Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho has passed away at the age of 84. He was a disillusioned army captain who became the mastermind behind the coup that triggered the Portuguese Carnation Revolution. It is called this because people put red carnations in the barrels of soldiers.
The coup on April 25, 1974 overthrew 48 years of authoritarian fascist rule and realized the transition to democracy. Portugal has a population of 9 million, of which a quarter of adults are illiterate, making it the poorest country in the west. Europe.
Carvalho is a group of army captains (members of the MFA (Movimento das Forças Armadas)), all of them sickened by the wars they lost in the African colonies and inspired by the ideology of the independence movement they opposed. Although Carvalho lacks political experience and comes from a humble background, he is an outstanding strategist and leader. He pays relentless attention to military details, and the responsibility for organizing the coup falls on his shoulders.
It triggered a tsunami of activity. The first housing occupation took place on April 28. In the week after the coup, there were 97 strikes—more than in any year of the old regime.Approximately 40% of strike requests health -Eliminate those who are connected to the dictatorship. Hundreds of workplaces were occupied, and over the next 19 months, large tracts of land were occupied by workers.
People build and build nurseries, health centers, community organizations, and cultural centers. Bottom-up democracy is flourishing. The European left flocked to join and celebrate the revival of revolutionary ideas. On behalf of international socialists, I went to Portugal to work as a political organizer. In my opinion, this is the most powerful and inspiring example of the revolutionary process that has taken place in Europe since the Second World War.
With General Antonio de Spinola as the interim president, the first new interim government, which included the Communist Party and the Socialist Party, hoped to suppress the wave of strikes and occupy houses, especially the rebellion of ordinary soldiers. A commander dedicated to discipline and hierarchy is needed.
Therefore, Carvalho, who was promoted to brigadier general, was granted the command of a special military unit called Copcon, responsible for establishing discipline in the armed forces and maintaining the law and order of civilians.
However, it turns out that Carvalho is not their person. Although Copcon does sometimes frustrate the protest, sometimes it mediates and is won by the people’s struggle in the process. There are stories of squatters taking over empty houses, claiming that they are supported by Copcon.
Carvalho was an outspoken military strategist, somewhat naive in politics, and later became a gorgeous, charming and well-loved leader with a great sense of humor. He is widely known by his name Outlaw.
In addition to Copcon, Outlaw also needed a base and an army, and increasingly supported the concept of workers and soldiers committees. He said in a radio interview: “I don’t think these congresses or parliaments are in any danger. I think they are like neighborhood committees, the essence of the Portuguese revolution. I think they are similar to the Russian Soviets of 1917.”
In the summer of 1975, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, many rallies appeared, and they were regarded as the highest political expression of popular power. In June, the first such rally was held in Pontinha, the barracks where Otelo organized the coup. This brings together more than 50 community committees and 26 workplace committees. There may be 100 such gatherings.
Dependence on Outlaw and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs became one of the fatal flaws of the labor movement. A demonstration in defense of Radio Renascença and República newspapers, both under the control of workers, illustrates this point. Thousands of workers wearing helmets from the Lisnave shipyard attended the meeting and they promised that Otelo would be there.
A Lisnave worker later told me that while waiting for Otelo, “They were crying for him, people didn’t know what happened, and there were rumors saying, “He’s here,” “He’s here,” and “He’s here.” . In prison”, rumors about this and that. In the end, we discovered that Outlaw was only attending a grand banquet with a Bulgarian military attache somewhere. “
On November 25, 1975, a group of reformed officers, part of a new small elite military unit, extinguished some military camps that did not obey orders with very little bloodshed. The main purpose is to abolish Copcon. A myth has been created and is still being repeated, that is, Outlaw is organizing a far-left coup. This is not the case; unexpectedly, he stayed at home that day, isolated from the outside world until noon. In his words: “I decided not to resist; this will lead to civil war.”
Fundamentally, the Carnation Revolution collapsed due to exhaustion, excessive reliance on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and lack of alternatives. Fear of fascism distorted the movement, leading to underestimation of the ability of capitalism to adapt and reform.
The same group of people participating in direct democracy participated in the “bourgeois” elections in April 1975 on a large scale: the turnout rate was 91.9% (after 48 years of dictatorship), of which 38% supported the seemingly left-leaning Socialist Party, and its supporters organized Counter-revolution Seven months later. Nevertheless, the struggle of the working class and related social movements led to large-scale social reforms, such as the establishment of a health system similar to the NHS.
Carvalho was born in Lorenzo Marques, the current capital of Maputo. Mozambique. His father Saraiva de Carvalho is a civil servant. His mother Fernanda Áurea Pegado Romão is a railway clerk and theater lover, and her son is named after the character of Shakespeare. Outlaw entered the Lisbon Military Academy at the age of 19 in 1955. In 1960, he married his school classmate Dina Alfonso Alambre and had two daughters and a son.
He was in Angola, Fought guerrilla warfare for independence (1961-63 and 1965-67). He was sent to Guinea (1970-73) and served as a captain under General Spinola.
After November 1975, Copcon was immediately disbanded and Outlaw was imprisoned for three months. The following year, he ran for president. Outlaw became a fanatical believer in direct democracy. He said: “We should use the spontaneity and creativity of the masses to give them the ability to solve their own problems. During the Portuguese Revolution, I saw the power of this creativity in the streets, towns and fields.”
Although Outlaw only received 16.5% of the votes, this was twice the number of Communist candidates. When he stood up again in 1980 and won only 1.5% of the vote, there is no doubt that times have changed.
In 1985, he was arrested and accused of being the leader of FP-25, an ultra-left terrorist organization responsible for a series of killings and bomb attacks. Although he consistently denied any involvement with the organization and its actions, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. While in Casses prison, he met and fell in love with the divorced prison staff Philomena Moles. He served five years in prison before being released, and was later pardoned and pardoned.
After his release, he negotiated with his wife Dina and Filomena to establish a public relationship and arranged his one week between them. This arrangement continued to attract public attention.
Dina passed away last year. Filomena, his son Sergio and daughter Paula survived. His other daughter, Claudia, died in childhood.
