Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
military expeditions. In 1961 Goa was occupied by India, and nationalists rose up in An-
gola. Guerrilla movements also appeared in Portuguese Guinea and Mozambique.
Salazar, however, didn't have to face the consequences. In 1968 he had a stroke, and
died two years later.
His successor, Marcelo Caetano, failed to ease unrest. Military officers sympathetic to
African freedom fighters grew reluctant to fight colonial wars - the officers had seen the
horrible living conditions in which the colony lived beneath the Portuguese authorities.
Several hundred officers formed the Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA), which on 25
April 1974 carried out a nearly bloodless coup, later nicknamed the Revolution of the
Carnations (after victorious soldiers stuck carnations in their rifle barrels). Carnations are
still a national symbol of freedom.
Officially neutral in WWII, Portugal was a major intersection of both Allied and Nazi spying operations.
British secret-service agents based there included Graham Greene, Ian Fleming and double agent Kim
Philby.
