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career brought him into contact with the
Fascist regime in Italy and the Nazi regime
in Germany of World War II. These tenden-
cies were largely forgotten by the time he
rose to national renown in the crises that
led to the Portuguese revolution of 1974.
Having served with distinction as governor
and field commander in P
ORTUGUESE
G
UINEA
from 1968 to 1972, he returned home to
public acclaim and was named deputy chief
of the armed forces staff in 1973. His book,
Portugal and the Future,
created a sensation
in early 1974 with its assertion that the
ongoing campaign against the colonial reb-
els in Africa was a misguided enterprise,
wasteful of blood and treasure. Startling as
was this disavowal of national policy by a
national hero, Spinola's complaint that the
war was undermining the potentials of
democratic society in Portugal was even
more sensational. There is no evidence that
this military celebrity and best-selling
author played a part in the bloodless coup
d'état that overthrew the dictatorship in
April 1974, but Spinola was named provi-
sional president by the revolutionary com-
mittee within a few weeks of the event. He
initiated a number of moderate reforms and
began negotiating a withdrawal from Africa,
but the leftward movement of politics led
him to resign in September 1974. Spinola's
critics have asserted that he showed his true
colors when he led a right-wing revolt in
March 1975. After the failure of this con-
servative uprising Spinola played no further
role in postrevolutionary Portugal.
independence movement while still in his
adolescence. For more than a decade he
took an active part in a series of political
measures and military campaigns aimed at
breaking the rule of Spain over N
EW
G
RANADA
. He spent several periods in exile
and still more time traveling throughout
the region to gather recruits and arms for
the cause, rising in rank and in the respect
of his comrades. First associated with the
unsuccessful efforts of F
RANCISCO
DE
M
IRANDA
, he later joined forces with
S
IMÓN
B
OLÍVAR
. With this great liberator
of South America, he formed a personal
and political bond that endured for the
remainder of his life. Sucre played a major
role in the freeing of E
CUADOR
and was
Bolívar's principal lieutenant in the eman-
cipation of P
ERU
. At the B
ATTLE
OF
A
YA
-
CUCHO
(December 9, 1824) he defeated
the viceregal forces and received from the
Viceroy of Peru what amounted to the
ultimate capitulation of Spanish power in
the Americas.
Sucre's generous treatment of his oppo-
nents after Ayacucho added to his reputa-
tion as a man of generosity and humanity
whose good judgment and political acu-
men belied his relative youth. Honored
with the title grand marshal of Ayacucho,
he was subsequently elected president of
the newly independent Upper Peru, which
was renamed B
OLIVIA
in honor of the Lib-
erator. Sucre laid down this title in 1828,
after two years, to return to E
CUADOR
,
where he helped defeat aggressive moves
by Peru to annex the region. He subse-
quently devoted his efforts to preserving
the breakup of the alliance that held
together the components of the old vice-
royalty of New Granada. While engaged
in these efforts, he was assassinated by
Sucre, Antonio José de
(1795-1830)
Spanish colonial rebel
Born in V
ENEZUELA
of a well-to-do family,
he interrupted his education to join the
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