Profile: Sao Tome coup leader

By Sao Lima
BBC Portuguese for Africa journalist

Pereira's first dream was to become a parachutist

I first met Major Fernando Pereira, the man who led last week's military coup in Sao Tome and Principe, some 20 years ago

We were introduced by a friend of mine who was then his partner.

She was very much older than him and I was impressed seeing the relaxed and open way in which he carried on the relationship.

Sao Tome and Principe is a country where a blend of Latin and African macho culture makes it odd to see a young man with an older women - although the opposite is applauded.

Speaking to him after his seizure of power, he sounded nostalgic when he recalled our first encounter and melancholic when he described his late mother, a housewife, as a women's rights militant and his source of inspiration.

Army life

Now, Fernando Pereira sounds like a man who is settling scores with himself rather than being the leader of a military rebellion.

The country was last shaken by a coup in 1995

However, the army has been his life since he left school in his twenties.

He was eager to pursue his studies abroad but unable to get a scholarship, so he entered the army as a volunteer.

His dream was to become a parachutist.

He was trained in Angola, Cuba, Russia and Portugal and visited several African countries.

As the officer in charge of international affairs, including regional military exercises, he was awarded a gold medal by the Gabonese military authorities.

In the meantime, his roving eye and his success with women led him to be nicknamed "Cobo" by his many friends.

Quietening down

After fathering 10 children by several women, the eldest is 24 and the youngest nine, Fernando Pereira has settled down.

He is now 48 and is married to a charity worker - he says he has changed.

His days as a promising handball player have gone and his hobbies now are reading, deep-sea fishing and game hunting.

When I first met Major Pereira in the 1980s, he did not impress me as being particularly articulate or persuasive in his line of argument.

What impressed me was the way the then young officer wanted to put across his views on a wide range of subjects.

I noticed a thirst for knowledge, the ambition to rise above the average.

The biography of Marshall Zhukov, who led the Soviet army during the Second World War, left a lasting impression on him, he said.

But apart from the army fatigues, there seems to be nothing else in common between the two men.