The affair of the Santa Maria

The Portugese steamboat, Santa Maria" carrying 600 passengers, besides the officers and crew, was seized on the high seas by a gang of armed revolutionaries who had come on board as passengers during a stop-over of the ship at the port of Caracas.

During a period of 12 days the Santa Maria was the big news on radio and television and in the press, until the affair was terminated by the landing of the passengers at Reciffe (in Brazil) where the Brazilian government gave sanctuary to Galvao and the other insurgents who had captured the Santa Maria, and by the return of the boat to Portugal.

This act of violence, which caused the death of one regular member of the crew, and the wounding of another to say nothing of very considerable physical and mental suffering for the passengers was carried out by Portugese Communists, acting on behalf of Delgado, the adversary of Salazar. Delgado, himself, is at the moment, a refugee in Brazil.

A glance at the map of Europe will show that Portugal is located in the Iberian Penninsuta (Spain and Portugal) which lies south of the Pyrenees and constitutes the extreme south-west of Europe.

The Communists, who at the moment dominate the east of Europe, would like nothing better than to hold the Iberian Penninsula. Thus, they would be in a fine position to exercise a pincer movement, or a pincer hold, on the old continent. In fact, that was the object of their intervention in the Spanish Civil war during the years 1936-39, which happily terminated in a victory for General Franco.

It is notorious that the Leftist press of all the countries of the world (including that of Canada) have never ceased to attack in the most vicious manner, Fransisco Franco. And exactly the same treatment has been meted out to Salazar, the great man of state, who during 33 years has laboured to raise Portugal out of the morass into which it had been plunged by long years of anarchy and revolutions.

For the most part, however, Salazar gets the "silent" treatment from the press. He is ignored, while insignificant politicians, national and international, are given columns of publicity. But with the affair of the Santa Maria, press and radio got together to publicize this act of piracy as a glorious act of revolution: on the part of patriots, struggling for the "liberation" of Portugal.

The radio, television and newspapers of this country attempted to inflate the incident which took place before the Portugese consulate in Montreal. The facts are, of the 5,000 Portugese resident in Montreal, some 15 only took part in the anti-Salazar demonstrations. The remainder of the mob was composed of Spanish Communists who had fled their country when they were defeated by Franco in 1939.

A Portugese of Montreal, Mr. Arthur Ribiero, wrote that "the assault on the ship and the passengers, the use of women and children as hostages for a so-called revolutionary adventure, is certainly not in accord with the tradition of courage, heroism and gallantry known to the Portugese people.

Everywhere in the world, Communists trample underfoot the most glorious traditions of their countries. They will stop at nothing in order to impose their satanic philosophy and their iron regime upon others. And, alas! they find comrades and sympathizers in the ranks of the leftists even here in Canada, contriving by one means or another to have access to all the media of information.