Portuguese community celebrates 50th anniversary of ‘Carnation Revolution’

The Portuguese community in Macau is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the “Carnation Revolution,” which took place on April 25, 1974, in Portugal.

At the time, the military coup overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo [New State] government to produce major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in Portugal and its overseas colonies. This “Revolutionary Process” ultimately resulted in Portugal’s transition to democracy and the end of the Portuguese Colonial Wars.

To commemorate the half-century milestone since the revolution, several institutions within the Portuguese sphere, such as the Consulate-General of Portugal in Macau and Hong Kong (CGPMHK), the Camões Institute, the Portuguese Institute of the Orient (IPOR), the Casa de Portugal em Macau (Macau Portuguese Association), Orient Foundation (FO), the Macau Portuguese School (EPM), and many more, have joined forces to present programs to mark the date.

From exhibitions to concerts, from movies and documentary screenings to a book fair, a lot of Portuguese cultural aspects related to the revolution will be available in Macau throughout the month, as well as, in some cases, in May and even June.

On the topic, and in an interview with the Times, the Portuguese Consul-General in Macau, Alexandre Leitão, said that, according to the decision made in Portugal by the Commemorative Commission, the celebrations are, in fact, much larger and are part of an extensive program that began on March 23, 2022 and will extend until December 2026; this final date celebrates 50 years of the Portuguese Constitution.

Leitão also noted that the current activities program in Macau is just the start of this larger celebration, and that more events will soon be announced.

Perspectives on the Revolution from Macau

One of the most anticipated events of the program is the screening of a new documentary by the journalist and researcher, João Guedes.

Titled “April 25: Perspectives of the Revolution from Macau,” the documentary was screened already at the EPM, as well as at a special screening held yesterday at the CGPMHK, followed by a debate on the topic.

Today, the same documentary will be broadcast by local public broadcaster TDM on its Portuguese-language channel.

The documentary addresses precise historical facts. It argues that although the Portuguese revolution paved the way for a series of significant changes to life in Macau, which are still seen today, the Carnation Revolution had little to no immediate impact on Macau, despite the city and its territory being under Portuguese rule. This is due to the political and geographic distance between Macau and Portugal. 

Such facts are explained in the documentary, which involves dozens of interviews with some of Macau’s prominent figures, some of whom have passed away, such as Henrique de Senna Fernandes.

Guedes said the documentary aimed to explain these “not so immediately visible” repercussions and their importance in relation to Macau’s past and current life.

Guedes said that when the revolution erupted in Portugal, most of the population did not notice it or was unaware of any differences, although there were some exceptions, such as high officials and journalists working for the Macau Daily newspaper.

The fact that Macau was always a “unique” case among “Portuguese overseas colonies” was also widely explored in both the author’s and interviewees’ opinions.

Intellectuals, writers, and historians of the time, such as Charles Boxer, Sanjay Subrahmanyam, and Austin Coates, have all testified as primary to clarify the times surrounding 1974.

Guedes, as well as many of those cited in the documentary, noted that although there was a smooth and delayed impact on Macau, it was the Portuguese revolution that allowed, for example, the establishment of the Legislative Assembly.

The Legislative Assembly then existed in a similar format to the Legislative Assembly of today. The revolution also restarted diplomatic relations between Portugal and China, which eventually resulted in the Macau handover.

The many differences between Macau and the Portuguese colonies were also seen in the fact that in Macau there was no colonial war. The territory governance was very different from other Portuguese colonies, and there were no actual prosecutions of dissidents and people with dissenting political ideals.

The documentary also portrays how a kind of revolution in Macau occurred earlier than in Portugal, due to the so-called “12-3 incident” on Dec. 3, 1966.

Historians and academics, such as Professor Ivo Carneiro de Sousa, also note this fact. They say that, at the time of April 25, 1974, there was not much of an impact on local society because of the 12-3 incident, which had already promoted many changes and the inclusion of Chinese local major institutions and personalities, such as Ho Yin, who was known as the “Chinese governor of Macau.”

Portuguese Consul-General Alexandre Leitão

Importance of passing values to newer generations

One of the first places that hosted a screening of the documentary “April 25: Perspectives of the Revolution from Macau” was the EPM.

Questioned on the importance of continuing to educate newer generations on the relevance of the April 25 Revolution, Leitão said: “It is very important. The revolution occurred in the name of ideology, or collections of principles and values that people promoted and adhered to. These were felt by a large majority of the Portuguese people. These people understood that it was time to turn the page and to consecrate some of these principles such as democratic citizenship; that is, the right and duty to freely participate actively in, among other things, governance and elections. This is not a criticism of other systems; it is the model that we have chosen and which we are very proud of.”

“We also understand that the distance and the absence of lived memories from the period of repression leads to some relativization of these values by some youngsters. This is normal and natural but this is why it is important to fight this dimming of the beliefs and enthusiasm for the virtues of democracy with education, with disclosure, to explain well how Portugal was before, and the consequences of having a closed regime, even in relation to the People’s Republic of China,” he said.

He noted the need to contrast those times with today in pursuit of a clear perspective, as well as what subsequently followed, such as Portugal’s entry into the European Community and many other aspects.

“I believe that youngsters nowadays cannot imagine the possibility of not having freedom of expression and other freedoms, and it is good to remind them that freedom did not emerge from no action but, rather, from acts of resistance for many years that culminated in the continuous symbolism of April 25,” Leitão recalled.

He said there is a need to explain democratic values, and that these need to be constantly addressed. New generations must be incentivized to understand and practice these values, as well as understand why they are important.