At Last, the Good Guys Seem to Have Won

For months, left and center in Portugal had been warily eying one another, waiting for some kind of decisive showdown. Last week the long-awaited confrontation took place, when far-leftist air-force units -- primarily paratroopers -- attempted to take control by seizing military bases. In a remarkable show of strength and will, the moderates quickly struck back. With the support of loyalist troops -- notably Colonel Jaime Neves' 900 commandos ("the animals," as the rest of the military calls them) -- Premier Jose Pinheiro de Azevedo's regime routed the radicals, and moderate forces gained command. "The far left is finished," said one top military official. Added an elated diplomat in Lisbon: "I am going to send off a cable now saying that the good guys won."

The extremists made their move before dawn Tuesday when the paratroopers seized the country's three major air bases and two other air-force installations, along with Air Force headquarters in downtown Lisbon. The moves were well-coordinated, and the leftists, who had earlier taken over Lisbon's television station, began broadcasting anti-government propaganda. The rebels then waited for President Francisco da Costa Gomes, known to some of his detractors as "the Portuguese marshmal-low," to give in to their demands, which included the ouster of Air Force Chief Jose Morais da Silva.

Under strong pressure from moderate politicians -- Socialist Leader Mario Scares, Major Ernesto Melo Antunes. the dominant moderate voice on the ruling Council of the Revolution, and Premier Pinheiro de Azevedo -- the President for once stood firm. He went on TV to declare a state of emergency, and he urged the rebellious paratroopers to end their "adventurous counterrevolutionary action." More important, he sent Neves' tough, red-bereted commandos to regain the air-force installations. All five of them were recaptured without bloodshed. The only deaths occurred when the commandos moved into the headquarters of the leftist military-police; in the Shootout that followed, two commandos, one military policeman and six civilians were killed. Portugal must be credited, though, with a highly civilized form of revolutionary and counterrevolutionary politics. Since the April 1974 revolution, despite intense turmoil, fewer than 20 people have been killed.

Song and Dance. At the Lisbon TV station, one leftist officer was appealing for popular support for the rebels when his eyes started to wander nervously from the camera, as if his TelePrompTer had gone berserk. "They tell me I have to get off," he said. "It's probably for technical reasons ... No, it's not?" He was cut off, and Lisbon transmission was taken over by a station 175 miles to the north in Oporto, a conservative stronghold. The program switched from the hortatory sounds of rebellion to the happy song and dance of Danny Kaye's 1963 movie The Man from the Diners' Club.

The abortive coup was virtually over by late Wednesday. Next day the government flew planes, singly and in squadrons, over Lisbon to show that it was in full control. Moderates on the Revolutionary Council finally ousted General Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, the Castro-admiring military-security chief, and sent home the security police. Army Chief of Staff General Carlos Fabiao, Navy Chief Armando Filgueiras Scares and Admiral Antonio Rosa Coutinho ("Red Rosa") were also forced to resign for supporting the radicals.

More than 100 officers and noncoms were arrested and flown off to prison in Oporto, and at week's end police were searching for civilian extremist leaders. Lisbon newspapers, which had largely become radical-propaganda tracts, were shut down; they will probably not print again until new moderate editors are installed. Strict rules were also promulgated to curb armed civilians, who helped create the atmosphere of anarchy. "An armed civilian is a dead civilian," warned one commando officer. President Costa Gomes even mentioned the possibility of holding parliamentary elections. The left would almost certainly be defeated in the voting, as it was in the election of a constituent assembly last April.

The Communist Party was obviously uncertain what success the ultra-leftists would have. It cannily stood on the sidelines, ready to join in or denounce their efforts as the occasion warranted. By Wednesday, when the coup was collapsing, the Communists were piously warning against "desperate political acts by the left." Although the best-organized of Portugal's parties, the Communists will now have to deal with a strengthened center and with the greater stature of such men as Scares, Melo Antunes and Premier Pinheiro de Azevedo, not to mention the new presence of Commando Colonel Neves.

In Neves, 38, the moderates may have a figure who can contribute muscle to their cause. Some critics say that Neves is "all action and no brains." He gained acclaim during the African colonial wars as a tough and brutal soldier who liked to jump out of helicopters to fight alongside his men in the bush. His political views are something of a mystery. "Some are saying that he just likes to drink beer and chase girls," said one official last week. "But he will have to be considered on many key decisions from now on." In the near future those decisions will most likely be moderate, and at week's end Premier Pinheiro de Azevedo promised that henceforth "the government governs, the workers work, the armed forces protect, the institutions operate -- and the revolution advances."

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