|
Portugal Terrorist Groups
Since the transition to democratic rule was completed
in
1976, the country has been relatively free from subversive
or
terrorist activity threatening the maintenance of
constitutional
authority. The only significant terrorist group, the
Popular
Forces of the 25th of April (Forças Populares do 25
Abril--FP25 ), carried out a number of attacks between 1980 and
1986, but
at no time did it pose a major threat to the security of
the
state. Effective counterterrorism measures and the absence
of
public support sharply curtailed the ability of FP-25 to
sustain
its campaign of violent operations against the Portuguese
government and Western and NATO missions in Portugal.
FP-25 claimed to be a workers' organization dedicated
to a
struggle against exploitation, misery, and repression. Its
stated
goals were to defeat "imperialism," to lead a "workers'
assault
on bourgeois power," and to achieve the violent overthrow
of the
Portuguese government. The FP-25 also bitterly opposed the
United
States and NATO. No evidence of direct ties to other
European
terrorist groups existed, although Portuguese authorities
asserted that some financial support had come from Libya.
Between
1980 and 1984, most FP-25 actions involved assassinations,
bombings, and bank robberies. Beginning in 1984, the group
focused its attacks on United States and NATO targets.
Mortars
were fired at the compound of the Embassy of the United
States,
at NATO's IBERLANT headquarters, and at NATO ships
anchored in
Lisbon harbor. Bombs destroyed a number of cars owned by
West
German air force personnel. FP-25's ability to wage its
terrorist
campaign was curtailed by the arrest of a large number of
its
adherents in June 1984, including Otelo Saraiva de
Carvalho, who
had become a popular hero in Portugal after playing a key
role in
the Revolution of 1974
(see The Military Takeover of 1974
, this
ch.). Other obscure radical groups claimed responsibility
for
subsequent minor bombing attacks, but such acts of
terrorism
abated in 1987. As of early 1992, Carvalho was free on a
conditional basis, and the issue of a general amnesty for
members
of FP-25 had aroused wide public interest.
Separatist independence movements have long existed in
the
Azores and Madeira archipelagoes. The main group, the
Azorean
Liberation Front, has been responsible for many
demonstrations
but has not been associated with clandestine activities
and
violence. A newer group, the Azorean Nationalist Movement,
was
regarded as illegal because Portuguese law prohibited any
association advocating the independence of the Azores. The
existing system of autonomy recognized by the constitution
of
1976 and subsequent legislation have endowed the regional
governments with considerable rights and greatly reduced
the
appeal of the separatist movements.
Data as of January 1993
|
