05. Safanões a Tempo

Following the dissolution of the Political Information Police in 1931, Portugal's Military Dictatorship reorganized the Polícia Internacional Portuguesa under the leadership of Agostinho Lourenço. With no political police in place, the regime was caught off guard by the violent uprising of 26 August 1931, led by Utra Machado and aviator Sarmento de Beires. The revolt prompted the creation of a new secret police, resulting in overlapping security forces until 1932. As Oliveira Salazar consolidated power, political policing became central to the emerging Estado Novo. The episode concludes with the creation of the PVDE and the question of who would command the regime's most powerful instrument of repression.