First Manifesto of the Rossio Square

The protesters, assembled in the Rossio Square, conscious that what is set in march is an act of resistance, hereby agree to state the following:


We, citizens, women and men, workers, migrants, students, unemployed and retired people, united by our indignation in front of a stifling social and political situation that we refuse to accept as inevitable, have taken our streets. We thus join those that around the world today fight for their rights against the constant oppression of the ruling economical-financial system.


From Reykjavik to Cairo, from Wisconsin to Madrid, a popular wave sweeps the world. This wave is silenced and twisted with disinformation by the media, the same media that doesn't question the permanent injustices in every country, only proclaiming the inevitability of austerity, the end of rights, the funeral of democracy.

Real democracy will never exist as long as the world is managed by a financial dictatorship. The ransom signed behind our backs with the IMF and the EU has abducted democracy and our lives. The countries in which the IMF intervenes see a brutal drop in the average live expectancy. The IMF kills! We can only reject it. We refuse to have our wages, our pensions and social supports cut, while simultaneously the culprits for this crisis are spared and recapitalized. Why do we have to choose between unemployment and precarious labour? Why do they want to take away our public services, stealing us, through privatizations, of what we payed for all our lives? Our answer is no. We defend the withdrawal of the troika plan. Following the example of many other countries around the world, such as Iceland, we will not accept to bury our present and our past for a debt that isn't ours.


We refuse to accept the theft of our future. We intend to assume control of our lives and intervene effectively in each and every process of political, social and economical life. We are doing it, today, in the popular assemblies gathered all around. We appeal to all the people to join, in the streets, in the squares, in each corner, under the shade of every statue so that, united, we may change once and for all the rules of this crooked game.


This is just the beginning. The streets are ours.
Lisbon, 22nd of May 2011