Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned Wednesday. He resigned to because parliament rejected his bid for his government's latest austerity measures aimed at avoiding a bailout.
His resignation throws the Portuguese political system into chaos after a failed attempt of avoiding a bailout. The growing concerns were that similar to Greece and Ireland; the other two countries in Europe to have recieved a bailout. This leaves his government in control during the summit in Brussels over the European bailout.
The main opposition Social Democrats, who have previously backed austerity, said they want an election, hoping that the center-right party's lead in opinion polls will bring it to power.
This is all the result of the parliment rejected Socrates' latest austerity measures. All opposition parties voted against the measures in the 230-seat parliament, where the Socialists have 97 seats.
"The prospect of a bailout has risen drastically and is now enormous," said Filipe Garcia, head of Informacao de Mercados Financeiros consultants in Porto.
The media freedom in Portugal is probably falls under the area between the libertarian and social responsibility philosophies. I believe it falls between the two because aspects of both philosophies reflect the media freedom in the country. Most of the media is free of state control but not all is controlled and it is there to create a "checks and balances" for the government but at the same time provides many opinions and opens debate up to the public opinion. It is there to entertain the public and sell to the public, but is also there to inform its citizens of what is going on. The news does contain entertainment (mostly soccer or futbol depending on where your from) but also does contain news concerning economic and political arenas.
A public sphere is created throughout the various mediums of media. People are allowed to exchange and discuss different opinions. Different aspects of society interact in these mediums such as government, economic, and public concerns or opinions. The mixture is quite unique in the fact that the two philosophies blend in almost perfectly. According to Reporters Without Borders, Portugal has a rating of 40 meaning that out all the countries in the world, it is the 40th safest country to report in.
Freedom in the media is generated from the freedoms granted in the Constitution for Portugal. It is very similar to the Constitution of the United States in regards to the basic freedoms it provides. Freedom of speech, religion, to organize, and collectively bargain. There are certain restrictions mainly regarding the religion aspect. For example, according to FreedomHouse.org, a "religion" cannot be openly practiced unless it has been established in the country for at least 30 years. With a new and shifting media, the Internet is rarely restricted. The only time such technology (computers) are restricted is when the government asks to confiscate them for sources.
The latest incident occurred in August of 2010 when privacy and reporting came together. This case resulted in the fine of 1.5 million Euros on Lisbon Weekly. Publication of the transcripts of phone tapping operations is often a matter of great public interest and is one of the cornerstones of investigative journalism. To read the full article you can click on this link, Judicial Harassment Case. Another reported incident was in 2006 when a court rejected an appeal by a couple of journalists to keep their computers protecting their right to their sources. According to Reporters Without Borders, a reporter was sentenced to an 11-month suspension for not revealing his sources in a drug case. These examples show that reporters are free to report but revealingsources seems to be a big issue.
Side Note:
World Audit.org also has ranked the "freedom of media" in the countries in the world. Lower scores on this website are better than higher numbers. Regarding press freedom, Portugal is ranked 10 and democracy rating is 18. Having a score from 1-30 is seen as being a more "free" media. The link I am going to give you has the country's world democracy audit, press freedom, corruption, civil liberties, and political rights ratings. World Audit Ratings-Portugal
PSP reported three deaths and an array of illegal substances during Carnival. During the yearly celebration of Carnival, the PSP captured a total of 15 guns and thousand of doses of drugs. The capturing of these materials is accompanied by the arrest of 265 citizens. There was a total of 875 crimes reported during the two-day celebration, an increase from the 367 from last year.
Arrests were made for crimes ranging from drug and weapon possession to assault to theft. A wide range of arrests were made but with the amount of people, lack of officers, and amount of crimes reported there wasn't enough PSP members to catch most of the offenders.
