Illegalization of the MUD
“From the position of honor, which the collective will has entrusted to us, we have long faced the dark possibility of the present time! It does not weigh on our conscience, however, to have provoked it; on the contrary, we believe that at all times we have been worthy of the mission. (…) Democrats, friends of Liberty, our friends, the moment is serious, no doubt, but we must react with a manly spirit. (…) Nothing is lost! The journey we took only brought us closer to victory (…). ”
On March 1, 1948, the Democratic Unity Movement (MUD) reacted in this way to the notification in PIDE of an order, dated April 1947, where the MUD was considered illegal, because the so-called “Communist Party” collaborated in it. In the representation he made to the government, signed by personalities such as António Sérgio, Maria Isabel Aboim Inglês, Manuel Mendes or Gustavo Soromenho, the signatories noted that the absence of Tito de Morais’s signature was due to the fact that he was still detained in the Aljube and claimed his release, as well as that of all detainees who were in that situation because they belonged to the MUD.
Created in October 1945, in a room at the Centro Escolarano Republicano Almirante Reis, the MUD brought together figures from various quarters and was considered the most important and broad legal organization of an anti-fascist unit. Its illegalization was the end point in the persecution that began in 1946, shortly after its constitution, and which led to the arrest of several of its members and the dismissal of prominent figures such as the case of Bento de Jesus Caraça, dismissed from the university chair. It did not, however, prevent, as we have seen here recently, support for Norton de Matos’ candidacy for the 1949 elections.
