Thousands turned out in Lisbon today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution which toppled Portugal’s fascist Salazar dictatorship.

The coup brought with it the right to vote, universal healthcare, public education, pensions and labour rights.

But the prevailing mood among the Portuguese is anger as they watch the government stripping those entitlements at the behest of the International Monetary Fund and the other members of the discredited troika of lenders who have exacted a swingeing price for a 2011 bailout.

“Many people feel cheated,” said retired revolutionary mastermind Major Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho. 

“What we’re living through, it’s like it’s signing the death warrant of the hopes and values of the revolution.”

The celebrations commemorate the day when the Armed Forces Movement (AFM) toppled the dictatorship of Antonio Salazar and Marcelo Caetano and put an end to 13 years of colonial war.

But for the third year running, the military protagonists of that revolution did not show up at the celebrations.

The surviving members of the AFM are boycotting the commemorations in protest at government policies. 

Even socialist former president Mario Soares, who helped steer Portugal into the EU, is now a fierce critic of government and EU policies, saying that Portugal should default on its public debt. 

He also will not be attending ceremonies in parliament in solidarity with the revolutionary captains.

The country is in dire need. Budget cuts have forced the closure of health centres and reduced subsidies for prescription drugs. 

High schools have seen staff levels fall and new equipment purchases postponed. 

New laws have made it easier and cheaper to hire and fire workers.

The government has cut the salaries of state workers, slashed pensions and introduced what even Finance Minister Maria Luís Albuquerque conceded was a “brutal” increase in income tax. 

Meanwhile, unemployment sits at 15.3 per cent.

The scrapping of rent controls — another bailout demand — has meant many have lost their homes.

And it is set to continue. The government has said it will again cut spending and lower the number of public workers to meet troika targets for next year.