Forty-nine years ago, the Portuguese people carried out the Carnation Revolution.

247 - On April 25, 1974, the Portuguese Armed Forces led a democratic and popular movement that overthrew the Salazar regime, then led by Marcelo Caetano, who had succeeded the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar. The rebellion was led by Army and Navy officers, who formed the Armed Forces Movement (MFA). With popular support, the hallmark of the Revolution was the People-MFA alliance.

It was a quick and relatively peaceful revolution, with the military controlling most of the country within hours. The population, tired of oppression, largely supported the military and took to the streets to celebrate the fall of the government. The soldiers offered red carnations to civilians, symbolizing the non-violence of the movement, and this offering of flowers became known as the Carnation Revolution.

After the fall of the regime, Portugal held free elections for the first time in over 50 years, established a democratic government, and began to promote social and economic reforms. 

The Carnation Revolution is remembered as a moment of hope and transformation in Portugal, and April 25th is celebrated in homage to democratic values, the struggle for freedom, and social change. The Carnation Revolution resulted in the end of the colonial regime that Portugal maintained in African countries and the adoption of a progressive Constitution. 

Portuguese MEP Sandra Pereira, from the Portuguese Communist Party, made a statement in the plenary session of the European Parliament in which she launched the slogan "April 25th forever, fascism never again!"

"It was in the early hours of April 25, 1974, that the long fascist night that oppressed Portugal and the Portuguese people for 48 years came to an end," said Sandra Pereira.

"A dictatorship that subjected the people to poverty, misery, hunger, and war to sustain the wealth and opulence of a minority."

"Which condemned the country to illiteracy and backwardness."

"A criminal dictatorship that repressed, censored, imprisoned, tortured, and murdered many of those who dared to oppose it, particularly communists."

The MP stressed that "the April Revolution restored freedom to the Portuguese people, independence, sovereignty and peace; it paved the way for the construction of a democratic, developed and progressive Portugal".

The April Revolution "guaranteed rights, affirmed values, fulfilled dreams, and brought hope and the strength to dream. To children, to young people, to women..." And he quoted a verse from Zeca Afonso's famous song, which served as the password for the military rebellion: "The people are the ones who command the most!"