Thousands take part in anti-austerity protest in Portugal

Thousands of people took to the streets to protest austerity in Portugal on Friday, just months before the 2015 general elections to contest the center-right ruling government's austerity measures and mark International Labor Day.

People waved banners and chanted for the government to step down, and flower vendors sold carnations, symbolizing the flowers protesters placed in the military's guns during the carnation revolution in 1974, overthrowing a dictatorship.

"I'm here to represent my class, because I lived the carnation revolution intensely and 41 years later we are worse off than we were," said Jose Rodrigues, 58, a commercial manager.

"We are calling for this government to step down. They are ruining our country," said an 80-year old pensioner named Maria Lusinda.

Austerity has hit public workers hard in the past few years. The unemployment rate stood at 13.5 percent in March and the national minimum salary is 505 euros (566 U.S. dollars) per month.

"Before 25 April (carnation revolution) we fought for democratic rights, better salaries, education and public health policies that are now being placed at risk," Armenio Carlos, head of Portuguese trade union CGTP, told Xinhua.

"The EU policies are responsible for what is happening in this country. We need to renegotiate the debt and create more jobs, and find solutions to guarantee an alternative policy," he added.

Portugal's center-right government expects the economy to grow 1.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) this year and insists the country must continue to implement austerity to meet its targets.

The country's public debt amounts to almost 130 percent of GDP.

The Socialists have maintained a strong stance against austerity, with Socialist leader Antonio Costa running almost neck-and-neck with the ruling coalition before the elections which will take place in September or October. Endit