Left Bloc spokesperson Catarina Martins accused Portugal’s Minister of Finance of repeating 'fascist propaganda" when asserting that Portugal has "filled its coffers," as the country in fact is hugely in debt and littered with the victims of austerity.
Catarina Martins was speaking at a rally "United against Austerity" which included representatives from Spain and Greece in the form of Rafael Mayoral and Costas Zachariadis.
Martins criticised the ‘coffers full’ statement from Maria Luís Albuquerque last week, which she said could not go past without comment, considering that it recalled a time when the country had full coffers but 700,000 people now are living below the poverty line.
Catarina Martins said of Albuquerque’s statement, that there was "nothing more disgusting than repeating fascist propaganda. You have to ask, the coffers full of what? Let us be clear, the full coffers of Maria Luís Albuquerque are full of debt, because of the austerity policies that have impoverished the country and have seen public debt shoot up to 130% of GDP."
The leader of Portugal’s Left Bloc referred also to the problems of the Citius computer system in the justice sector, the opening of the school year without teachers being in place, the lack of payment of social security contributions by Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and the VIP Taxpayers List, accusing the government of a lack of overall grasp.
