Former Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates found himself in a diplomatic quandary when Washington started pressuring him to take a tougher line on Hugo Chávez when the Venezuelan leader visited Lisbon. A series of US embassy cables from 2006 released recently by Wikileaks show how the US government had pushed the Sócrates government on numerous occasions to be more vocal over Chávez’s human rights record. But US diplomats in Lisbon expressed their frustration over Portugal’s hesitancy to take a lead in diplomatic initiatives against the Chávez government because the Sócrates government feared repercussions against the large Portuguese community in Venezuela. Sócrates saw Chávez’s … [Read more...] about Friendship with Chávez “a necessary evil” for Portugal’s Sócrates
Sócrates
Thrifty newcomer may be just the ticket in profligate Portugal
Pedro Passos Coelho, Portugal’s prime minister-elect, does not like wasting money. Both in his professional career and personal life, he has been described as thrifty, frugal, even tight-fisted. He currently lives in a standard apartment block in the none-too-fashionable Lisbon district of Amadora, but if he moves into the prime minister’s residence near the São Bento Palace his stinginess may come in handy in solving Portugal’s debt and deficit crisis. That, at least, appears to be what many Portuguese were thinking when they handed victory to Passos Coelho’s centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) in last Sunday’s general election, coupled with a desire to get rid of the Socialist … [Read more...] about Thrifty newcomer may be just the ticket in profligate Portugal
Portugal gets bailout as Sócrates eyes reelection
Since his government collapsed, Sócrates has worked hard as acting prime minister to secure a now-essential bailout package with the European Union and International Monetary Fund to patch up Portugal’s debts and correct budget deficits that have crippled the country’s ability to borrow on international debt markets. This week, he achieved his objective: agreeing to a bailout with austerity measures very similar to those that opposition parties shot down in the parliament in March. “The government has today reached an agreement with the international institutions regarding the financial aid to our country,” Sócrates said in a televised address on Tuesday. “Naturally, there are no … [Read more...] about Portugal gets bailout as Sócrates eyes reelection
Spain and Portugal’s right shun austerity and Brussels – for now
It’s easy to see parallels between the governments of Spain and Portugal of recent years. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and José Sócrates were both fresh-faced Socialists when they took power in 2004 and 2005 respectively, promising social reforms as well as economic stability. Both were voted in for second terms before running aground on the challenges that arose following the world economic crisis. Like their Socialist counterpart in Greece, Georgios Papandreou, both men have been forced by circumstances to repress their political instincts and introduce heavy spending cuts and painful reforms. In Portugal, where the economic outlook is worse, the opposition’s withdrawal of support for a … [Read more...] about Spain and Portugal’s right shun austerity and Brussels – for now
Bailout beckons as Portugal’s Sócrates resigns
Try, try again… then quit. Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates stepped down late on Wednesday saying “today, I am convinced the country is lost,” after a last-ditch effort to push through new austerity measures and avoid a Greek-style bailout failed to win support in the Lisbon parliament. The resignation of Sócrates and his minority centre-left government effectively pushes Portugal into the arms of the European Union and the IMF, with many analysts now saying that the debt-laden Iberian state can do little to avoid following in the footsteps of Greece and Ireland, both of which were bailed out last year when their bond yields reached unsustainable levels. At around 7.8 percent, … [Read more...] about Bailout beckons as Portugal’s Sócrates resigns
History repeats in Portugal
Walk the streets of any Portuguese city and sooner or later you will come across a scene that seems unchanged for decades: shoe-shiners on Lisbon’s Avenida da Libertade, elderly ladies hanging laundry from tumbledown balconies in old Porto or fish sun-drying on the beach in Nazaré. One of Europe’s most unassuming and introverted countries, Portugal is a place where the past is gazed upon with a sense of melancholy – until, of course, the past comes back with a bite. Since late January, Portugal has taken a battering on international markets, as its bond prices have plunged and ratings agencies have threatened to cut the country’s credit grade amid fears over rising budget deficits and … [Read more...] about History repeats in Portugal