[2] Caetano was born on 4 April 1941 in the small town of Piri,[1] to a peasant family from the municipality of Dembos, currently in Bengo province.
[3] During the War for Independence, Caetano participated in numerous confrontation with the colonial Portuguese troops and militants from the National Liberation Front of Angola (FNLA).
They gave him the nickname "Monstro Imortal" (Portuguese for "Immortal Monster", given due to his almost seemingly mythical invincibility).
[13] Large portions of the party had identified the recent and constant military defeats as having emanated from a purported "white-mestico elite", and who had identified as the main culprits Lúcio Lara, his wife Ruth Lara, Iko Carreira, and Agostinho Neto's wife, Maria Eugénia Neto.
[13][14] On 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution overthrew the regime of António Salazar and hastened the decolonization of the Portuguese colonies in Africa.
[15] At the signing of the Alvor Agreement, which established the parameters of the partition of power during the process of independence for Angola, Caetano was named by the MPLA to compose the military hierarchy of the transitional government, keeping with one of the Area Commands, together with Pedro Timóteo "Barreiro" Kiakanwa (FNLA) and "Edmundo Rocha" Sabino Sandele (UNITA).
In November 1975, he was sent to Porto Amboim, maintaining direct contact with President Agostinho Neto in relation to the collapse of the southern and central fronts that had been under the pressure of South African and UNITA troops.
He strongly contributed to the formation of class consciousness in FAPLA, creating the framework for political education in the branches of the military.
Along with this, the group called for the continuance of class struggle that would take the form of debate against a purported "white-mestico" leadership and elite.
[13] At the beginning of 1977, Caetano joined in on plans for a coup d'état by the Nitista faction, being one of the key figures of the conspiracy, along with Nito Alves, José Jacinto Van-Dúnem, Sita Valles, David Minerva Machado, Arsénio Totó Sihanouk, Luís dos Passos, and Eduardo Ernesto Bakalof.
[13] The following day, Alves had a separate meeting with Caetano, who would have been named as Minister of Defense in a hypothetical Fraccionist-Nitista government.
Shaded vehicles from the 9th Brigade and a protest of the residents of the Sambizanga neighbourhood of Luanda were signals to initiate the coup.
[22] On 26 May 2021, Angolan president João Lourenço expressed his "sincere regrets" and apologized on behalf of the state after a speech in which he mentioned Caetano.
[23] On 13 June 2022, the remains of Caetano were buried in Luanda, at Alto das Cruzes cemetery, in what was described as a solemn ceremony.