Portuguese Communist Party

The Portuguese Communist Party (Portuguese: Partido Comunista Português or PCP) is a major left-wing political party in Portugal, founded in 1921 as the Portuguese section of Communist International (Comintern).

The media of the Party

The Portuguese Communist Party publishes the weekly Avante! (Forward!), widely distributed throughout the country, and also the magazine of theoretical discussion O Militante (The Militant), published each two months.

Related Topics:
Avante! - O Militante

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Avante! is the newspaper that was illegally printed and distributed for the longest time in the world: from February 1931 until May 1974. Many times, the newspaper distribution suffered breakdowns due to the supression by the political police of Party members who helped to distribute the newspaper, or due to the destruction of the clandestine printing offices. Successfully evading official censorship, Avante! was one of the very few Portuguese newspapers that freely reported on events like the World War II, the Colonial War in Africa or the massive strikes and protest waves against the dictatorship carried out by the workers and the students. Avante! continues to be printed after more than three decades of democracy and has now a full online edition. Festa do Avante! was named after the newspaper, resembling the Party of L'Humanité in France.

Related Topics:
World War II - L'Humanité

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Both Avante! and O Militante are sold in the Party's offices to the members. Buying Avante! is considered one of the members' duties. Avante! is also sold among other newspapers in many news stands around the country.

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During the last campaign, the Party had a radio broadcast in its website and also a digital forum, being the first Portuguese party to use the internet actively in a electoral campaign. After the last Congress the Party considers its website as another official media and it is regularly updated.

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Usually the Party's largest political campaigns and struggles are supported by massive leaflet distributions and advertisement stickings in hot spots like train stations, factories, universities, main streets and avenues or markets.

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The free television spots that the Portuguese law grants to the parties, either in the campaign time or out of it, are used by PCP to promote initiatives and political campaigns.

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The Party also owns a publishing company, Edições Avante! (Avante! Editions) that publishes and sells several books related to the Party's history or to Marxism, from The Communist Manifesto to the work of Soeiro Pereira Gomes and Álvaro Cunhal.

Related Topics:
The Communist Manifesto - Soeiro Pereira Gomes - Álvaro Cunhal

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Recently, an online radio was created, named Comunic, that broadcasts thematic interviews with Party's members, music and propaganda.

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