The PSP also confiscated high amounts of drugs during the festivities. Most of the substances found were cocaine and ecstasy. The total doses of drugs found according to the PSP, was approximately 14 thousand doses. (The measurement is lost in translation, it only mentioned doses)
Money, Money, Money
Portugal announced on Tuesday that it will be spending a big portion of its money on the public transportation sector. The estimated amount of spending is supposed to be about 12 billion Euros over the next four years into 2015. This was all stated by minister of public works, transportation, and communication Antonio Mendonca.
"This year if we add all the investments in the ports, airports, highway and railway sectors on a horizon extending to 2015, (the total sum) points to 12 billion Euros," Antonio Mendonca stated.
The 12 billion Euros would be extended into all parts of the public transportation projects such as REFER, the railways, and a majority going to the airports and airport systems.
Bailout?
This video was put on the web on March 4, 2011 but a day later the story above comes about. Is Portugal really in debt or trying to find a solution for debt OR are they predicting a debt crisis but trying to invest in the infrastructure before its too late?
When asked about the traditional areas in Portugal I was a little confused as to what "traditional areas" were. Since I have Portuguese blood in my viens, I went to my grandma for a little help along with the Internet. Now doing a little bit of research, I found out that most of the traditional areas found in Portugal are related to some sort of celebration or "festa". These celebrations are then tied back to religious ties which date back to the history of the country. Most of these traditional areas can be found on the set of islands called the Azores. These celebrations are quite popular, at least it seems like, because I know and hear from people that go back to the country just for those reasons alone. My mom's side of the family is from the Azores and routinely go back to take part in the celebrations and go to the "traditional areas" in which they are held.
Festa do Senhor Cristo dos Milagres
Ill just explain just a few of the places where they celebrate these events. Now these events usually occur in an entire city or in a "praia" or sort of a town square. In Sao Miguel, the largest of the celebrations happens in the city of Ponta Delgada and is called Festa do Senhor Cristo dos Milagres or festival of the Christ of Miracles. In Santa Maria, the most popular of the festivities take place in the Praia Formosa. The largest festival on that island takes place in Vila do Porto which commerates the its patron saint, Our Lady of Assention. Finally, where my family is from Terceira, the festival of Saint John takes place. The festivities are based in the city of Angra do Heroisimo. The Danças de Carnival are groups of people who perform in comedy and dance routines at the thirty theatres on the island. Almost the entire population of the island fills the seating. When my extended family goes to Portugal they usually go for this event. If you wanna read more about the celebrations and where they are at in the mainland of portugal you can go to this website : More on Portugues Celebrations & Locations
It's really hard to tell if the media has really changed them because they like to stay traditional in their practices of the celebrations and don't really change the areas in which they hold them. With RTP broadcasting them here in the United States and elsewhere, I would assume that the traditions have become more of a "show" rather than a mere celebration. They want to show the world how they celebrate and make sure it looks good when they do it. Some of the tradtions may have been lost with the upcoming media and with the Internet more people know about them and want to see them for themselves. It's really hard to say because the areas in which they call traditional aren't well known throughout the world, so many people don't know about them. An example would be Carnival in Brazil, people want to know about it because it's famous and well known, areas in Portugal and the Azores aren't well known for people to want to know about them.
COOL FACT: In the Azores, bullfighting in the street is a pretty big thing, where the whole city gathers to watch the bull in the street. Most are now in an arena because of the dangers that they pose. Many question if its cruelty or entertainment but they have been doing this forever. Media has changed this aspect of their society greatly. With all the media exposure people are more reluctant to record it and boast about it because of the backlashes it has. Everybody knows how in Mexico and Spain they kill the bull but in Portugal they do not, that is why the media exposure to bullfights has kind of changed how people view them. I say they have bullfights in Portugal and the first question I get is, "Do they kill the bull?" Bullfights have transcended here to the United States as well. The city I live in has a Portuguese Hall and will have a couple of bullfights a year. One year the media got wind of it and actually made it on the evening news.
Many of the Portuguese traditions have impacted the lives of Portuguese people here in California and all over the United States. Here is the website for the Artesia D.E.S. Portuguese Hall if you want to find out when the next bullfight is if you'd like to attend. Artesia DES Portuguese Hall
