For months, left and center in Portugal had been warily eying one another, waiting for some kind of decisive showdown. Last week the long-awaited confrontation took place, when far-leftist air-force units primarily paratroopers attempted to take control by seizing military bases. In a remarkable show of strength and will, the moderates quickly struck back. With the support of loyalist troops notably Colonel Jaime Neves' 900 commandos ("the animals," as the rest of the military calls them) Premier José Pinheiro de Azevedo's regime routed the radicals, and moderate...
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