In 1992, he was succeeded by Carlos Carvalhas, and in 2004 Jerónimo de Sousa was chosen by the Central Committee to be PCP's Secretary General; Paulo Raimundo was elected in 2022, and currently acts as the party leader.

[29][30] However, the political divergences and personal rivalries within the Party generated a profound crisis, that lead to the arrival of a Comintern delegate, the Swiss Jules Humbert-Droz, in mid August, 1923.

[31] Besides this, what also concerned the "international" was the organic desegregation state found in the Party, polarized in two groups, on one side Henrique Caetano de Sousa and José Pires Barreira, and on the other, Carlos Rates, that mutually fought.

[34] The communists militants, while telling the press they were standing before the beginning of a proletarian revolution, also stated that it was through their initiative and effort that the protesters that wanted to overtake the parliament were diverted to the headquarters of the newspaper "A Batalha".

[36] Related or not with this failure and the resulting disappointments, Rates accepts a beneficial proposal by the Union of Economic Interests, a powerful employer central, to be a writer for the newspaper, "O Século".

[36] A motion is approved, identifying it as a fascist movement, and mandating immediately that the delegates that were present contacted the CGT and the Democratic Leftwing, with the goal of proposing an organization as an answer to the coup.

[39] It is also in this phase that the historian João Madeira considers that Bento reveals himself as "a leader equipped with a strategic sense of action and invested in the doctrinal formulation and consolidation of the party" and that "[he] constituted the most important theoretical production, of Marxist character that PCP had produced".

[41] In the middle of 1931, no element of the Central Executive Committee elected in the April Conference remained free, except José de Sousa, that had immense activity as a union responsible, having also been head of the delegation to the XII Plenum of the Comintern.

[44][45] The document also notes the absence of a Socialist Party, critics the anarcho-syndicalists and revolt republicans, persisting, however, in the idea that in those sectors there was an ongoing shift to what could lead to a likely approach to the antifascist front.

[46] Bento Gonçalves send the following note to the leaders in the interior about the transformations that would have to happen in the PCP:[46]The VII Congress highlighted our lack of work in the organizations of fascist masses and others, our political lines excessively sectarian, our slogans and our very radical campaigns, our delay in the united front and the popular front against the fascist dictatorship.Surprised by the political police, on November 1935, in what was described by the historian João Madeira as a "reckless and incredible street meeting", leads, in a single move, to the arrest of the whole Secretariat.

[54] The Popular Front's strategy ends, evidenced by an article on the party's newspaper:[54]The war making more profound the contradictions of capitalism, clearly unmasking the "leaders" of the II International as traitors of the proletariat in service of the bourgeoisie, demonstrating that the communists are the only true defenders of the working class, made it possible in some countries to face the seizing of power by the proletariat as a task to put on the agenda.However, Cunhal and Carolina Loff, important member of the leading group, were arrested, leaving the PCP weakened in many aspects.

[66] Militão Ribeiro, when in prison in 1942, declared that he negotiated wolfram during a year, after coming back from Tarrafal, because he wanted to buy a new car, thus evading confirming his role as a leader of the "reorganization".

[66] In 1942, Pedro Soares, Pires Jorge, Júlio Fogaça and other important cadres are arrested, due to the lack of financial means, that lead to the absence of necessary security conditions on the premises that they used.

[67] And so, important changes happened inside the Party's leadership, leading to the rise of Álvaro Cunhal to the Secretariat, body that "will quickly acquire indisputable political authority", with José Gregório.

[68] Due to the war situation, there is a deterioration of the living conditions of the popular layers, leading to a "reawakening of social agitation", that translates in a cycle of strikes between 1942 and 1944 and in the rural movements of 1943-45.

Shortly before the strikes, still in 1943, the Communist Party proposed the creation of the MUNAF platform, Movement of National Antifascist Unity, to the remaining opposition political forces, given the conjuncture of the Second World War, that favored the Allies.

[78] The strikes also helped to mold the "united front of the working class" to the concrete conditions of the Portuguese reality, that differentiated fundamentally from those of other countries by not having other expressive resistance parties.

[82] The PCP's position in this matter is that the defeat of fascism in Europe would lead the initiative of popular actions that would end up overthrowing the dictatorship, and that a foreign liberation wouldn't come.

[83] Alfredo Dinis, communist leader that controls the important region of Lisbon, clearly perceives the "large and alive discontent in the working and popular environments", informing immediately the Central Committee's Secretariat.

[84] However, the attendance fell short of what the Party expected, not exceeding half of those who got involved the previous summer, leading to the necessity of a more in depth evaluation of the striker's movement, that will happen in a plenary meeting of the Central Committee on the 30th of that month.

[87] And so, they looked to increase the MUNAF's and the Party's influence in the Armed Forces, and to weaker its repressive capacity through the soldiers that, in case there was a national uprising, would start being on the people's side.

[91] This resulted in a turn in the revolutionary process to the political left, with the main sectors of the economy, such as the banks, transportation, steel mills, mines, and communications companies, being nationalized.

Combined with the party's strong clandestine organization and support of the peasants' movement during the preceding years in that region, these efforts made the south of Portugal the major stronghold of the PCP.

Since the beginning of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the PCP has come under the spotlight for being the sole political party represented in Parliament to have avoided a clear condemnation of Russia from the start, choosing instead to repeatedly blame the United States, the European Union, and NATO for the war.

The party said the resolution was "fuelling the escalation", "seeking to impose a unilateral view" and "justifying the colossal process of increasing military expenditures, the strengthening and expansion of NATO and the militarisation of the EU".

[102] On 8 March, the PCP's leader Jerónimo de Sousa blamed all entities involved in the war (Russia included, although referring to its actions by the Kremlin's language of a "military operation").

He stated the party condemned "the whole process of meddling and of confrontation which took place [in Ukraine], the US-promoted coup d'état in 2014, Russia's recent military intervention and the intensification of the bellicose escalation made by the US, NATO and the EU".

The party's parliamentary leader Paula Santos rejected condoning "the participation of someone who personifies a xenophobic and bellicose power", calling the session a "stage to contribute for the escalation of war".

Usually, the party's largest political campaigns and struggles are supported by the distribution of a massive number of leaflets and advertising posters in hot spots like train stations, factories, universities, main streets, and avenues or markets.

[116] Famous artists,[117] communist and non-communist, Portuguese and non-Portuguese, have performed at the Festival, including Chico Buarque, Baden Powell, Ivan Lins, Zeca Afonso, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Holly Near, Johnny Clegg, Charlie Haden, Judy Collins, Richie Havens, Tom Paxton, Ska-P, The Soviet Circus Company, the Kuban Cossack Choir, Dexys Midnight Runners, The Band, Hevia, Brigada Victor Jara, Adriano Correia de Oliveira, Carlos Paredes, Jorge Palma, Manoel de Oliveira, Babylon Circus, and many others.