Editing PIDE (section)

===PIDE===
[[File:Vila Algarve, Maputo, Nov 2011.jpg|thumb|235px|''Vila Algarve'' in November 2011, the former headquarters of PIDE in Mozambique, at Lourenço Marques (presently [[Maputo]]).]]  
In 1945, the PVDE was renamed and replaced by the PIDE. Unlike its predecessor, which sought inspiration in the Gestapo, the regime's propaganda alleged PIDE followed the [[Scotland Yard]] model. Receiving the same status as the ''[[Polícia Judiciária]]'' (criminal investigation police), it had full powers to investigate, detain, and arrest anyone who was thought to be plotting against the State. It had two main functions:
*Administrative functions (which included those related to the migration services)
*[[Criminal]] prevention and repression functions. As there was already in place one criminal investigation police that dealt with ordinary crime, PIDE focused on political and social issues (political opposition, social unrest, student movements), which the political regime criminalised. At the same time, PIDE was the Portuguese police corresponding with the international [[Interpol]] network.

PIDE is considered by many authors as being one of the most functional and effective [[secret service]]s in history {{Citation needed|reason=By whom?|date=September 2023}}. Using a wide network of [[covert cell]]s, which were spread throughout Portugal and its overseas territories, PIDE had infiltrated agents into almost every underground movement, including the Portuguese Communist Party as well as the independence movements in [[Portuguese Angola|Angola]] and [[Portuguese Mozambique|Mozambique]]. The PIDE encouraged citizens &ndash; the so-called ''bufos'' (snitches) &ndash; to denounce suspicious activities, through the use of monetary and prestige incentives. This resulted in an extremely effective espionage service which was able to fully control almost every aspect of Portuguese daily life. 

PIDE was credited with the torture and assassination of many political activists, controlled the political soundness of any candidate to public employment, vetoing anyone who   could be suspicious of favouring the opposition and had extrajudicial powers of detention, so it could retain in prison any activist after he or she had served a sentence. These actions extended beyond politicians and significant activists. For example, law student [[Aurora Rodrigues]] was arrested for association with the [[Portuguese Workers' Communist Party]] and was kept awake for weeks and endured multiple simulated drownings.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hagemann |first1=Brigitte |title=Nightmares, nostalgia 40 years after Portugal revolt |url=https://sg.news.yahoo.com/nightmares-nostalgia-40-years-portugal-revolt-055042522.html?guccounter=1 |access-date=6 May 2024 |work=Yahoo News |date=22 April 2014 |language=en}}</ref>

The PIDE intensified its actions during the [[Portuguese Colonial War]], creating a successful paramilitary unit called [[Flechas]] (Arrows). [[Yves Guérin-Sérac]], a former officer of the [[French Army]] and founder of the [[Organisation armée secrète|OAS]] [[right-wing terrorist]] group during the [[Algerian War of Independence]] (1954–62), set up "[[Aginter Press]]" in Lisbon and participated with the PIDE in [[covert operation]]s.{{cn|date=December 2019}}