CODECO

The April Revolution of 1974 overthrew the authoritarian regime of the New State in Portugal. In the summer, the left-wing radical government of the Marxist Vaska Gonsalvisha , supported by the USSR and the Portuguese Communist Party (PKP), came to power. In September, the speech of the Silent Majority was suppressed and the right-wing president, Antoni di Spinola, resigned.

On March 11, 1975, an attempted military coup attempt by Spinola supporters was thwarted. The influence of the PKP and its leader Alvar Kunjal sharply increased, and the course of the Gonçalves government was radicalized. Right-wing forces began to move to illegal forms of resistance. The clandestine organizations of the Liberation Army of Portugal (ELP), the Democratic Movement for the Liberation of Portugal (IDLP), and the Maria da Fonte movement were created. In this series, a structure called the Operational Command for the Defense of Western Civilization - Comandos Operacionais de Defesa da Civilização Ocidental , CODECO ^[1] .

Most of the founders of CODECO belonged to the " retornacus " - repatriates from the African " overseas territories " after decolonization. Manuel da Cruz Gaspard served in the special unit of the commandos of the colonial troops in Mozambique , then fought in Angola on the side of the FNL ^[2] . FNLA fighters were also Vashka Montes , Jose Ribeiro da Silva , Jose Estevish . The functions of the organizer were taken by the ultra-right activist Antoniu Panascheira Gaga ^[3] .

The establishment of CODECO took place on July 31, 1975 ^[4] - at the height of the Hot Summer . The political and operational leader of the organization was the industrial entrepreneur Washka Montes ^[5] . It was assumed that CODECO will be led by generals from the “Spinola circle” - António Soares Carneiro and Carlos Galvan di Melu . However, both military leaders, expressing moral support, distanced themselves from direct participation in the underground. At the same time, active contacts were established and operational coordination with ELP and MDLP. Panascheira Gagu received the support of Canon Melu , the leader of the Portuguese anti-communist forces. For the purchase of weapons and equipment were used funds stolen by Ribeira da Silva during a raid on a bank in Angola ^[3] .

The closest connection was with CODECO with the legal right of the Conservative Party of the Social Democratic Center (SDC). Jose Estevis worked as a security driver for the first chairman of the SDTs, Diogo Freitas do Amaral . Another activist, Luis Ramalhois, called CODECO “the armed wing of the SDC” ^[6] (Subsequently, Freitas do Amaral tried to dissociate himself from his relationship with CODECO - just like Francisco Sa Carneiro fired his security chief Ramira Moreira , head of the MDLP terrorist network).

The ideology of CODECO was based on extreme anti-communism and anti-Marxism, the Lusitian nationalist tradition, and radical integralism . The traditionalist understanding of Western civilization , with pronounced elements of medieval romance, coincided with the positions of the international far-right network Aginter Press ^[1] (in this regard, the closest analogue of CODECO was ELP).

CODECO is credited with committing about 100 attacks. Usually these were explosions, arson and shelling of the PKP premises, the barracks of the left wing of the internal combustion engine , the cars and dwellings of the communists, places of mass events of the PKP and left organizations. Open attacks on communist assemblies were less common ^[7] .

Some CODECO stocks had a particular resonance. On November 7, 1975, Panagqueira Gaga and Ribeira da Silva staged an explosion near the Lisbon headquarters of the Socialist Party (SP), where the leader of the joint venture, Mario Soares , held a debate with the PKP secretary general, Alvar Cunjal. Soares and Cunyal were implacable opponents, but many years later, Ribeiro da Silva explained that he did not understand the subtle political game of Soares and did not see serious differences between socialists and communists. Another example is a raid on January 30, 1976 at a meeting of left activists in the Standard Eléctrica music center in Cascais ^[3] .

Particular attention was paid to attacks on the representations of the People's Republic of Angola and the People's Republic of Mozambique . On June 26, 1976 , an explosion was made at the Lisbon office of the Society of Portuguese-Soviet Friendship . Earlier, on September 21, 1975 , the car of the artist of the Moscow circus troupe, which was on tour in Leiria , was blown up ^[6] .

The active support of CODECO began to be felt everywhere in the North . Here and there bombs exploded, especially at facilities associated with the Communists. Our hatred of the Communists was intensified by reports from Angola and Mozambique, where Moscow imposed dictatorial regimes a thousand times worse than before. This naturally spread to the socialists Mario Soares, Almeida Santos , Melu Antunes and other perpetrators of what was called decolonization.
Manuel Vicente da Cruz Gaspar ^[2]

No casualties have been reported on CODECO terrorist casualties. However, these actions caused significant material and political-symbolic damage.

In contrast to the ELP, MDLP and Maria da Fonte, which ceased their activity after the victory of the right forces in the November confrontation in 1975 , CODECO continued underground terrorist activities for several more years ^[7] , but on a much smaller scale. The group escape from the Vale de Judeus prison in Alcoenter , led by Manuel Gaspar, gained wide resonance. ^[2]

CODECO's activities were discontinued in 1983 after the publication in the pro-communist newspaper O Diário of material on CODECO's relationship with SDS. This caused a major scandal. Representatives of CODECO confirmed the connection, representatives of the SDC tried to categorically refute. Relations between the structures escalated and reached a real break. Subsequently, prominent figures of CODECO - Ribeiro da Silva ^[3] , Estevish ^[8] - were seen in the criminal chronicle.

Former CODECO members have again been in the focus of public attention since the mid-2000s, in the context of the investigation of the crash in Kamarat . On December 4, 1980, during a plane crash , Portuguese Prime Minister Francisco Sa Carneiro and his companions died, including the publisher Snu Abecassis ( common law wife of Carneiro) and one of the founders of the SDC, Adelina Amaru da Costa (at that time the Portuguese Minister of Defense).

In 2006, Jose Estevish testified that the disaster did not happen as a result of a technical accident (as previously assumed), but as a result of a terrorist attack. According to Estevish, he himself made the bomb planted in the plane ^[9] . He set out the motive for the crime confusedly: he spoke of an attempt to “scare Soares Carneira” in order to tighten his position (the general then ran for president from the Democratic Alliance ), but did not commit murder; he stated that the assassination of Sa Carneiro and Amaru da Costa was planned in advance - with a hint of the interest of Freitas do Amaral (his former boss and employer) and the involvement of Frank Carlucci ^[10] ( US ambassador to Portugal during the Hot Summer, CIA deputy director at the time air crash).

Investigative authorities took Estevish’s statements seriously. Not only he was questioned, but also Vasco Montes (as the leader of CODECO), and Freitas do Amaral ^[11] . All but Estevish himself deny his version, especially Freitas do Amaral ^[12] . In any case, the motive remains completely unclear - the death of Sa Carneiro and Amaru da Costa dealt a severe blow to the right-wing forces of Portugal.

It should be borne in mind that Jose Estevish is known for the eccentricity, aggressiveness and difficulties of his mental state, which is confirmed by regular detentions by the police ^[8] .

The emblem of CODECO was a cross-potent . The main texts were printed in Gothic .