A parede circular tem uma altura que permite a leitura de quem passe de automóvel e de quem esteja perto. Na sua face principal, inscreve-se a pauta com o texto da canção de José Afonso, 'Grândola, Vila Morena', onde se sobrepõem as assinaturas dos capitães de Abril. No círculo, um cravo, ícone da Revolução de Abril. No alçado posterior, o texto integral dos Direitos Humanos ocupa toda a parede, criando uma mancha pictórica vista de longe, que é legível ao perto. Sobre esta mancha destacam-se dois "grafitis" dos muitos que animaram os muros de Portugal nessa época.
E agora um texto em inglês sobre o tema.
"The Portuguese Revolution of 25th April"
In the early morning hours of 25 April 1974 Jose Afonso's banned protest song "Grandola, Vila Morena" was broadcast on Portuguese radio. The playing of that song was a secret signal to a group of rebel officers to move against the regime. By the end of the day these rebels, calling themselves the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), had defeated loyal units and put an end to Portugal's forty eight year old dictatorship.
As news of the coup spread, large crowds gathered in Lisbon and around the country, enthusiastically applauded the MFA officers, and placed carnations in their guns. The celebrations continued for days, prompting the respected Lisbon weekly Expresso to comment that "in the streets, cafes, city buses, the feeling is of joy. The normally sad-looking Portuguese radiates with the perspective of his country's liberation from a regime which had dominated it for so long.''
The national euphoria did not last long. Unlike the Spanish transition to democracy, there was no slow and gradual process of political reform in Portugal. After the coup, the MFA was confronted with a tabula rasa: that is, it had to make fundamental choices involving the new type of government, economy and society to be designed. The problem was that in spite of its apparently coherent "three d's" political program, which promised democracy, decolonization and development, the MFA was not a unified body. Some officers wanted reforms, others were in favour of radical social transformations, and still others sought the creation of a liberal democratic state. So, although the MFA's military preparation had led to a swift and successful coup, its lack of political preparation resulted in an extended period of ideological conflict. In the following two year period, there were six provisional governments, two presidents, a failed right-wing coup attempt, a failed left-wing coup attempt, three elections, countless seizures of land and housing, bombings, strikes, demonstrations and still more turmoil. Yet, surprisingly, and contrary to the expectations of most observers, national political players committed to a democratic system managed to prevail and craft a democratic system in July of 1976.
In: MANUEL, Paul - Uncertain Outcome: the Politics of the Portuguese Transition to Democracy. NY:UPA, 1984
In the early morning hours of 25 April 1974 Jose Afonso's banned protest song "Grandola, Vila Morena" was broadcast on Portuguese radio. The playing of that song was a secret signal to a group of rebel officers to move against the regime. By the end of the day these rebels, calling themselves the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), had defeated loyal units and put an end to Portugal's forty eight year old dictatorship.
As news of the coup spread, large crowds gathered in Lisbon and around the country, enthusiastically applauded the MFA officers, and placed carnations in their guns. The celebrations continued for days, prompting the respected Lisbon weekly Expresso to comment that "in the streets, cafes, city buses, the feeling is of joy. The normally sad-looking Portuguese radiates with the perspective of his country's liberation from a regime which had dominated it for so long.''
The national euphoria did not last long. Unlike the Spanish transition to democracy, there was no slow and gradual process of political reform in Portugal. After the coup, the MFA was confronted with a tabula rasa: that is, it had to make fundamental choices involving the new type of government, economy and society to be designed. The problem was that in spite of its apparently coherent "three d's" political program, which promised democracy, decolonization and development, the MFA was not a unified body. Some officers wanted reforms, others were in favour of radical social transformations, and still others sought the creation of a liberal democratic state. So, although the MFA's military preparation had led to a swift and successful coup, its lack of political preparation resulted in an extended period of ideological conflict. In the following two year period, there were six provisional governments, two presidents, a failed right-wing coup attempt, a failed left-wing coup attempt, three elections, countless seizures of land and housing, bombings, strikes, demonstrations and still more turmoil. Yet, surprisingly, and contrary to the expectations of most observers, national political players committed to a democratic system managed to prevail and craft a democratic system in July of 1976.
In: MANUEL, Paul - Uncertain Outcome: the Politics of the Portuguese Transition to Democracy. NY:UPA, 1984
Bom Feriado!
