Editing History of Timor-Leste (section)

==Decolonisation, coup, and independence==
The decolonisation process instigated by [[Carnation Revolution|the 1974 Portuguese revolution]] saw Portugal effectively abandon the colony of Portuguese Timor. [[East Timorese civil war|A civil war]] between supporters of Portuguese Timorese political parties, the left-wing [[Fretilin]] and the right-wing [[Timorese Democratic Union|UDT]], broke out in 1975 as UDT attempted a coup which Fretilin resisted with the help of local Portuguese military.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ricklefs |first=M. C. |title=A History of Modern Indonesia Since c.1300 |publisher=MacMillan |year=1991 |isbn=0-333-57689-6 |edition=2nd |page=301}}</ref>

One of the first acts of the new government in [[Lisbon]] was to appoint a new governor for the colony on 18 November 1974, in the form of [[Mário Lemos Pires]], who would ultimately be, as events were to prove, the last governor of Portuguese Timor.

One of his first decrees made upon his arrival in [[Dili]] was to legalise political parties in preparation for elections to a [[Constituent Assembly]] in 1976. Three main political parties were formed:

* The ''União Democrática Timorense'' (UDT, [[Timorese Democratic Union]]), was supported by the traditional elites, initially argued for a continued association with Lisbon, or as they put it in [[Tetum language|Tetum]], ''mate bandera hum'' — 'in the shadow of the [Portuguese] flag', but later adopted a 'gradualist' approach to independence. One of its leaders, Mário Viegas Carrascalão, one of the few Timorese to have been educated at university in [[Portugal]], later became [[Indonesia]]n Governor of East Timor during the 1980s and early 1990s, although with the demise of Indonesian rule, he would change to supporting independence.
* The ''Associação Social Democrática Timorense'' (ASDT, Timorese Social Democratic Association) supported a rapid movement to independence. It later changed its name to ''Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente'' (Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor or [[Fretilin]]). Fretilin was regarded by many in [[Australia]] and [[Indonesia]] as being Marxist, its name sounding reminiscent of [[FRELIMO]] in [[Mozambique]]. The party committed itself to "the universal doctrines of socialism".
* The ''Associação Popular Democrática Timorense'' ("Apodeti", [[Timorese Popular Democratic Association]]) supported integration with Indonesia, as an autonomous province, but had little grassroots support. One of its leaders, Abílio Osório Soares, later served as the last Indonesian-appointed Governor of East Timor. Apodeti drew support from a few ''liurai'' in the border region, some of whom had collaborated with the [[Japan]]ese during the [[Second World War]]. It also had some support in the small [[Muslim]] minority, although [[Marí Alkatiri]], a Muslim, was a prominent Fretilin leader, and became prime minister in 2002.

Other smaller parties included ''Klibur Oan Timur Asuwain'' (KOTA, [[Tetum language|Tetum]] for 'Sons of the Mountain Warriors'), which sought to create a form of [[monarchy]] involving the local ''liurai'', and the ''Partido Trabalhista'' (Labour Party), but neither had any significant support. They would, however, collaborate with Indonesia. The ''Associação Democrática para a Integração de Timor-Leste na Austrália'' (ADITLA) advocated integration with [[Australia]], but folded after the [[Australia]]n government emphatically ruled out the idea.

This period saw the emergence of a unified national consciousness among the social elites who led the newly established political parties.<ref name="Strating2018"/>{{rp|46}} The main parties all promoted freedom of expression, association, and religion, although party support was linked to the home regions of each party's leaders. Fretilin explicitly sought to develop an overarching national identity, which was labelled ''maubere''.<ref name="Kammen2010"/>{{rp|255–256}}

===Parties compete, foreign powers take interest===
Developments in Portuguese Timor during 1974 and 1975 were watched closely by [[Indonesia]] and [[Australia]]. [[Suharto]]'s [[New Order (Indonesia)|"New Order"]], which had effectively eliminated Indonesia's Communist Party [[Communist Party of Indonesia|PKI]] in 1965, was alarmed by what it saw as the increasingly left-leaning Fretilin, and by the prospect of a small independent leftist state in the midst of the archipelago inspiring separatism in parts of the surrounding archipelago.

Australia's Labor prime minister, [[Gough Whitlam]], had developed a close working relationship with the Indonesian leader, and also followed events with concern. At a meeting in the [[Javanese language|Java]]nese town of [[Wonosobo]] in 1974, he told Suharto that an independent Portuguese Timor would be 'an unviable state, and a potential threat to the stability of the region'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1999/03/whit-m09.html|title=Leaked documents reveal Australian Labor leader's East Timor role|last=Head|first=Mike|author-link=Mike Head|date=9 March 1999|website=World Socialist Web Site|access-date=6 March 2017|archive-date=6 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170306210107/https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/1999/03/whit-m09.html|url-status=live}}</ref> While recognising the need for an act of self-determination, he considered integration with Indonesia to be in Portuguese Timor's best interests.

In local elections on 13 March 1975, Fretilin and UDT emerged as the largest parties, having previously formed an alliance to campaign for independence.

Indonesian military intelligence, known as BAKIN, began attempting to cause divisions between the pro-independence parties, and promote the support of Apodeti. This was known as ''Operasi Komodo'' or 'Operation Komodo' after the giant [[Komodo dragon|Komodo]] lizard found in the eastern Indonesian island of the same name. Many Indonesian military figures held meetings with UDT leaders, who made it plain that [[Jakarta]] would not tolerate a Fretilin-led administration in an independent East Timor. The coalition between Fretilin and UDT later broke up.

