Carlos Antunes

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Carlos Carneiro Antunes (June 1938 ― 23 January 2021) was a Portuguese politician and anti-fascist militant. He was, together with Isabel do Carmo, co-founder of the  [pt], one of the faces of the opposition to the Estado Novo.

Biography[]

He was born on June 1938 in São Pedro, Braga District.[1] He joined the Portuguese Communist Party in 1955, aged just 16 and was responsible for the clandestine organization of the party in Minho Province. He lived in Romania and Paris, where he was responsible for organizing the PCP abroad and participated in the creation of the Portuguese People's Aid Committees, and where he worked with Álvaro Cunhal, a historic Portuguese communist leader. He left PCP in 1968 after disagreements with Cunhal on matters such as the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia or the Portuguese Colonial War. In 1969 founded with Isabel do Carmo, also a dissident of the PCP, the Revolutionary Brigades, an organization that defended armed struggle as a way to overthrow the fascist regime. He led them until 1974, participating, however, in the creation of the Revolutionary Party of the Proletariat (PRP) in 1973.[2]

Even before April 25, 1974, at a meeting in Milan, Carlos Antunes informed Joaquim Chissano, FRELIMO's leader, and later President of Mozambique, of divergences within the Portuguese Armed Forces regarding the continuity of the colonial war.[3]

After the Carnation Revolution, he did not abdicate violence, considering it legitimate if done in the name of defending the workers.

Imprisonement[]

After 25 November 1975, lawsuits were opened against Isabel do Carmo and Carlos Antunes as moral perpetrators of armed violence, being accused and placed in pre-trial detention in 1977. At the trial, which began in 1979, Carlos Antunes and Isabel do Carmo were sentenced, respectively, to 14 and 15 years in prison. That year, dissidents of the PRP formed the Forças Populares 25 de Abril. Carlos Antunes remained in prison until 1982, being tried and acquitted five years later.[4]

After leaving prison, he joined eco-socialism, authoring the book Ecosocialismo, A green alternative for Europe. In April 2014, he participated in the film “Outro Forma de Luta”, by director João Pinto Nogueira.

Death[]

On 29 December 2020, he was admitted to the ICU of Hospital de Santa Maria, in Lisbon, after being infected with COVID-19 during Christmas amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal. His ex-partner, Isabel do Carmo, as well as other family members who met around Christmas contracted COVID-19 and were admitted to the hospital. On the morning of 23 January 2021, Carlos Antunes fell into a coma and died in the afternoon at the age of 82.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ Teles, Viriato (1990-10-19). "Um marginal da política". O Jornal Ilustrado (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  2. ^ Lusa, Agência (2021-01-23). "Carlos Antunes, lutador antifascista e líder das Brigadas Revolucionárias, morreu de Covid aos 82 anos". Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  3. ^ Ribeiro, Nuno (2021-01-23). "Morreu Carlos Antunes, co-fundador das Brigadas Revolucionárias". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-01-23.
  4. ^ Costa, Alexandre (2014-04-25). ""As bombas não fazem milagres"". Jornal Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  5. ^ "Morreu Carlos Antunes, lutador antifascista e líder das Brigadas Revolucionárias". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 23 January 2021.
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