"Everything serves the business of a few, while [the Government] seeks to multiply the justifications for failing to meet the commitments it made to different sectors of workers, as we can now see in the different expressions of public administration," argued Paulo Raimundo.

Speaking in Baleizão, in the district of Beja, at a tribute to rural worker Catarina Eufémia, on the day that marks the 70th anniversary of her assassination, the PCP secretary-general evoked "the difficult situation" that Portugal is experiencing.

A situation "marked by low wages, low pensions, difficulties in accessing health care, housing, the closure of public services", in other words, "concrete problems and portraits of the difficult lives of the majority" of Portuguese people, he exemplified.

But, at the same time, he continued, "there is the Government, ready not to solve any of these problems, but committed to carrying out, as quickly as possible, its programme, which is at the service of economic groups, those who continue to get rich at the cost of the effort, work and sacrifices of all of us".

To illustrate this criticism, Paulo Raimundo referred to the profits of the banks in the 1st quarter of the year: "Look at these latest figures from the banks and their 560 thousand euros in profits per hour".

The current Government "takes advantage of all the problems that exist, not to solve them according to the needs of the majority, but to always open up new business opportunities for the hands of a small minority", he criticised.

According to the PCP leader, the executive led by Luís Montenegro "takes advantage of the housing drama to expand speculation and further serve real estate funds and banks".

And it also "takes advantage of the difficulties in health care to, sooner rather than later, transfer even more public resources to economic groups, those who make a business out of illness".

"It takes advantage of the low wages, which are transversal in our society, surprisingly, to open up the pretext to further lower taxes on large companies, those with 25 million euros in profits per day", he stressed.

For Paulo Raimundo, "this is what the Government wants, with this talk of IRC, of IRS", what it intends "is to pave the way to lower the IRC for large companies and the Derrama".

"We do not accept a policy that benefits and kneels before economic groups", he stressed.

In his speech, the communist leader also addressed the announcement made last week by the Government to build the new airport for the Lisbon region on the land of the Alcochete Firing Range.

"What is required is to move forward with the phased construction of the airport" and not "to try to guarantee a few more million for the multinational Vinci", he argued, defending that, at the same time, it is necessary to take advantage of Beja Airport.

Every year, the PCP promotes a tribute to Catarina Eufémia, who was assassinated by the forces of the fascist regime on 19 May 1954, in Baleizão, a small village in the municipality of Beja.

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