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Portuguese nurses sign open letter in solidarity with British nurses on strike

December 23, 2022

125 nurses from Portugal have signed an open letter of solidarity with the unprecedented strike that, since 15 December, has been promoted by British colleagues in response to more than a decade of disinvestment in the public service and the loss of real wages.

Peace in the hands of people

September 1, 2022

Resolution adopted by the National Bureau of the Left Bloc at its meeting on 3 july 2022.

No to Russian imperialist agression. For an integral and neutral Ukraine

February 23, 2022

The Left Bloc's Political Commission states that Portugal should "condemn Putin's military adventure and distance itself from positions of support for the USA and the expansion of NATO". Read the statement here.

Brief outcome of the Portuguese 30th of January general elections

February 4, 2022

The Socialist Party, led by the Portuguese prime minister António Costa, got the Parliamentary absolute majority that he pursued for a long time, with 117 seats out of 230 and 41.7% of the votes.

On the portuguese elections and the Left Bloc result

February 4, 2022

History shows that Left Bloc has always had the capacity to face difficult moments, and we stand together to shift the present reality.

Disconnecting the employers

November 17, 2021

Over the past days, Portugal has been in the news in the international press. And for one good reason: the bill forbidding bosses to contact workers during their rest time. The American "Vice" magazine stressed that "Portugal has made it illegal for your employer to send you messages after working hours". Yahoo Finance" ran the headline "A simple mistake that could get your boss in trouble". In the British newspapers, like The Guardian, the measure was also highlighted. By José Soeiro 

Portuguese Parliament approves the Decriminalisation of Medically Assisted Death (Euthanasia), a Teleworking Regime and a Climate Framework Law

November 10, 2021

Despite all the drama surrounding the non-approval of the 2022 State Budget, important steps were taken last week when the Portuguese Parliament approved the proposals on decriminalisation of medically assisted death (euthanasia), on a teleworking regime, and the Climate Framework Law.

Society responds to the disappointment of the COP26 summit by going out to the streets to “save the planet”

November 10, 2021

While the COP26 summit is taking place in Glasgow, marches were organized all over the world, including in Lisbon and Oporto, to demand concrete measures that the summit and world leaders arenot delivering.

António Costa’s Government calls for elections

November 10, 2021

The Socialist Party, moved by economic interests, and with the help of the President of the Republic, has led Portugal into a political crisis that will result in early legislative elections, but such political crisis is “artificial, unnecessary and a trick by Prime Minister António Costa” to obtain an absolute majority, said Catarina Martins, National Coordinator of Left Bloc.

Let the People decide the rules?

November 7, 2021

Even before its official approval, ministers, leaders, diplomats and others, were already warning against setting expectations too high for the EU’s real ability to follow up on citizens’ demands. By Luís Fazenda and Marisa Matias.

“There is no neutrality in the defence of fundamental rights”

June 30, 2021

The Portuguese government has claimed a “duty of neutrality” for refusing to subscribe a joint letter to the European Commission, signed by 17 Member States, condemning the recently approved Hungarian law which is discriminatory against LGBTI+ people. Fabíola Cardoso, MP for Left Bloc, stresses that "Portugal needs to quickly reverse its position.”

data bank

Left Bloc MEPs question the European Commission about a major personal data leak to Google

June 30, 2021

Marisa Matias and José Gusmão, MEPs for Left Bloc, have questioned the European Commission after being reported that the main websites of the Portuguese National Health Service (SNS) and other public services are providing data from citizens for the commercial exploitation of Google and other advertising companies.

Glovo worker

Left Bloc wants to regulate work done through digital platforms

June 30, 2021

Catarina Martins, Left Bloc coordinator, and José Soeiro, MP for Left Bloc, presented a proposal that aims to regulate work done through digital platforms: employment contracts, penalties for non-compliant platforms and clarification of the algorithm are the main proposals.

Gaza

“The world cannot close its eyes and be complicit with Israel’s criminal policy”

June 30, 2021

Catarina Martins, Left Bloc coordinator, stated that the Portuguese government must have “a strong position condemning Israel’s attacks” and, while holding the presidency of Council of the European Union, take the necessary measures so that immediate sanctions are applied, in order to stop what is happening in the Gaza Strip.

Note on Peruvian elections

June 14, 2021

The victory of teacher and trade unionist Pedro Castillo in the Peruvian presidential election puts a brake on the specter of the corrupt and authoritarian right led by candidate Keiko Fujimori.

"Freedom is to live without precarity"

A counter-summit of resistance, challenge and solidarity

April 23, 2021

Bloco de Esquerda promotes a Social Counter-Summit on the 6th and 7th of May, in the city of Porto, joining those who refuse to face this reality with the fatalism of the complacent and who have contributed to networks of resistance and solidarity against the crisis.

Left Bloc defends the waiving of patents on vaccines against Covid-19

April 7, 2021

Left Bloc presented a draft resolution in the Portuguese Parliament for the government to defend the waiver in the European Union and for the vaccine to be treated as “a public good with universal access”.

Social Summit 2021: to be social or not to be…

April 7, 2021

Marisa Matias and José Gusmão, MEPs for Left Bloc, are critical of the European Commission’s "unambitious" policies on social rights and of the follow-my-leader stance of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU Council.

You are not welcome, Modi!

April 7, 2021

With the European Union-India summit soon to be held in the city of Porto, Left Bloc expresses its solidarity with the Indian population oppressed by Narendra Modi’s divisive and persecutory policies.

Cabo Delgado: the EU has not assumed its responsibility

April 7, 2021

Marisa Matias, MEP for Left Bloc, stresses that “perhaps the States would be freer to act” if there were no multinationals in the province of Cabo Delgado which dedicate themselves “to the extraction of natural resources in an absolutely predatory way”.

Social support is a crucial element of social justice

April 7, 2021

Catarina Martins, national coordinator of Left Bloc, highlighted that “once enacted, the laws on social support have to be applied”, besides guaranteeing “the support that has been legislated is already in force and it is important to ensure these benefits reach the people needing them”.

Catarina Martins, photo by Ana Mendes

Beyond fear

April 5, 2021

“The left must assert that the response to the climate crisis, as well as the response to the pandemic crisis, requires European and international collaboration. What is clear is that the European treaties are the first obstacle to such cooperation”, writes Catarina Martins, Bloco de Esquerda’s Coordinator, in “Quistioni” the new magazine of the European Left.

Decriminalisation of assisted death, a long struggle of Left Bloc, is approved in the Portuguese Parliament

February 19, 2021

“With the vote that has just been taken, the Portuguese Parliament added dignity and respect to our democracy,” declared MP José Manuel Pureza. The bill was approved with 136 votes in favour of the Left Bloc, PAN, PEV, part of the PS and PSD, IL, and non-registered MPs.

The pandemic crisis cannot be an excuse for the lack of social support; it must be its biggest motivation

February 19, 2021

After a year of having to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, we can safely acknowledge that social support in Portugal has been clearly insufficient.

The Portuguese Presidential Elections are marked by the pandemic crisis and the aggressiveness of the ultra-right

February 19, 2021

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa surpassed the 50% barrier, which allows him to be re-elected on the first round. Marisa Matias, Left Bloc’s candidate for the presidential election, obtained 3.95% of the votes.