Portugal: A Second Salazar?

Portugal has eagerly waited for the first major policy statement by Premier Marcello Caetano. He took over as the country's head of government 21 months ago, after a stroke crippled António de Oliveira Salazar and ended the old dictator's 36 years of repressive rule. Portugal's democrats and intellectuals hoped that Caetano would announce the liberalizing reforms that he had promised in his inaugural address.

But those hopes were rudely jarred last week. In a speech to the National Assembly, Caetano at times sounded disturbingly like his predecessor. Declared a leading member of the outlawed opposition: "He is a second Salazar."

It was...