In a brief speech lasting just over two minutes at the military parade in Praça do Comércio in Lisbon, organized to mark the 50th anniversary of November 25, 1975, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa paid tribute to António Ramalho Eanes shortly after a message from the former President was read at the ceremony.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted that Ramalho Eanes was an “April Captain of 1974, April without which November 1975 would not have occurred,” and the “military leader of November 1975, November without which the Constitution of 1976 would not have existed.”
Continuing to note the contributions of Ramalho Eanes, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that the former President was the “Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces in 1976, without whom the transition from revolutionary legitimacy to democratic, representative, and electoral legitimacy would not have been possible.”
The President of the Republic stated that, through Ramalho Eanes, he evokes “the values of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law, as well as the military virtues of camaraderie, discipline, spirit of sacrifice, loyalty, sense of mission, and patriotism that have made and continue to make the nobility of Portugal.”
“In November 2025, as in April 2024, that initial date, we celebrate these values and attributes, always expressing gratitude to our armed forces in the name of Portugal,” he affirmed.