During the course of 1975, Portugal became increasingly detached from political developments in its colony, becoming embroiled in civil unrest and political crises, and more concerned with decolonisation in its [[Africa]]n colonies of [[Angola]] and [[Mozambique]] than with Portuguese Timor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.easttimorgovernment.com/history.htm|title=East Timor History|website=www.easttimorgovernment.com|access-date=2019-09-10|archive-date=29 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729155601/http://www.easttimorgovernment.com/history.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Many local leaders saw independence as unrealistic, and were open to discussions with Jakarta over Portuguese Timor's incorporation into the Indonesian state.<ref name=":0" />

===The coup===
{{Main|East Timorese civil war}}
On 11 August 1975, the UDT mounted a coup, in a bid to halt the increasing popularity of Fretilin. Portuguese Governor [[Mário Lemos Pires]] fled to the offshore island of [[Atauro]], north of the capital, [[Dili]], from where he later attempted to broker an agreement between the two sides. He was urged by Fretilin to return and resume the decolonisation process, but he insisted that he was awaiting instructions from the government in Lisbon, now increasingly uninterested.

Indonesia sought to portray the conflict as a civil war, which had plunged Portuguese Timor into chaos, but after only a month, aid and relief agencies from [[Australia]] and elsewhere visited the territory, and reported that the situation was stable. Nevertheless, many UDT supporters had fled across the border into Indonesian Timor, where they were coerced into supporting integration with Indonesia. In October 1975, in the border town of [[Balibo]], two Australian television crews (the "[[Balibo Five]]") reporting on the conflict were killed by Indonesian forces, after they witnessed Indonesian incursions into Portuguese Timor.

===Unilateral declaration of independence===
{{See also|Proclamation of Independence Day (Timor-Leste)#History|Democratic Republic of East Timor (1975)}}
While Fretilin had sought the return of the Portuguese governor, pointedly flying the Portuguese flag from government offices, the deteriorating situation meant that it had to make an appeal to the world for international support, independently of Portugal.

On 28 November 1975, Fretilin made a [[unilateral declaration of independence]] of the ''[[Democratic Republic of East Timor (1975)|Democratic Republic of East Timor]]'' (''República Democrática de Timor-Leste'' in Portuguese). This was not recognised by either Portugal, Indonesia, or Australia; however, the UDI state received formal diplomatic recognition from six countries that were led by leftist or Marxist–Leninist parties, namely [[Socialist People's Republic of Albania|Albania]], [[Cape Verde]], [[Guinea]], [[Guinea-Bissau]], [[People's Republic of Mozambique|Mozambique]], and [[São Tomé and Príncipe]]. Fretilin's [[Francisco Xavier do Amaral]] became the first president, while Fretilin leader [[Nicolau dos Reis Lobato]] was prime minister.<ref>{{cite web |title=Declaration of Independence |url=http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=29&lang=en |website=Timor-Leste gov |access-date=17 December 2021 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217111645/http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=29&lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=East Timor: Indonesia's invasion and the long road to independence |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/30/east-timor-indonesias-invasion-and-the-long-road-to-independence |access-date=17 December 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=29 August 2019 |archive-date=5 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205001124/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/30/east-timor-indonesias-invasion-and-the-long-road-to-independence |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=A Piece Of The Story Of East Timor's Independence From Portugal Then Indonesia Was "annexed" |url=https://voi.id/en/memori/473/a-piece-of-the-story-of-east-timors-independence-from-portugal-then-indonesia-was-annexed |access-date=17 December 2021 |publisher=VOI |date=28 November 2019 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217111643/https://voi.id/en/memori/473/a-piece-of-the-story-of-east-timors-independence-from-portugal-then-indonesia-was-annexed |url-status=live }}</ref>

Indonesia's response was to have UDT, Apodeti, KOTA and Trabalhista leaders sign a declaration calling for integration with Indonesia called the ''[[Balibo]] Declaration'', although it was drafted by Indonesian intelligence and signed in [[Bali]], Indonesia not Balibo, Portuguese Timor. [[Xanana Gusmão]], now the country's prime minister, described this as the 'Balibohong Declaration', a [[pun]] on the [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]] word for 'lie'.

Fretilin restored the original administrative posts, hoping to shore up local support by more closely reflecting traditional kingdoms.<ref name="Scambary2021"/>{{rp|280}}

===East Timor solidarity movement===
An international ''East Timor solidarity movement'' arose in response to the [[Indonesian invasion of East Timor|1975 invasion]] of East Timor by Indonesia and the occupation that followed. The movement was supported by churches, human rights groups, and peace campaigners, but developed its own organisations and infrastructure in many countries. Many demonstrations and vigils backed legislative actions to cut off military supplies to Indonesia. The movement was most extensive in neighbouring [[Australia]], in [[Portugal]], in the [[Philippines]] and the former Portuguese colonies in Africa, but had significant force in the [[United States]], [[Canada]] and [[Europe]].

[[José Ramos-Horta]], later president of Timor-Leste, stated in a 2007 interview that the solidarity movement "was instrumental. They were like our peaceful foot soldiers, and fought many battles for us."