Kaúlza de Arriaga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kaúlza de Oliveira de Arriaga
January 18, 1915 - February 3, 2004

Place of birth	Porto
Place of death	Lisbon
Allegiance	Portuguese Army
Years of service	1935 - 1974
Rank	Brigadier General
Battles/wars	Portuguese Colonial War
Awards	Officer of the Military Order of Avis, Great Officer of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil), the Legion of Merit (USA), Officer of the Military Order of Christ, Officer of the Legion of Honor (France), Officer of the Order of Infant D. Enrique and the Medal of Aeronautical Merit of the Air Force

Kaúlza de Oliveira de Arriaga, GCC (Porto, January 18, 1915 - February 3, 2004) was a Portuguese Brigadier General, writer, professor and politician. He was minister of National Defense between 1953 and 1955 and commander of the Terrestrial Forces in Moçambique from 1969 until 1974 during the Mozambican War of Independence.

Arriaga completed a degree in mathematics and engineering at the University of Porto and then volunteered for the Portuguese Army on November 1, 1935. Taking a military and civil engineering course in the Military Academy which he graduated from in 1939, he was later assigned to the general staff of the Portuguese Institute of Military Studies. Here he petitioned for reforms to the conscription system, as well as training and the integration of paratroopers into the Portuguese Air Force. He married Maria do Carmo Fernandes Formigal, born at Lapa, Lisbon, on August 27, 1932, by whom he had five children, including the second wife of Pedro Santana Lopes.

Arriaga commanded the Portuguese forces in the Mozambican conflict from 1969 until 1974, taking over from General Augusto dos Santos and organising the Operation Nó Górdio ("Gordian Knot") in 1970.

Arriaga was a major politic figure in the régime before the Carnation Revolution of April 25, 1974 in Lisbon, holding a number of public positions such as Head of the Ministry of Defense Cabinet, Secretary of State for Aeronautics, professor of the Institute of High Military Studies, president of the Nuclear Energy commission and executive president of the oil company Angol SA. After the revolution he was the president of an extremely right wing political party during elections in 1980.

Arriaga received a number of awards and citations during his career, including Officer of the Military Order of Avis, Great Officer of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil), the Legion of Merit (U.S.A.), Officer of the Military Order of Christ, Officer of the Legion of Honor (France), Officer of the Order of Infant D. Enrique and the Medal of Aeronautical Merit of the Air Force. He died from Alzheimers in 2004, in Lisbon.

[edit] Published works

Atomic Energy - 1949
the Portuguese National Defense in Last the 40 years and the Future - 1966
Some Nuclear Questions in Portugal - 1969
The Portuguese Answer - 1973
Courage, Tenacity and Faith - 1973
the National Conjuncture and My Position before the Moment Portuguese Politician - 1976
In the way of the Solutions of the Future - 1977
Africa - the Betrayed Victory (co-author) - 1977
War and Politics - On behalf of the Decisive Truth, Years (two editions) - 1987
Global Strategy - 1988
Syntheses (two editions) - 1992
Maastricht - 1992