Otello Saraiva de Carvalho, general of the "captains' movement" that overthrew the dictatorship on April 25, 1974 in Portugal, died on Sunday in Lisbon at the age of 84, announced Colonel Vasco Lourenço, spokesman for the April Captains.
"Otello", as the Portuguese called him, died at the military hospital in Lisbon, where he had been admitted, according to local media.
According to APE-MBE, his funeral will take place next Wednesday, said the April 25th Union, heir to the "captains' movement", specifying how he will be cremated.
"He has rightly become one of the symbols" of the Revolution that "ended the longest dictatorship of the 20th century in Europe, paving the way for democracy," the office of the Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, highlighted in a statement, highlighting the "strategic and his operational skills' as well as his 'commitment and generosity'.
Defense Minister João Gomes Cravinho paid tribute to him for his "role in the conquest of freedom".
Commander Otello de Carvalho, "military mastermind" of the Garifal Revolution, anonymously led the rebellion of the captains that ended, in one morning, almost without bloodshed, more than 40 years of Salazar's dictatorship.
Freedom of expression, universal suffrage, equal opportunities for men and women, right to strike, social security for all... the Portuguese were then discovering democracy.
"Othello" was born in Mozambique in 1936 and began his military career in the 1960s, while the country was embroiled in colonial wars.
After the Revolution, his popularity led him to hope for an important political role, and he was a candidate for the presidency twice, in 1976 as a candidate of popular organizations and in 1980 as the head of a far-left movement.
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