40th Anniversary of Democracy in Portugal Friday April 25,2014

Protests over EU-imposed austerity have overshadowed the 40th anniversary of democracy in Portugal.

Several thousand people marched in central Lisbon and listened to speeches criticising government cuts.

Participating in the protest marches were some of the leaders of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, which ended almost 5 decades of dictatorship.

Portugal has had to implement severe austerity measures since being granted an international bailout in 2011.

Influential figures who took part in the 1974 revolution - in which junior officers overthrew the government - boycotted the official anniversary for the third year in a row.

Vasco Lourenco, one of the coup leaders, criticised Portugal's current right-of-centre government and questioned whether Portugal should remain in the EU at all.

Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, another officer who helped organise the coup, said austerity was "the death warrant of the hopes and values" of the revolution).

Street artist Miguel Januario told that the Portuguese "had allowed new forms of dictatorship - in this case financial - to take over".

Note

Carnation Revolution

• Army officers seized control of government buildings on 25 April 1974
• The coup brought an end to Europe's longest dictatorship, the Estado Novo
• Four people were killed in fighting during the coup
• Red carnations - in full bloom at the time - became the symbol of the revolution
• Officers organised a national election one year later
• 25 April is now a national holiday known as Freedom Day