Salgueiro Maia – O Implicado

History is made of great moments. And of the great men who lived through them. In the recent history of Portugal, the 25th of April 1974 is one of those moments. Much has been written and told about what happened on that day, the new country that was created at that dawn. There are many stories. They are all different. But in all of them, one man’s name stands out: Fernando Salgueiro Maia. The captain who led the elements of the Escola Prática de Cavalaria de Santarém and took Lisbon, changing forever the course of the country’s political and social history.
This is the story of Salgueiro Maia. Of the child, the young man, the man. It is the story of the formation of a simple and faithful person, but who took two higher courses at the Military Academy and became a born leader, respected by both his subordinates and his superiors.
A hero who, by his modest and correct attitude, always faithful to his mission and to his Weapon, assumed the typical posture of the anti-hero, of the improbable historical figure, of the young face of change. Always doing his duty, he had difficulty in seeing himself as a hero of the Revolution, but he never denied the crucial role he played in the 25th of April. Loved, feared, hated and sanctioned by those who saw in him a threat, he was always a frontal and fearless person. Salgueiro Maia was, above all, Portuguese, a soldier and a citizen.