WESTERN EUROPE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00865A000800380001-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 31, 2005
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 30, 1975
• Content Type: NOTES

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Movement, Communists . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Spain Reacts to Portuguese Election
Soares Challenges Armed Forces
Inflationary Wage Agreement
Reached in Sweden . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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Spain Reacts to Portuguese Election
The Spanish government has been very
circumspect in commenting on the election
in Portugal, but the Spanish media and politicians
have played up the defeat of the dual myths
of "Communist strength", and the "immaturity
of the people."
Political commentators and opposition
politicians in Spain are using the outcome
to argue that if "underdeveloped Portugal'
can have a non-violent, honest election that
resulted in a non-extremist majority, then
no one should fear free elections in Spain.
Opponents of the Franco regime reportedly
plan to use the election as another argument
to encourage the government to do more to
implement Prime Minister Arias' modest liberali-
zation program.
Political observers note that even though
the Spanish government appears relieved by
the strong showing of the Portuguese moderates,
Madrid remains suspicious of Lisbon's policies
and will not let the favorable election results
influence its own domestic liberalization
plans very much.
A high Spanish Foreign Ministry official
told a US embassy officer that the election
outcome would permit consideration of a number
of Spanish-Portuguese issues which had been
held up pending the election. The source
thought a meeting of the two foreign ministers
might be held in June. A stumbling block
could develop, however, over Lisbon's accusations
that Spain is harboring a pro-Spinola Portuguese
Liberation Army.
April 30, 1975
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Soares Challenges Armed Forces Movement,
Communists
The head of the Portuguese Socialist
Party, Mario Snares, appears to have taken
a first step toward a post-election challenge
of the ruling Armed Forces Movement and
the influential Portuguese Communist Party.
In an interview with a Lisbon newspaper
on Monday, Soares, whose party captured
38 percent of the vote compared to 13 percent
for the Communists, described the election
last Friday as an "immense defeat" for the
Moscow-backed party. He said the Communist
Party had shown that. it lacked popular support
on both the national and local levels.
Soares derided the Communists for
obtaining such a small vote after a well-
financed campaign in which they had "ten
times more posters" than the Socialists.
He implied that the Communists had exploited
key positions in the government and the
media to advance the party's campaign. Noting
the Socialists' impressive strength among
the working class, the Socialist leader
chided the Communists for failing to gain
as high a percentage of the vote as their
counterparts in France and Italy.
Soares indirectly criticized the Movement
by calling for prudence in Portugal's progress
toward socialism. He warned against efforts
to develop a brand of socialism that would
isolate the country internationally. Such
a policy, he said, would reduce Portugal
April 30, 1975
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to "a type of Albania," with no immediate
prospect of improving the people's living
standards.
Soares called for municipal elections
to replace local leftist officials who
seized office after the coup last April.
The Movement has ignored all appeals by
the moderate parties that these posts should
be filled through free elections.
Soares' remarks are a departure from
the conciliatory stand he adopted immediately
after the election, when he publicly stated
that the Socialists would not seek government
changes and would continue to support military
control of the government.
His apparent shift in tactics may
be a reaction to repeated efforts of both
Movement spokesmen and the Communists
to depict the moderates' impressive showing
in the election as a victory for all parties
on the left and an endorsement of present
Movement policies.
Soares may also have been influenced
by the runner-up Popular Democratic Party,
which has criticized attempts by the Communists
and the media to play down or distort the
significance of the election results. The
Popular Democrats maintain that the Portuguese
voters have made a clear choice for a democratic
form of socialism.
The Socialists face an uphill task
in trying to translate their election victory
into practical power. On the one hand, they
want to make common cause with moderate
officers in the Armed Forces Movement to
reduce Communist and radical influence in
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the government. On the other hand, the
Socialists want to avoid alienating the still-
dominant radical Movement officers who
may believe that the Socialists are pushing
too hard.
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Inflationary Wage Agreement Reached in Sweden
Labor and management bargainers signed a two-
year wage agreement for blue-collar workers on
April 26 that is expected to hike labor costs by
about 25 percent.
Neither side is jubilant over the settlement.
Employer representatives complain that the pact will
cost industry 18-20 percent more in 1975, making
Swedish products much less competitive in foreign
markets. Labor spokesmen concede that workers will
likely realize no more than a 3 percent real wage
gain, and the pro-labor Dagens Nyheter admitted
that the agreement is "probably the most inflationary
ever."
The new pact will give some 800,000 workers in
private industry raises of 10.8 percent in 1975 and
6.8 percent in 1976. In addition, employers are
expected to continue their traditional practice of
granting small, voluntary increases of 6 to 10 per-
cent. Because the government agreed to reduce
income taxes by 17 percent, the average worker will
get a nominal raise totalling about 40 percent.
Reached under strong government pressure, the
agreement continues the Swedish government's almost
unblemished record of not blocking inflationary
wage pacts. The government was able, however, to
buy a new pledge from the labor unions not to
strike, and there'is now the prospect of settling
some other pending wage negotiations.
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