The idea is to “provide a behind-the-scenes look that led to November 25.” The words are from José Ribeiro e Castro, president of the Historical Society of the Independence of Portugal (SHIP). The institution is organizing the presentation of the book O Grupo dos 80. Resistance in the Navy against the totalitarian deviation after April 25 today from 6 p.m. “We know how the Ongoing Revolutionary Process (PREC) worked and before April 25 we also know that there have been movements since March [de 1975], especially within military units, and which finally reached its peak on November 25. Therefore, the events reported here are facts that ultimately led to this,” the SHIP president explained to DN.
Ribeiro e Castro also states that society has “welcomed” the initiative.
In a statement, SHIP and one of the authors of the work said the intention is to portray the environment that existed in the Navy during the so-called Hot Summer, in 1975. “A group of officers, who assert themselves through their words and with clear interventions in the most diverse initiatives within the Navy, where the opportunity arose, this totalitarian deviation was confronted after April 25,” they say in the note.
“For the sake of historical memory” the mission was then undertaken to commemorate this resistance movement. Above all, the authors say, it was “a mission adopted as a civil and moral obligation”: “not allowing the action of this handful of officers to remain ignored and forgotten.”
The presentation – which takes place in SHIP’s Salão Nobre – will be led by sociologist António Barreto. Admirals Balcão Reis and Alexandre da Fonseca “will evoke the history of the group” and “will refer to notable or picturesque moments from the troubled period” before November 25.
Source: DN
