Álvaro Cunhal, Militão Ribeiro and Sofia Ferreira Arrest

#Inthisday March 25, 1949, the PIDE broke into a clandestine house, arresting Álvaro Cunhal, Militão Ribeiro and Sofia Ferreira.

Sofia Ferreira was “Elvira” and “Manuel” was Álvaro Cunhal. The PCP leader and employee pretended to be a couple when, in November 1948, they rented a house in Casal de Santo António, in Luso, allegedly to rest “for health reasons”.

A few months later, Militão Ribeiro, joins the couple in this house, looking for a refuge to also escape the PIDE that was chasing him.

It was then at dawn on March 25, 1949, at precisely 5 am, that six PIDE agents and several armed GNR elements arrested the three PCP clandestine officials.

Álvaro Cunhal was imprisoned for eleven years, eventually escaping from the Peniche fort in January 1960. Sofia Ferreira, was imprisoned for three years and Militão Ribeiro died in jail in January 1950, when he carried out a hunger strike as a form of protest for the bad conditions.