Álvaro Pato
Álvaro Monteiro Rodrigues Pato was born on March 4, 1950, in Lisbon, into a family of resistance fighters who were subjected to torture by the PIDE/DGS (National Security Council). His grandmother, Maria da Conceição Rodrigues Pato, was the woman who, between 1949 and 1974, spent the most years in dictatorship prisons visiting her children, daughter-in-law, or grandson. His uncle, Carlos Pato, died in 1950 in Caxias prison due to torture by the PIDE. Another uncle, Abel Pato, had been imprisoned in Aljube prison in the 1950s. His father’s partner, Albina Fernandes, committed suicide in 1970 due to psychological problems related to imprisonment and torture. His parents, Antónia Joaquina Monteiro and Octávio Floriano Rodrigues Pato, both members of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), were in hiding when Álvaro was born. At 16 months old, he went to live with his paternal grandparents. He would only see his father again at nine and his mother at 13. After his father and his partner were arrested in 1961, Álvaro spent the following years visiting him in Peniche prison and camping at the local campsite during the holidays.
He participated in the cultural section of the Vila Franquense Sports Union and, around the age of 16, joined the PCP (Public Security Party). Warned by his grandparents that the GNR (National Republican Guard) was looking for him, he went into semi-clandestine confinement. Mobilized into the military in 1971, he deserted in April 1972. He then went underground, where, at a meeting in Porto, he met his father, also in hiding. He was involved in organizing the youth workers’ movement on the south bank of the river when he was arrested in May 1973, following a tip from a comrade, Silvano, who turned out to be a PIDE informant.
After passing through the PIDE delegation in Setúbal, he would continue to Caxias. He was subjected to brutal torture. He suffered 11 days and 11 nights of sleep torture, without telling the political police. He was released from the Caxias prison on April 27, 1974.
Date of Collection: 04.12.2019
Keywords: Family, Comunist Party, Semi-underground, Prison, Caxias, Interrogation, Torture, Trial.
