Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho

Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho

MSMM • GCL • MPCE
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho; MSMM • GCL • MPCE
	Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho in 1976
Nickname(s)	Otelo
Born	31 August 1936; Lourenço Marques, Mozambique, Portugal
Died	25 July 2021 (aged 84); Lisbon, Portugal
Allegiance	Portugal
Service/branch	Portuguese Army COPCON;
Years of service	1955–1984
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Portuguese Colonial War Angolan War of Independence; Guinea-Bissau War of Independence; Carnation Revolution
Awards	Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty
Other work	Candidate for President of Portugal

Otelo Nuno Romão Saraiva de Carvalho, GCL (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɔˈtɛlu sɐˈɾajvɐ ðɨ kɐɾˈvaʎu]; 31 August 1936 – 25 July 2021) was a Portuguese military officer who was the chief strategist of the 1974 Carnation Revolution and who later became a terrorist leader.^[1] After the Revolution, Otelo assumed leadership roles in the first Portuguese Provisional Governments, alongside Vasco Gonçalves and Francisco da Costa Gomes, and as the head of military defense force COPCON. In 1976, Otelo ran in the first Portuguese presidential election, in which he placed second with the base of his support coming from the far-left. Otelo was tried and sentenced for being a leading member of the terrorist group Forças Populares 25 de Abril, which killed 19 people in several terrorist attacks. The Constitutional Court reverted the sentence due to unconstitutionality. To solve the impasse, the Portuguese Parliament voted an amnesty for political crimes in 1996.^[2] The amnesty was promoted by President Mário Soares as a gesture of democratic reconciliation as it erased the political crimes by far left and far right.^[3] ^[4]^[5] He was further trialled for the assassinations, but was acquitted.^[6] Thousands paid respect at his funeral in 2021, including the president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the prime-minister António Costa and the president of the parliament Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues.^[7] The parliament highlighted is role as a “liberator of Portugal”.^[8]

^ "Obituary - Otelo de Carvalho, a force behind the 1974 coup in Portugal who later became a terrorist leader – obituary". Telegraph. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
^ Parliament. "Amnistia às infracções de motivação política".
^ Noronha do Nascimento (2021). "Símbolo mítico do 25 de Abril" (PDF). O Referencial: 109.
^ Minder, Raphael (6 August 2021). "Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, 84, Dies; Key Figure in Portugal Revolt". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
^ Schumacher, Edward (22 July 1985). "HERO OF PORTUGAL REVOLUTION FACES TERRORISM TRIAL TODAY". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
^ Noronha do Nascimento (2021). "Símbolo mítico do 25 de Abril" (PDF). O Referencial: 109.
^ Ribeiro, Nuno. "O luto vai por dentro". Público.
^ Parliament. Voto de pesar (PDF).

[1] "Obituary - Otelo de Carvalho, a force behind the 1974 coup in Portugal who later became a terrorist leader – obituary". Telegraph. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2023.

[2] Parliament. "Amnistia às infracções de motivação política".

[3] Noronha do Nascimento (2021). "Símbolo mítico do 25 de Abril" (PDF). O Referencial: 109.

[4] Minder, Raphael (6 August 2021). "Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, 84, Dies; Key Figure in Portugal Revolt". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2022.

[5] Schumacher, Edward (22 July 1985). "HERO OF PORTUGAL REVOLUTION FACES TERRORISM TRIAL TODAY". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 February 2022.

[6] Noronha do Nascimento (2021). "Símbolo mítico do 25 de Abril" (PDF). O Referencial: 109.

[7] Ribeiro, Nuno. "O luto vai por dentro". Público.

[8] Parliament. Voto de pesar (PDF).

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