The news of his death was initially reported by TSF and later confirmed to Lusa by Vasco Lourenço.

Otelo Nuno Romão Saraiva de Carvalho was born on August 31, 1936 in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique, and began his military career in the 1960s.

As part of the Movement of the Armed Forces (MFA), which overthrew the Salazar and Caetano dictatorship, he was in charge of drawing up the military operation plans and through this he became known as the strategist of the 25 April revolution.

After 25 April, Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho was commander of the Lisbon Military Region and of COPCON, the Continental Operational Command, during the ongoing Revolutionary Process (PREC). Following this he stood as a candidate in the presidential elections.

In the 1980s, his name appears while associated with the Popular Forces 25 de Abril, an armed organisation responsible for several murders and in 1986 he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for being named as the leader of the group, before being pardoned in 1991.