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This organ of FRELIMO has already discussed the pretended 'Liberalism1
of Marcelo Caetano, a man who is no less Fascist than Salazar.  He
himself has a direct interest in certain Portuguese capitalist .companies,
with colonial investments, and he is committed to maintaining the alliance between the neo-fascist landlords and the capitalists, at the expense of Portuguese workers and peasants.  Above all, Caetano is
determined (with the help of international imperialism) to escalate
Portugal's dirty war against African patriots, with the hope of'permanently keeping us at the level of slaves.  Such hopes will inevitably
founder upon the rock of African political consciousness and revolutionary capacity; but Caetano1s antics bear watching because they
provide evidence of the intentions of the imperialist warmongers who
control the indu -trial / military machine of Western Europe and North
America.
It is well known that NATO is responsible for propping up Portugal in
Africa, and many events in the current Lisbon political scene are connected
with broader manouevres for the maintenance of imperialist domination in
Africa.  This is the case with the recent 'elections1 held in Portugal.
Under Salazar, the Fascist National Union Party held several 'elections'
in which they selected their representatives without bothering to pret£nd^
that any opposition candidate was given a fair chance. Caetano's object
on this occasion was to present the elections as "free and open", so as
to mystify certain sectors of the Portuguese population and to provide
his imperialist allies with the cover under which NATO aid to Portugal's
war effort can be extended.
The chances aretthat the NATO powers and the USA in particular must have
exerted pressure on Caetano and the National Union Party to provide a
democratic facade now th&t Salazar has gone.  This is a characteristic
feature of the modus operandi of US imperialism in Latin America.  Very
often the US State Department has supported the most brutal, reactionary
and corrupt dictators in Latin America (just as it supported Salazar^,
but wherever possible it tries to encourage a 'liberal' alternative;
and this has been applied consistently during and since the Kennedy
administration. However, the effort in Portugal has not been ..very
successful in misleading Portuguese workers and peasants; and it is
essential that all progressive forces should avoid being in the least
bit confused.