"The New York Times" mostra Portugal como um país desolador.

"The New York Times" mostra Portugal como um país desolador.

Um país em que 21% dos idosos vive na pobreza, em que dos 1,4 milhões de desempregados apenas 370 mil recebem apoios mensais do Estado, referem as legendas da fotogaleria do "The New York Times" sobre Portugal.
Alexandre Costa (www.expresso.pt)
22:11 Quinta, 29 de Novembro de 2012

O site do "The New York Times" publicou uma fotogaleria acompanhada por números que dão conta do sério agravamento das condições de vida dos portugueses.
Retratos de sem abrigo, de idosos, de imigrantes pobres e de jovens de malas feitas para emigrar, das manifestações e dos confrontos em frente à Assembleia, ou de um cemitério e um edifício devoluto, surgem na fotogaleria intitulada "Portugal aprova mais um pacote de austeridade".
"Cerca de 21% dos idosos em Portugal vivem atualmente na pobreza (...) 1,4 milhões de desempregados (quase 16% da população), dos quais apenas 370 mil recebem apoios mensais do Estado (...) 735 mil edifícios devolutos" são alguns dos números que acompanham a 16 fotografias que retratam a deterioração da situação social deste país situado no extremo ocidental da Europa.

Emilia Garcia, 46, stood in the Santa Filomena neighborhood in Amadora, Portugal, where the local authorities have ruled that the entire neighborhood — predominantly home to immigrants from Cape Verde — is illegally occupied and have begun to demolish all of the homes there.

Homeless men, top, gathered by the entrance of a church in Lisbon where free food was being distributed. The government had been winning praise from international lenders who last year negotiated a bailout worth about $101 billion, following similar deals with Greece and Ireland.

Monica Alexandra, a psychologist, checked her phone as her mother and sister helped her before leaving for the airport. Many young Portuguese are choosing to pack their bags, with Portuguese-speaking and fast-growing former colonies like Brazil and Angola among their favored destinations. Ms. Alexandra is moving to Brazil, where she says she has job offers.

A protester confronted riot police officers. While such protests and work stoppages have become much more regular, the life of many Portuguese families has also turned into a daily struggle just to stay afloat. The austerity drive has also raised tensions within the coalition center-right government of Mr. Coelho, elected shorty after last year’s bailout deal.

A homeless man slept in front of a shoe store in Lisbon. About 1.4 million people are currently unemployed in Portugal, and only 370,000 of them receive monthly social support from the government, leaving around one  million people without the benefit.

An elderly man left a bar in Lisbon. Under the sweeping austerity measures, retirees face higher medical costs, both public and private sector workers are facing pay cuts amid a record unemployment rate of almost 16 percent, and students need to pay larger tuition fees without any guarantee that they will not join the ranks of the jobless.

After the government tried to take another step on the austerity path in September, demonstrations began. For many, it was one step too far, driving tens of thousands into the streets in the largest protest of Portugal’s crisis.