October 9, 2007
Barroso’s role in the proletarian struggle
Like many children of the 1960s, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, the European Commission president, was a youthful communist. Now firmly on the centre-right, he explains his Maoism as a natural reaction to the autocratic regime running Portugal at the time. The young Barroso was a radical student leader during the Carnation Revolution of 1975 and some footage of those turbulent times has surfaced on YouTube recapturing those heady days. It’s certainly a far cry from pushing paper at the Berlaymont and may not be a time Barroso wants to remember. However, though the clip has disappeared from YouTube, he won’t be able to forget it. A Portuguese MEP has emailed it to the entire staff of the European parliament.
Since I don’t know the Portuguese for proletarian, I will let Miguel Portas, the MEP in question, take up the story.
It is 1976 in Portugal, and the rising star of the Marxist-Leninist Student’s Federation – FEML-, the youth structure of the Reorganising Movement of the Proletarian Party – MRPP, is explaining that imposing the so called “student civic service” is “the evidence of the crises of the bourgeois education system”, and therefore, “an anti-proletarian and anti-popular measure”.
“This act meant the establishment of yet another year between the secondary education and University. In 1975, just after the Carnation Revolution, the Portuguese universities did not have the facilities to incorporate the enormous amount of applicants."
There is some history here, since Portas himself was a member of a rival faction of the endlessly-splitting left. He was a member of the Communist party’s student committee, though later left to help form the Left Bloc, which he represents in Brussels.
“Durao Barroso was fighting for the insertion of the discipline of Marxism, Leninism and Maoism on the Law degree curriculum. He was standing for a university self evaluation system, were students would state if they considered themselves approved or not,” Portas adds.
It’s ironic really, since when he became Commission president he found the same system applied. He had to accept whoever the member states sent him to form his team. Rocco Buttiglione, the pugnacious Italian, so infuriated the parliament with his comments about women and gays that Rome had to recall him.
Now the issue for Barroso and the EU is to lift all economies without the huge “social and economic differences” that we have seen in the last 5 years due to imperfect global trade accords,because we are learning the “new global economy problems” and Trade deals must be flexible to change,Europe must work hard to shorten the distance from the richest to the poorest, that’s the trick to succeed in the new global economy and reach FREEDOM,JUSTICE AND HAPPINESS , already in the USA we see huge differences between “working class” and “investing class”, a huge problem that must be resolved by the next Administration, the actual one does not have a clue or do not want balanced solutions, the W.H. has very bad advice……let’s hope Barroso and the whole EU sees that Energy Independence(with Hydrogen-Solar-Turbines-Geothermal-
Posted by: blogger | October 9th, 2007 at 5:48 pm | Report this commentEthanol-Fusion-your idea…) ,with
mobility and flexibility in work rules,Healthy Foods and Activities,free and open Media and Content,training the youth in self sustaining economic and practical activities, arts and music,sports and farm life,etc.etc. are vital for a great society ,the stress of modern life requires beaches,mountains,bicycles,open markets,dialog and human contact, Europe must be the laboratory to new practical logical friendly formulas to improve the Human Race’s quality of life,simplicity and honesty towards a richer life.
In Dutch theres a saying that who is young and right has no heart, who is old and left has no brains. Joschka Fischer who was an anarchist street fighting member of the “Proletarian Union for Terror and Destruction” lost his stripes and made a firm swing to the right, relatively speaking. Even the soviet commies turned into incorrigible reactionaries once they were in power!
So this really is a non-issue. Barroso is ok, it just shows he is passionate and has a brain too.
Posted by: Felix Drost | October 10th, 2007 at 2:47 am | Report this commentIt’s interesting how far to the right former Maoists move when they “evolve”. I don’t remember any of them ever becoming a social democrat, they always seem to become at least neoliberals. In Spain many of them have “evolved” into neofascists. Curious.
Posted by: David Seaton | October 10th, 2007 at 7:26 am | Report this comment“Who is not a revolutionary at twenty has no heart. Who is not a conservatiove at forty has no head”. Victor Hugo
Posted by: john somer | October 13th, 2007 at 12:58 pm | Report this commentFelix, you are obviously correct. I am told Mr Barroso is posting the clip on his website. Fair point David. Peter Mandelson, ex-communist, is another example.
Posted by: Andrew Bounds | October 15th, 2007 at 2:10 pm | Report this commentSince I don’t know the Portuguese for proletarian,
Perhaps you should exercise due caution? Or learn…a language? No, surely not! Furriners speak’em.
he explains his Maoism as a natural reaction to the autocratic regime running Portugal at the time.
Yes; it was a pretty ugly military state that destroyed Angola and Mozambique rather than accept that empires were out of time in the 1970s.
Any other questions?
One. What’s your point, other than arseish red-baiting unworthy of the FT’s traditions? I see no news in this story.
Posted by: Alex | October 22nd, 2007 at 12:11 am | Report this commentPlease! First of all Barroso was never a communist, he was a far left rich boy who wanted to change the world but never had the structure or the ability to do so.
Posted by: A portuguesa | November 6th, 2007 at 5:00 pm | Report this commentThere was already a comunist (marxist leninist) party in portugal and he was not in it.
He’s leftism beliefs were emotional and not scientifically founded at all.