Salgueiro Maia

Fernando José Salgueiro Maia, GOTE, GCL (*July 1 1944 in Castelo de Vide, Portugal; †April 4 1992 in Santarém), commonly known just by Salgueiro Maia (pron. IPA: [saɫ'gɐiɾu 'maiɐ]) was a captain of the Portuguese army. He made a significant contribution to the Carnation Revolution, which resulted in the fall of the then ruling dictatorship.

Carnation Revolution

Salgueiro Maia, a young captain who drilled officers-in-training and sergeants-in-training, was informed about the plans of the Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA) to bring down the dictatorship. The moment the signal for the uprising was played on the radio (E depois do adeus), Maia and his cadets grabbed their weapons and, against the will and even resistance of several regular officers (among them the commandant who was simply arrested by Maia) marched out, toward Lisbon.

Salgueiro Maia and his troops forced the then ruling dictatorship to resign and it is in a large part due to his intelligence and rationality that there were "only" four dead people during the Carnation Revolution.

After the revolution

Salgueiro Maia was not promoted because he never sought any promotion or position of power because of his actions during the Carnation Revolution. For a time he was forgotten. However, in Castelo de Vide, his birthplace where he was also buried, as well as in Santarém from where he departed on his mission, streets are named after him. The movie April Captains (Portuguese title: Capitães de Abril, German title: Nelken für die Freiheit), shot in 1999, deals with the events of the 24 and 25 April 1974 in Portugal and, among other things, shows Salgueiro Maia's role during the Carnation Revolution. Also there is a statue of captain Salgueiro Maia in Santarém and in Lisbon, at the spot where he stood with a megaphone, his troops and hundreds of civilians forcing the government to resign, there is an inscription written in the ground. It says:

"To Salgueiro Maia, remembering the 25th of April 1974. Homage made by the city of Lisbon, 1992."

Salgueiro Maia died on the 4 April 1992 of cancer.

Quotes of Salgueiro Maia

• "I came to see a mass of people, all raising their voices, placing flowers in the muzzles of the rifles. No one needed to kill or to be killed. No one needed to order an assault, or even the arrest of the king and his vassals."
• "When I became involved in the planning of this mission, I swore on my honour that I would see it through to its end. For this I would give my soul—my life."
• "There are three kinds of states: capitalist states, socialist states, and the state we're in" (on the eve of the Carnation Revolution, to the assembled soldiers who would march into Lisbon).

External links

• IMDB entry for April Captains
• Article about the Carnation Revolution
• Portuguese article about Salgueiro Maia, includes pictures of Maia in uniform and as a civilian.

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