Those responsible for the regime that was overthrown on April 25, 1974, were convinced that only General Spínola’s leadership and theses were expressed in the book “Portugal e o Futuro” (Portugal and the Future). These theses were shared by sectors of the regime close to the military leadership that inspired the captains. Ignorance or devaluation of the existence of a coherent political program, the “Program of the Armed Forces Movement,” as well as disregard for the ability of the Movement’s leadership, which was not aligned with General Spínola, to resist attempts to distort or ignore it, may have been the factors that led the regime to view the movements of the young soldiers with less caution. General Spínola himself, to whom the program was presented in advance and who made cuts and changes, probably thought that it was just another piece of paper and that after the coup, his theses, his personal power, and his network of followers would prevail.

To illustrate the process of drawing up the MFA program, today I bring you some pages from the notebook of then Major Melo Antunes, its co-author and primary drafter, kept at the National Archive of Torre do Tombo (https://digitarq.arquivos.pt/details?id=4515056). In these pages, Melo Antunes wrote by hand, in March 1974, an exhortation to the Movement’s comrades and what he then called the “Political Action Program of the Air Force Officers’ Movement.”

This program was then discussed and improved with contributions from other officers in the Movement until it became the MFA Program that provided the political framework for the military operations on April 25 and was published by the “República” newspaper on the 26th. However, this version, delivered by Martins Guerreiro on the morning of the 25th as testimony to the Movement’s intentions in the event of a failed military coup, was not yet the final version of the MFA Program signed by the President of the Junta de Salvação Nacional, António de Spínola.

When, on the night of April 25-26, he was forced to adopt the MFA Program as the Junta de Salvação Nacional program, Spínola still made cuts and introduced last-minute changes that turned out to be negative. Those relating to the release of political prisoners and the neutralization of the PIDE/DGS served to delay it until 27 April; the elimination of the paragraph stating “Clear recognition of the People’s right to self-determination and the accelerated adoption of measures tending towards the administrative and political autonomy of the overseas territories, with the effective and broad participation of the indigenous populations” caused severe difficulties in resolving the colonial problem.

It should be noted that what was cut and altered by Spínola on the night of April 25-26 had already been included in the “Political Action Program of the Air Force Officers’ Movement” handwritten by Melo Antunes.

By Jorge Bettencourt (militar de abril)

What follows are the original documents furnished to PBBI-Fresno State Commander Jorge Bettencourt, who recently visited and lectured at Fresno State.

Filamentos appreciates and is thankful for the support given to this project by Luso-American Financial