Portuguese communist veteran dies

By Alison Roberts
BBC News, Lisbon

Cunhal led the party during 1961-1992 (Photo: Eduardo Gageiro)

The veteran Portuguese Communist Party leader, Alvaro Cunhal, has died at the age of 91.

Secretary-general for more than 30 years, he continued to influence party policy after his official retirement and even during his final illness.

Mr Cunhal is one of a handful of Portuguese political figures for whom the word "towering" is appropriate.

He dominated the Communist Party both before and after the 1974 revolution that ended 45 years of dictatorship.

During that time the party was banned and Mr Cunhal spent a total of 12 years in prison and was tortured.

He was a key actor in the revolution's turbulent aftermath, when many thought Portugal might go communist. He was politically active for 74 years in all.

'Great anti-fascist'

Some inside, and many outside the party, believe he stopped the Portuguese Communist Party from modernising as most European communist parties did.

Political friends and foes have mourned his passing.

Former Portuguese President Mario Soares - a socialist whose televised debate with Mr Cunhal in what was known as the hot summer of 1975 was a decisive moment in Portugal's political history - described him as "a great anti-fascist" who must be admired.

In Mr Soares' words, "he was the Communist Party".

In the words of the party, which announced Mr Cunhal's death on Monday, "he devoted his life to the cause of the workers and the Portuguese people, to internationalist solidarity and to Portugal's sovereignty and independence".