Portuguese love

Since the 1930s, relations between the USSR and Portugal have been extremely hostile. The anti-communist New State of Antoniu Salazar was not only ideological, but also a military-political opponent of the CPSU ^[3] . Portugal joined NATO , waged colonial wars against movements supported by the USSR. The pro-Soviet Portuguese Communist Party was underground and persecuted. Soviet propaganda characterized the Salazar regime as “ fascist ” ^[4] . There were no diplomatic relations and trade and economic relations, cultural contacts and tourist exchanges were not allowed.

In 1967, the famous Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko visited Lisbon . His one-day visit was organized by ^{[5] the} publisher and human rights activist Snu Abecassis (in the future, the civil wife of the founder of the liberal PSD and the prime minister of post-revolutionary Portugal, Francisco Sa Carneiro ).

Sleep Abekassish was in the liberal opposition to the regime, but had a high public status ^[6] and was able - to the displeasure of PIDE - to negotiate with the relevant authorities. Yevtushenko also received permission from the relevant Soviet authorities. His trip was completely legal, but was not advertised either in the USSR or in Portugal. This was not officially reported. Subsequently, Yevtushenko recalled in one of the poems: “How I got a visa is my secret” ^[7] .

The author of the poem condemns the Portuguese "New State" as "a world where the Nazis rule." The poem is permeated with gloomy images of “concrete and fear”, “dull power”, lawlessness and misfortune. In this regard, the Soviet poet acts in line with official propaganda.

However, Yevtushenko does not mention the communist underground and the African rebel movements in a word - which was mandatory in all Soviet materials about Portugal. He calls for spiritual resistance, the power of bright human feelings, with which no dictatorship can control.

Another feature is characteristic. Yevtushenko’s works on foreign subjects are usually imbued with Soviet pride, the superiority of the “new world”, and sometimes contemptuously condescending. Portuguese Love is devoid of these motives. The author is clearly impressed by the power of the enemy, whose power leaves only the space of feeling dissenting. This feeling is conveyed by the author’s appeal to the "Portuguese": "We are with you, little sister, weak." (A similar attitude can be seen in the poems “ Barcelona Streets ” and “USSR Match - Spain” about Franco-Spain , where Yevtushenko also managed to visit.)

Some scholars attribute this to the fact that the regimes of Salazar and Franco - which came from the 1930s, with their implacable anti-communism, harsh nationalism and corporatism , appealing to the traditions and images of the Middle Ages - seemed to be a stronger opponent than the Western democracies of the 1960s ^[8] . This impression was reflected by the poet " sixties ."