The National Salvation Junta ( pt, Junta de Salvação Nacional, ) was a group of

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

s designated to maintain the government of Portugal in April 1974 after the

Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...

had overthrown the '' Estado Novo'' dictatorial regime. This junta assumed power following a communiqué of its president,

António de Spínola António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola (generally referred to as António de Spínola, ;This surname, however, was not accompanied by the grammatical nobiliary particle "de". 11 April 1910 – 13 August 1996) was a Portuguese military off ...

, at 1:30 a.m. on 26 April 1974. The National Salvation Junta was the '' de jure'' governing body of Portugal following the Carnation Revolution.

Purpose

The Junta was a pre-planned part of the national reform program envisioned by the ''

Movimento das Forças Armadas ''Movimento'' (English: "Movement") is the sixth studio album by Portuguese group Madredeus. It was released on 9 April 2001 by EMI-Valentim de Carvalho. Recording ''Movimento'' was recorded in January and February 2000 at the Wisseloord Studio ...

'' (Movement of the Armed Forces; MFA), which aimed to exercise political power after the revolution and prior to the formation of a civilian government in order to prevent the collapse of the Presidency of the Republic (then held by Rear-Admiral Américo Tomás) and of the government. It entailed the dissolution of the National Assembly and of the Council of State. The Constitutional Law 1/74 of 25 April 1974 was promulgated in order to set this process in motion. The Junta assumed upon itself the power to choose the President and Vice-President. On an interim basis, the Junta also exercised the functions of the Presidency of the Republic (from 26 April to 15 May, when it designated as Head of State the president of the Junta, António de Spínola) and of President of the Council (from 26 April to 16 May, when the MFA-chosen First Provisional Government of Portugal took power, headed by Adelino da Palma Carlos).

Members

The Junta was composed of: * General António Ribeiro de Spínola ( President), * General Francisco da Costa Gomes ( Army), * Brigadier Jaime Silvério Marques ( Army), * General Diogo Neto ( Air Force - absent in Portuguese Mozambique), * Colonel Carlos Galvão de Melo ( Air Force), * Naval Captain José Baptista Pinheiro de Azevedo ( Navy), * Naval Commander

António Alva Rosa Coutinho António Alva Rosa Coutinho (14 February 1926 – 2 June 2010) was a Portuguese admiral, political activist, and participant in the Carnation Revolution. Biography Coutinho was born in Lisbon. As an officer of the Portuguese navy, Rosa Couti ...

( Navy). On 30 September 1974 the staff was reorganized: * General Francisco da Costa Gomes (president, Army), * Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Alberto Idães Soares Fabião (former governor of Portuguese Guinea, Army). * Lieutenant-Colonel Nuno Fisher Lopes Pires ( Army). * Vice-Admiral

José Pinheiro de Azevedo José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

( Navy). * Naval Captain Silvano Alves Ribeiro ( Navy), during the absence of Naval Commander

António Rosa Coutinho Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 40 ...

, who was appointed the governor of Portuguese Angola. * Lieutenant-Colonel Narciso Mendes Dias ( Air Force), * Lieutenant-Colonel Aníbal Pinho Freire ( Air Force).

Abolition

Constitutional Law 5/75 of 14 March 1975 abolished the National Salvation Junta and established the Revolutionary Council of Portugal (Conselho da Revolução de Portugal), which included former members of the Junta. Carnation Revolution 1974 in Portugal 1975 in Portugal Military history of Portugal Political history of Portugal Presidents of Portugal Prime Ministers of Portugal 1974 establishments in Portugal 1975 disestablishments in Portugal 1970s in Portugal Provisional governments {{Portugal-poli-stub