6 June 1975 Micalense Farmers' Protest
The 6 June 1975 Micalense Farmers' Protest, or simply the "6 June" (as it is known locally), was an organized protest by Micalense farmers, in Ponta Delgada, the capital of the then-Autonomous District of the same name, following the Carnation Revolution. Inspired by rural property-owners and right-wing factions, the protest forced the resignation of the civil governor and inspired a series of terrorist acts, that ultimately led to the creation of the Regional Junta of the Azores, and the basis of modern Azorean politics. History. The protest was organized by large  property-owners and landed gentry of the island of São Miguel that united hundreds of protesters. The principal motive of the gathering was to demonstrate agricultural issues, but mixed reactions against the left-leaning policies on the continent, and the desire to prevent progressive reforms in São Miguel. In particular, was a proposal by the anti-fascist Civil Governor of the Autonomous District of the Azores, António Borges Coutinho, and President of the Junta Geral, Álvaro Soares de Melo (both members of the MDP/CDE), to implement the reform of rural land rent policies and, possibly, the adoption of agrarian  reforms imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture (). The possibility of freedom and democracy, promoted by the "Movement of the Captains" () brought to the Azores a perception that the time to reclaim political autonomy or even independence was at hand for some. The radical politics in the continent, with the spectre of nationalization, contributed daily to the feeling of confrontation, in an archipelago that was openly hostile to communism and leftist ideologies. The economic situation in the region was no better. In 1975, half of the population was involved in agriculture, and the nascent economy was asfixated by the price differential  between the islands and the continent. Feed, fertilizer, cement and gas/oil were all influenced by cost of transport, inflation and the high margins fixed by commercial monopolies. High interest rates and low milk prices put the agricultural industries at risk: many of the farming families were desperate. Event. Although the protest was prohibited in a joint communique by the Civil and Military Governors, it nonetheless went ahead. The Military Governor, General Altino Pinto de Magalhães, had indicated that a protest at that time was not prudent, owing to arrival of a NATO squadron at the city port, which could  have been interpreted as a reaction to their presence. Members of the agricultural cooperatives were mobilized, with tractors and pickup trucks arriving from around the island, parading around the streets of Ponta Delgada. There were chants of "If you are Azorean come here!", including cries of "exploitation" and unequal treatment by continental Portuguese. The protest wound through streets, following the path of the annual festival of Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres, although veering off to the headquarters of the PCP at one point, to provoke the communists. The idea was made by the leaders of the protest, José Franco, Luís  Indio, Armando Goyannes and Luís Franco, among others, linked to the independence movements like MAPA and, later, FLA. When the procession finally reached the Palace of Conceição, the first placards started to appear, appealing to Azorean freedom, mixed with cries of ""Viva a independência dos Açores"" ("Long live the independence of the Azores"). In addition, the main captains of the political arm of the FLA appeared, the lawyers Carlos Melo Bento and Abel Carreiro. It was at that time that the protest took on a character of separatism: ""We need to be free...we need to demonstrate that the Azores  are able to auto-govern themselves...This protest is for independence and is just""! By this time, the first military interventions in the protest, in order to block the crowd, but protesters were able to enter the Civil Governor's offices. Within the Palace, after a few moments of tension, the protesters demanded the head of Governor Borges Coutinho, the political symbol of the "communist threat" from the continent. This was the main reason for Luís Franco, and other leaders of the protest: to demand his resignation. António Borges Coutinho appeared at the top of the staircase, and received a  delegation from the protesters to discuss their demands. During the course of this discussion, Coutinho was interrupted by the Military Governor, who affirmed that the Civil Governor should resign, in order to put an end to the protests. Coutinho, losing his power base by the Military Governor, therefore resigned publicly on the veranda of the Palace of Conceição. Aftermath. A series of protests occurred in simultaneity with the events (but were likely planned earlier), including the occupation of the headquarters of the regional radio station (ERA) and the main post office, as well as the blockade of the runways of  Ponta Delgada's airport. The Military Governor ordered the imprisonment of the principal individuals allegedly responsible for the acts, resulting in the detention of approximately 29 of the participants. The majority of the people rounded up by local security forces were linked to the political right, some separatists/independentists or fascists, who were imprisoned in Angra do Heroísmo, including: In addition, a small band of friends were arrested on Terceira, aligned with the movement: José Manuel Rodrigues dos Santos (from FIAT), José Silvério Bispo (businessman and