Pronunciamento

   Portuguese word for military coup d'etat, uprising, or insurrection, derived from the verb "to declare, to announce solemnly and publicly." The Spanish word is similar (pro-nunciamiento). Praetorianism or military insurrectionism became a chronic problem, as well as a political tradition, first in Spain after the army's coup of 1812, followed by an army insurrection in the cause of constitutional monarchy in 1820 in Oporto, Portugal. Both civilian and military conspiracies to use the military to intervene in public affairs, overthrow the current government, and establish a "new" system became common from this time on in Iberian affairs, and such activity was also common in 19th-century Latin America, where Spain and Portugal had former colonies. The Portuguese word for the tendency to have pronunciamentos or golpes is referred to as golpismo.

   See also Armed Forces Movement; Fifth of October; Twenty-eighth of May; Twenty-fifth of April.