"Grândola, Vila Morena" rang out on the radio on the morning of 25 April 1974. It was the signal.
The voice of Zeca Afonso accompanied the Portuguese non-commissioned officers who wanted to put an end to the dictatorship initiated by António de Oliveira Salazar. On Thursday, the Carnation Revolution celebrates its half-century.
When the tanks of the Armed Forces Movement (MFA) entered Lisbon that day, they were putting an end to 48 years of dictatorial and fascist rule. The "Estado Novo" was established under the rule of António de Oliveira Salazar. His Prime Minister, Marcelo Caetano, took over in September 1968.
In a matter of hours and with virtually no bloodshed, the uprising of non-commissioned officers, supported by the population, brought to its knees the oldest authoritarian regime in Western Europe at the time.
The red carnations planted in the rifles of the 5,000 or so soldiers who took part in the putsch also paved the way for the independence of Portugal's remaining colonies in Africa: Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and Sao Tomé and Principe.
In celebration of the democratic coup d'état that turned into a revolution, the presidents of the African countries that became independent thanks to the Carnation Revolution are expected to join their Portuguese counterparts on Thursday to celebrate this turning point in their shared history.
The official commemorations began in Lisbon's Commercial Square with a military ceremony presided over by President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. Numerous festivities are also planned throughout the country over several days.
In Brussels, the Manneken-Pis will don its Portuguese costume on Sunday to pay tribute to half a century of restored democracy.
This date, 25 April, also marks the Italian Liberation Day – a national holiday celebrating the victory of the Italian resistance movement again Nazi Germany and its fascist puppet state, the Italian Social Republic, in 1945.
