Few support the mobilization, emulating the ‘yellow vests’ French, was intended to paralyze the country neighbor

The movement of the yellow vests in France, way of your end

More than 100 arrested in Paris on the fifth day of the protests of the yellow vests

The first major attempt to export the movement of the ‘yellow vests’ beyond the French borders failed this Friday in Portugal, where few supported the mobilisation that was intended to paralyze the country neighbor. Although there were protests in more than 25 Portuguese cities, in most populations, few dozens of protestors came to the meeting point established. In the capital district as Évora, less than 10 people participated in the event, and in Beja the only yellow vest in sight was a traffic police.

ten months of the general election to the Executive António Costa took every precaution possible to avoid large disturbances. The 20,000 members of the police lusa were placed in active, and the possibility that it would produce a situation similar to that of the Airport of Gatwick -where drones caused chaos on Thursday-, the Air Force established a no-fly zone around airports lusos.

One of the few sites in which the yellow vests they managed to get noticed was Braga, where a hundred protesters cut off access to the city and threw bottles against the cars that tried to circumvent your block. In Oporto, the protesters occupied one of the access points to the Invicta for a few hours.

Although they had threatened to surround the Assembly of the Republic and to cut the Bridges of 25 April and Vasco de Gama, in Lisbon, the yellow vests were conspicuous by their absence. The few protesters were concentrated around the Plaza del Marqués de Pombal square, and between them highlighted dozens of militants of extreme right groups. Their presence made the organizers of the protest of the desconvocaran “to avoid being associated with that group”.

At first view, Portugal would be a great country to launch a movement like that of the yellow vests. Despite the timid economic improvement of the past few years, the austerity policies of the Government have put teachers, nurses and railway workers on a war footing during the last few months. The minimum wage is 600 euros a month and the taxes on fuel are the highest in Europe. Despite this, the latest surveys indicate that more than 70% of the lusos support the management of Coast, which has every chance of winning the next election.

The lusos presume to be a people of “gentle manners” and do not tend to manifest itself: during the worst years of the crisis was recorded just a mass demonstration, and it is well known that the Carnation Revolution was led by the Armed Forces, not the citizenship. There is social unrest in Portugal, but not enough for the lusos take to the streets, and much less the four days of the Christmas season.

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