THE Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) celebrated its centenary on Saturday with a message of hope for the future in the continued struggle for freedom and justice.

Its members took to the streets of Lisbon bedecked with party flags while handing out carnations — the symbol of the 1974 revolution which overthrew a fascist dictatorship.

The party paid tribute to “generations of communists who are an example of selfless devotion to the just cause that they embraced” and who hadn’t “been mere bystanders, but active in revolutionary struggle.”

It saluted Portuguese women and said the PCP would celebrate International Working Women’s Day, reaffirming its commitment to the fight for their emancipation and the struggle for women’s rights.

The PCP reiterated its unwavering belief in the need for communism and the continued fight for democracy.

“Long ago we proved that victories do not make us rest and defeats do not make us surrender.

“We communists know: it is worth fighting for. We know that the future does not happen, it is built and conquered,” it said in a statement.