Prime Minister of Portugal. Portuguese military officer and politician. Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves was born in the parish of Graça, in Lisbon. He began his military career in 1954 in Portuguese India. In 1959, he became involved in the so-called "Sé Conspiracy," a military coup against Salazar's government, organized by the Independent Military Movement, which included an important sector of civilian oppositionists. He joined the Armed Forces Movement and was, among other things, on the Drafting Committee of the MFA Program. On July 18, 1974, Vasco Gonçalves was sworn in by the President of the National Salvation Junta (JSN), General Spínola, as Prime Minister of the Second Provisional Government. On September 28, already on a complete collision course, President Spínola called a demonstration, the "silent majority," to overthrow Vasco Gonçalves' government and repudiate the MFA's political line. Meanwhile, COPCON - the military structure responsible for implementing the power of the MFA and maintaining order, in coordination with the civil authorities - asserts itself in control of the situation and the demonstration does not take place. Spínola resigns two days later and three other right-wing members of the JSN are removed. On October 1, the 3rd Provisional Government, led by General Vasco Gonçalves, takes office. The revolution's turn to the left is clear, and on March 11 of that year, with political and economic tensions high, members of the military attached to General Spínola attempt a military coup with paratroopers and other members of the Air Force, but are repelled. In the aftermath of the coup's defeat, the headquarters of the right-wing parties (CDS, PPD and PDC) and the Confederation of Portuguese Industry (patronage) are stormed by the people. The radicalization of the institutions followed: the JSN was abolished, giving way to a Council of the Revolution, the MFA asserted itself as a liberation movement and some parties were outlawed. This is the PREC (Revolutionary Process in Progress), which began with the swearing in of the 4th Provisional Government, led once again by Vasco Gonçalves, with a more left-wing composition than the previous governments, which begins a programme of mass nationalization, from banking to glassworks. On the 25th, a Constituent Assembly was elected through free elections by universal and secret suffrage, so that the party forces represented there could draw up a democratic constitution, the first for almost 50 years. Meanwhile, in the north of Portugal, the headquarters of the PCP and other left-wing parties and organizations were looted and set on fire, and some activists were beaten up. On the other hand, the far-left in Lisbon and the surrounding area called for a popular government, workers' control, the creation of a revolutionary popular army and also for the resignation of the provisional government and the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly. Vasco Gonçalves' government was beginning to be held hostage by the left and the right, with PS leader Mário Soares demanding Vasco Gonçalves' departure in demonstrations. In those days, the MFA Assembly included Vasco Gonçalves in a directorate that would concentrate political and military power. On August 8, Vasco Gonçalves joins the 5th Provisional Government, with no party representation to the right of the Communists. On August 18, Vasco Gonçalves made a speech at the Almada rally that alerted both the signatories of the "Document of the Nine" and Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho. From then on, Vasco Gonçalves was removed from the "troika" that he formed with Otelo and President Costa Gomes. On the 25th, the left that supported Vasco Gonçalves, with the PCP at its head, united in a Revolutionary Unity Front (FUR) to respond to threats from the right. On the 13th, the program of the 6th Provisional Government was drawn up, which excluded Vasco Gonçalves and now included the PS and the PPD, although the PCP's participation was maintained. Vasco Gonçalves was eventually dismissed and compulsorily retired in 1976. From then on he led a quiet life. He died in 2005, aged 84, while he was on vacation in the Algarve, two days before the death of Álvaro Cunhal, the leader of the Communists.