photographer from Praia da Vitória), Luís Soares Guiod de Castro (aristocrat and businessman from  Angra do Heroismo) and Paulo Tadeu Mendes Brum Pacheco. The latter was able to convince his jailers to liberate him for the weekend, so that he could participate as best-man during a wedding. Many of the arrested maintained a level of optimism and humor, even as there was no certainty that incarceration would be short-term. Although, much later, various detainees publicly assumed responsibility for their participation in subversive acts, their court cases were dismissed without proof and archived. Meanwhile, the Civil Governor of the Autonomous District of Angra do Heroísmo, Oldemiro Cardoso de Figueiredo, also of the MDP /CDE, resigned a few weeks after the protests, in solidarity with Borges Coutinho. From June to August 1975, there was a rise of terrorist-oriented acts. Various deputies of the MDP/CDE and the PCP were obliged to abandon the Azores in August. The "deportation" of communist supporters to the continent was front-page news in the "Diário de Notícias", then a mouthpiece of the government in Lisbon. Autonomy. Despite the meaningful political environment on the Continent and the unequivocal condemnation of the demonstration organized by the "reactionary" islanders of São Miguel, the national government, then headed by General Vasco  Gonçalves, determined the need to form a Regional Junta of the Azores, to replace the administration of the three districts of the Azores. The creation of the Regional Junta of the Azores was originally proposed by the "Grupo dos Onze" ("Group of Eleven"), presided by former Civil Governor Borges Coutinho (in January 1975). Though, not attributable to the protests, due to their reactionary nature, the events did not contribute positively to the process of autonomy, which would be discussed in the Constituent Assembly. Later, antagonisms over the demonstrations only appeared on 19 March 1976, when deputy Vital Moreira (PCP) questioned  Américo Natalino de Viveiros (PPD), as to the reason for a statement made, regarding the media of Ponta Delgada. Responding, Natalino de Viveiros stated: These statements, after the PPD in São Miguel had not campaigned for the resignation of the Civil Governor after the 1975 elections, resulted in a response by Orlando Marques Pinto (MDP/CDE), against the insults made to Borges Coutinho, affirming his ""anti-fascist resistant, paid for with many years in prison and permanent humiliation, while I do not know at that time what you "Mr. Deputy" did, with that affirmation."" The writer Christopher de Aguiar described  the events of 6 June 1975 in his diary: ""It is foolhardy to assume that three or four thousand voices shouting for more to do, in the name of a whole people or an entire island that has more than one hundred thousand inhabitants. This is reminiscent of last century's "alevantes" (1869) where the people defended the interests of their masters and not their own. Yet, 6 June was also, no exception. Three or four thousand protesters were, for the most part, gathered in rural areas by large landowners, to serve as echo (a sad vocation) to the interests  of their lords and masters...Democracy, which cost "the eyes off your face" to be won, sometimes these have perverse effects. Indeed, the active minority that oppress and oppressed the people of São Miguel always existed...it was the same that expressed their side in Ponta Delgada on 6 June."" On 7 June 1978, José António Martins Goulart, leader of the PS parliamentary group in the Regional Legislative Assembly, affirmed: Reaction. The director of the newspaper "Açores", Gustavo Moura, former adherent of the "Legião Portuguesa" and "Acção Nacional Popular", defended the protests, in an editorial in which the principal objective  was the support for separatism, was also imprisoned (but he was never tried for his fascist rant nor forced to resign his post). The weekly newspaper "O Açoriano Oriental", then directed by Luciano Mota Vieira, was more pragmatic, noting that the Civil Governor had requested to be replaced after the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE) lost local elections, and was demoted by the Minister of the Internal Administration, major António Arnão Metelo. Of the remaining newspapers, the daily "Correio dos Açores", with the same fascist slant (and comprising former Salazarists Gaspar Henriques and Manuel Ferreira), supported the protest, as this  excerpt suggests (reprinted on 6 June 2010): ""...6 June 1975/Grandioso protest/Historic mark in the life of the Azores/Dr. Borges Coutinho requested to resign from the position of Civil Governor of the district...the population protested, in an unsophisticated way, its desire. Thousands of people, hundreds of vehicles, an entire island, raised their voices and, against all prohibitions, organized one of the more grandiose and significant protests in history. The cries of independence soon surpassed all other claims. The grave problems of farming, the demand for the resignation of the district chief, everything quickly became a backdrop to  the cries for independence."" Meanwhile the "Diário dos Açores" and the weekly "A Ilha" were more pragmatic. The media in Lisbon, in comparison, condemned the protests. A couple of days later, the same "independence"-oriented commentaries continued to permeate the "Correio dos Açores", with characterizations of the psychological, linguistic, cultural, historical and economic differences between the Azores and the continent, justifying a break with