April 23, 1976

LISBON, Portugal - A bomb ripped through the sixth-floor offices of the Cuban Embassy here Thursday, causing death, injury, heavy damage and near-panic.

Hospital spokesmen said the blast killed two persons - a Cuban man and a Cuban woman working in the embassy - and injured at least four others, including a policeman. The blast sent metal shutters flying across a six-lane avenue at the evening rush hour.

THE EXPLOSION came at 4:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m., Miami time), only hours after the military's Revolutionary Council ordered the army on full alert in the event of violence during the voting Sunday in Portugal's first free legislative elections in 50 years.

The explosion wrecked the embassy's fifth and sixth floors and knocked out windows and doors on the fourth, littering the street below with shattered glass. Chunks of masonry also fell on the street, spreading fear among pedestrians that the building might collapse.

As word of the blast spread, about 1,500 Portuguese gathered outside the building and began to accuse the right-wing underground Portuguese Liberation Army (ELP) of being responsible for the explosion.

"Down with the reactionaries!" they chanted. "Death to the ELP and all who support it!"

CUBA HAS been heavily criticized by Portuguese conservatives and refugees from Africa since Havana sent an estimated 12,000 troops to fight for the Marxist-oriented and victorious Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the former Portuguese colony.

There are hundreds of thousands of Portuguese refugees from Angola in Portugal who blame the Cubans for the loss of their homes, status and livelihoods.

The Cubans greatly expanded their embassy last year while Portugal's pro-Communist military faction was in power. They currently maintain a staff of 59 diplomats, which equals that of the British Embassy.

THE ALERT was ordered after the Revolutionary Council met for the last time before this Sunday's elections and vowed to adopt full security measures to guarantee peaceful balloting.

"The decision has been taken to assure the rigorous observance of the law and the punishment of all law-breakers," its statement said. "The council appeals to the population to actively and conscientiously participate in the upcoming elections."

Experts have predicted that the Socialists - Portugal's largest party - will win a plurality of the 263 seats under contention in Sunday's elections for a legislature, to be known as the Assembly of the Republic.

Prime Minister Jose Pinheiro de Azevedo has threatened to resign rather than reshuffle his cabinet before the June 27 presidential election - even though his Socialist-dominated coalition government might not reflect the outcome of Sunday's legislative voting.

"The difficulties I have experienced in governing until now could be aggravated after the elections and because of my temperament I will not hesitate in resigning if I dons have my minimum conditions to continue in front of the government," he said in an interview with the Porto newspaper Jornal do Noticas.

Azevedo, who previously has offered himself as a presidential candidate, said the man picked for that job should be a military officer, but that before taking office he should go on reserve status.

COMMUNIST leader Alvaro Cunhal Wednesday called for a Communist-Socialist coalition to rule Portugal after the legislative voting. He said the Socialists would not emerge from the election with enough strength to govern alone.

The Socialists, however, have refused to govern unless they can gain a majority in the legislature and rule without allies. A clear victory at the polls is considered unlikely.