EN: 25th April — Freedom Day

This year marks 50 years since the Carnation Revolution in 1974.

Today, we celebrate, among other things, Freedom of Expression.

For decades, Portugal lived under an authoritarian regime called Estado Novo, led by António de Oliveira Salazar and later by Marcello Caetano. On 25h of April of 1974, the Carnation Revolution put an end to this dictatorship.

One of the prohibitions imposed by the Estado Novo was censorship. Everything that was written was reviewed by PIDE (regime police), and with a “blue pencil,” parts to be cut or changed in the texts were crossed out and marked. Anything that was (or appeared to be) a threat to the regime was edited, censored, cut, or prohibited.

This censorship covered various areas, such as literature, journalism, music, and theater. In the streets, it was not allowed to be in a group, let alone speak about what one was thinking, especially about politics. These measures led to a deliberate misinformation so that the population could be controlled because, as the popular saying goes: “Out of sight, out of mind.”

Hundreds of works were prohibited. Jorge Amado, Miguel Torga, Aquilino Ribeiro, Vergílio Ferreira, among many others, including foreigners, were part of the blacklist of Portuguese authors.

Fortunately, with the revolution and establishment of a democratic regime, since then we can express ourselves freely without fear of being silenced.

Here’s to Freedom!