ABSTRACT
The structure and organization of the Portuguese Communist party (PCP) stem from its self-image as the revolutionary vanguard of the working class, a cadre party with a mass base. Founded in March 1921, the PCP led an underground existence from 1921 until the end of the Salazar-Caetano regime in April 1974. Despite repression, the tight organization of the PCP as a cadre party enabled it to become the strongest and most militant force resisting the dictatorship. The PCP’s principal zones of influence are in the industrial belt around Lisbon--where it won 27.5% in 1985 municipal elections--and in the southern agricultural areas long dominated by great landowners--especially in the Alentejo with its rural proletariat. The governments policy of entering the European Community--which took effect on January 1, 1986--found bitter Communist opposition. The PCP saw this as a reinforcement of Portugal’s dependence on international capital and further liquidation of the remaining achievements of the April revolution.
