[1][2] Pinto de Magalhães was nominated to the position of Military Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in the Azores on 6 January 1975 (a function that he served until 29 August 1976).
[2] He arrived in Ponta Delgada during a period of heightened tensions after the Revolution, during a political crisis and ideological conflict between anti-communists and separatists.
[1] On 6 June 1975 a protest in Ponta Delgada was held, in direct and conscious defiance of a law prohibiting such political gatherings.
[1] The military tried to block protesters from descending on the Conceição Palace, which at the time was the residence of the Civil Governor (António Borges Coutinho).
After the protesters had calmed-down, orders were sent to arrest some of the personalities considered responsible for the subversive acts related to the agitation, and they were deported to Terceira.
The Junta was presided over by the military Commandant, allied to a civilian council that included representatives of the leading non-communist political parties (Social Democrats, Socialists and Democratic-Centrists).
[2] His national honors included three (silver and gold) Service Distinctions with Palm and a Grand Cross in the Military Order.