See Also: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)(encyclopedia)
Central Intelligence Agency, the(dictionary)
Afonso III(encyclopedia)
Afonso I(encyclopedia)
Central Coast travel agency(tourism)
Afonso (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Albuquerque, Afonso de(encyclopedia)
Central African Republic travel agency(tourism)
intelligence(dictionary)
intelligence(encyclopedia)

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (sh) and Afonso III (sh)


Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) (sh)




Principal intelligence and counterintelligence agency of the U.S., established in 1947 as a successor to the World War II-era Office of Strategic Services.

The law limits its activities to foreign countries; it is prohibited from gathering intelligence on U.S. soil, which is a responsibility of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Officially a part of the U.S. Defense Department, it is responsible for preparing analyses for the National Security Council. Its budget is kept secret. Though intelligence gathering is its chief occupation, the CIA has also been involved in many covert operations, including the expulsion of Mohammad Mosaddeq from Iran (1953), the attempted Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba (1961), and support of the Nicaraguan contras in the 1980s.


Afonso III (sh)




born May 5, 1210, Coimbra, Port.
died Feb. 16, 1279, Lisbon

King of Portugal (1248-79).

He emigrated to France and became, by Marriage, count of Boulogne. He gained the Portuguese crown when his older brother Sancho II was deposed by order of the pope. As king, Afonso regained control of the district of Faro (1249) and completed the reconquest of the Algarve from the Muslims. His reign saw the first admission of commoners to the Portuguese Cortes (parliament). Afonso's assertion of the royal right to repossess church lands led to his excommunication by the pope.