Lisbon. Moreover, there was an indication that the social stratification and beliefs that existed between the two regions were distinct enough to talk of an Azorean people, whose moral authority was not convergent with the Portuguese people . This text went on to exclaim: ""An exalted word of the moment will follow the words reflected at this historic hour we're living. And this will not be the final word of a few, but of all Azoreans who want it their endeavor and their ability, at present, to make the future."" The Socialist Party (PS), Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE) and the MES condemned the protests, promoting a counter-protest for the following week, on 16 June. The Social Democratic Party (PPD), although a principal supporter of the original protest, also supported the  counter-protest, to distance themselves from the subversive acts of 6 June demonstration. The PS, released a public statement in the newspaper "A Capital", in Lisbon, on 12 June 1975, distancing themselves from the ""reactionary character that was imprinted on the untimely manifestation, that was so skillfully called for by some farmers on São Miguel...[while supporting]...the strong measures taken by the MFA, to ensure the continuity of the revolutionary process in São Miguel, neutralizing the harmful actions of reactionary minority groups who, treacherously plotted against national sovereignty."" At the same time, the PS indicated their antagonism towards the  MDP/CDE Civil Governors, named in the rest of the country. The MDP/CDE, for its part, asked for an ""immediate and severe punishment for the peoples responsible for the protest, and for the shameful disrespect that for a while had been verified, and had multiplied, and intensified after the demonstration on 6th."" The Popular Party (then forerunner of the PSD), through some of its more notable speakers, such as Américo Natalino de Viveiros (a militant on the extreme-right of the party, and involved in the protest), affirmed in the official communique: It is necessary to understand that the  Social Democratic Party was a center-left political party, and candidate for the Socialist International, since its interim leader (in the absence of Francisco Sá Carneiro) the professor Emídio Guerreiro, one of the major personalities of the democratic opposition in Portugal. Meanwhile, on São Miguel, the situation was dissimilar, since the PPD, under João Bosco Mota Amaral, was in practice a conservative and post-fascist party Revisionism. Many of the regional right-wing reactionaries, especially those on São Miguel, sought to mystify the importance of the date, suggesting how they allegedly played a major role in bringing about political and  administrative autonomy in 1976. But, even as the PS promoted their view in the press of Ponta Delgada, the media was dominated then by journalists linked to the political right, such as Gustavo Moura, who accomplished a lot while heading the "Açores" much like the "Açoriano Oriental". The "Correio dos Açores", which was transformed into an official mouthpiece of PSD reactionary forces and the Micalense extreme-right separatists: during the directorship of Jorge do Nascimento Cabral (between 1981 and 1999), an avowed separatists member of the PSD, and Américo Natalino de Viveiros (after 1999). Under the direction of Gustavo Moura , the "Açoriano Oriental" republished a commemorative 25th anniversary edition of the "Açores" (from 7 June 1975) on 6 June 2000, with the editorial that sent Moura to prison. In comparison, during the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Carnation Revolution, the newspaper never re-published the comparable facsimile celebrating the foundations of the democratic government. On 6 June 2000 editorial, headlined ""Unity, An Example Not to Forget"", where the author cited the Regional Government of the Azores, under PS leader Carlos César, for marking the protest date, he promoted the alleged "historical dimension" of the events. For many, though, the date  held some importance, as with the proposal by Ponta Delgada councilman Carlos Rego Costa (PSD), who succeeded in having the "Rua dos Chagas" renamed "Rua 6 de Junho" (approved in 1979), in direct opposition to opposition members of the Socialist Party (who voted against the measure). Yet, the name persisted and no move was made to replace it, since its adoption. On 29 September 2011, a Facebook page was started to promote the movement to replace the "Rua 6 de Junho" for "Rua Marechal Humberto Delgado" in Ponta Delgada, in reverence to the assassinated posthumous-Marshall of the Portuguese Estado  Novo state, who was murdered by people associated with the Salazar government. On 28 May 2012, members of the Frente de Libertação dos Açores (FLA) announced their intention to commemorate the 37 years following 6 June protests, to ""show the strength of the Azoreans"" and show homage ""those who had contributed to liberty"". Álvaro Lemos, during a press conference, stated ""6 June was the cry of liberation for the Azorean population from a new dictatorship of the left"", noting that thousands of people were mobilized on that date in a rare event to force the resignation of the Civil Governor , António Borges Coutinho. The independents' commemorations served to indicate ""that autonomy is frayed"" and the ""disunity of the islands"" suggesting that ""political parties don't defend the Azores and only look at their navels...[while] autonomy is a certification for the incapacity of Azoreans to govern themselves appropriately.""