José Saramago's intellectual, artistic, human, and civic stature makes him a major figure in our history.

His vast, remarkable, and unique literary work -- which was recognized through the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998 -- will remain a milestone in the History of Portuguese Literature, in which his is one of the most prominent names.

José Saramago helped to build the April 1974 Revolution as an active participant in the resistance to fascism.  He continued this activity after the Day of Liberation with his engagement in the revolutionary process that profoundly transformed our country for the better, creating a democracy that had as its prime reference the defense of the interests of the workers, of the people, and of the country.

José Saramago was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party since 1969 and his death represents a loss for the entire Communist Party collective -- for the Party which he chose as his own until his final days.

The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PCP wishes to express its profound sorrow and its enormous pain for the death of comrade José Saramago -- and expresses its heartfelt condolences to his companion, Pilar del Rio, and to his remaining family.

The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Portuguese Communist Party

18 June  2010