"Belief, and the Will to Win"

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02/Dec/2001 OLIVENTIANS: SPANISH OR PORTUGUESE? I was almost as surprised as satisfied to see the DN (Diário de Notícias - Lisbon) dedicating a whole week (27 November to 1 December 2001) to the theme of Olivença, a subject rarely seen in the Portuguese press. Many thousands of Portuguese were able, this way, to get to know the facts that politicians and journalists have succeeded in keeping hidden. On th last day of the Olivença "Dossier", a survey* was done of the local population. As we would expect, the overwhelming majority of those interviewed, 95%, preferred Olivença to stay Spanish. It's a result that surprises no one! And why? Simply because the great majority of the population in Olivença is of Spanish origin. However, despite the juridic effects being nil with regards to consulting the Olivença population, this test clearly reveals the efficiency of the Spanish colonisation process carried out in the territory. Madrid's imperialism is to be congratulated. It has succeeded without too much bloodshed to eliminate Olivença's Portuguese population and substitute it by its own citizens, that now, obviously, don't see any reason to stop being what they are- Spaniards- and to become what they have never been: Portuguese. The Spanish success can be noticed, at an historic conscience level too. Two centuries of manipulating consciences, of banning the Portuguese language (until recently), of prosecution against all those who wanted to stay Portuguese has provided good results, for Spanish dominion, of course... I end with some observations, of a technical sort, about the survey: 1. - It was carried out by telephone, "from the offices of Marktest in Spain". For a population accustomed during two centuries to police questioning, who are afraid to speak in Portuguese in public as they remember the inconveniences it used to cause, who know the consequences of taking a pro-Portuguese view, it's easy to guess what the answer the Oliventians would give, by telephone..., to a stranger..., speaking in Castilian...,and who asked them if they wanted to be Spanish or Portuguese..., 2. - The population more culturally close to Portugal has an economical situation less favourable to the one of Spanish origin that emigrated to Olivennça to occupy administrative positions and who run businesses and own property, left vacant by those who left for the other side of the Guadiana. Within that poorer population, the number of telephones is without doubt, reduced compared to the wealthier population from Spain. Choosing for the interviews only those who own a telephone, it's easy to understandd the final result..., 3. - Very probably, the survey only affected those living in Olivença and Táliga, where the populations are more Spanish, forgetting those of Vila Real, of São Jorge de Alor - where the portuguese presence is stronger - and not using the lines of São Francisco de Olivença and São Rafael de Olivença, two villages where in the 1950's, the inhabitants of Olivença's poorer neighbourhood districts were banished. Also, the Oliventian residents of the "countryside", where portuguesism is the more preserved must have escaped the enquiry that selected only those who had a phone. But all this is irrelevant to the problem at the heart of the matter. Olivença is juridically Portuguese, independently of Madrid's expansionist desires or the will of its inhabitants, whether they have Spanish origin or Portuguese. Spain only has to fulfill the treaties and respect the moral and territorial integrity of Portugal. Incidentally, isn't that what she tells the United Kingdom with regards to Gibraltar? Fact:The Olivença DN "survey"* was carried out on 29, 30, 31 October 2001 and 5, 6 November 2001, in Olivença and Táliga only. Only 248 people were "interviewed": 121 men and 127 women - as follows: 18 - 34, 89 people; 35 -54, 76 people; 54 plus, 83 people. Rui A M da Silva