Editing PIDE (section)

===PVDE===
The origins of PIDE can be traced to 1933, the year of the inauguration of the ''Estado Novo''. Under direct orders from Salazar himself, the Surveillance and State Defence (''Polícia de Vigilância e de Defesa do Estado'') or PVDE was created, with two main sections:
*Social and Political Defence Section, which was used to prevent and repress crimes of a political and social nature (see: [[Censorship]])
*International Section, which was used to control the entrance of [[immigrant]]s, to expel undesirable immigrants and to take care of [[counter-espionage]] and/or international espionage.

PVDE was founded and led by Captain [[Agostinho Lourenço]]. According to Professor Douglas Wheeler "an analysis of Lourenco's career suggest[s] strongly that British Intelligence Services' influence had an impact on the structure and activity of PVDE". Lourenço had earned a reputation with British observers, recorded in a confidential document generated at the British Embassy, which suggested a "pro-British" bias on his part. Lourenço always kept a good relationship with the [[Secret Intelligence Service|MI6]], which helped him to become the head of the international police organization [[Interpol]] in 1956.

In 1936, the [[prison]] of [[Tarrafal camp|Tarrafal]] was created in the [[Portuguese Cape Verde|Portuguese colony of Cape Verde]]. This camp, under the direct control of the PVDE, was the destination for those political prisoners considered dangerous by the regime. Among the first prisoners were the convicted sailors from the [[1936 Naval Revolt]]. The sailors, affiliated with the Communist Party, had attempted to sail two Portuguese Navy ships out of Lisbon to join the Spanish Republican forces fighting in Spain. Throughout the more than 40 years of the ''Estado Novo'', 32 people lost their lives in Tarrafal, which was known for its severe methods of torture.

Also in 1936, with the beginning of the [[Spanish Civil War]] and in 1937 with the attempt against Salazar's life by [[anarchist]] terrorists, the PVDE started focusing its battle against [[communism]] and the underground [[Portuguese Communist Party]]. During this pre-[[World War II]] period, several [[Kingdom of Italy|Italian]] and [[Nazi Germany|German]] advisers came to Portugal to help the PVDE adopt a model similar to the [[Gestapo]].

During World War II, the PVDE experienced its most intense period of activity. Neutral [[Lisbon]] was the [[Europe]]an center of [[espionage]] and one of the favourite [[exile]] destinations. Writers such as [[Ian Fleming]] (the creator of [[James Bond]]) were based there, while other prominent people such as the [[Duke of Windsor]] and the [[Spanish monarchy|Spanish Royal Family]] were exiled in Estoril. German spies attempted to buy information on trans-[[Atlantic]] [[shipping]] to help their [[submarine]]s fight the [[Battle of the Atlantic]]. The Spaniard Juan Pujol Garcia, better known as [[Juan Pujol (alias Garbo)|Codename Garbo]], passed on misinformation to the Germans, hoping it would hasten the end of the [[Spanish State]]—he was recruited by Britain as a [[double agent]] while in Lisbon. Conversely, [[William Colepaugh]], an [[United States|American]] [[traitor]], was recruited as an [[secret agent|agent]] by the Germans while his ship was in port in Lisbon—he was subsequently landed by [[U-boat]], {{GS|U-1230||2}}, in [[Maine]] before being captured. In June 1943, a commercial [[airliner]] carrying the [[actor]] [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]] was shot down over the [[Bay of Biscay]] by the [[Luftwaffe]] after taking off from Lisbon, possibly because German spies in Lisbon believed that [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Winston Churchill]] was on board.

Several [[United States|American]] reports called Lisbon "The Capital of Espionage". However, the PVDE always maintained a neutral stance towards foreign espionage activity, as long as no one intervened in Portuguese internal policies.{{cn|date=December 2019}}