Falintil
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The Armed Forces for the National Liberation of East Timor (Portuguese: Forças Armadas da Libertação Nacional de Timor-Leste, Falintil) originally began as the military wing of the Fretilin party of East Timor. It was established on 20 August 1975 in response to Fretilin's political conflict with the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT).[1]
Indonesian invasion
Falintil gained most of its initial military units when most of the former Portuguese garrison forces in the territory switched allegiance to it in August 1975 after the Portuguese withdrew following the 1974 Carnation Revolution.[2]
At the time of the
The first commander of Falintil was
Resistance struggle
Throughout the 1980s, Gusmão led both Falintil and the CRRN, gradually distancing himself from the Fretilin party. He began efforts to make Falintil
In the first week of August 1983, Falintil fighters attacked an Indonesian Army engineering unit, resulting in the deaths of 16 soldiers.[5][failed verification] On 31 August 1983, the Indonesian Army began military operations around Viqueque, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) from Dili. A spokesman for the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra said about 3,200 troops in four battalions, including special forces, were deployed with tanks and troop transport aircraft.[6]
On 5 May 1985 Gusmão sent the Fretilin central committee, operating in exile, a message informing them of the structure of the CRRN and assuming the title of
On 20 June 1988, the National Resistance of East Timorese Students (Resistência Nacional dos Estudantes de Timor-Leste, RENETIL) was created in Indonesia, reporting directly to Falintil and Gusmão. On 31 December 1988, Gusmão officially announced that Falintil was now the non-partisan armed resistance wing of the unified resistance movement, which was to be known as the National Council of Maubere Resistance (Conselho Nacional da Resistência Maubere, CNRM).
Between 23 and 28 May 1990, the CNRM held an extraordinary meeting to restructure the resistance movement. During the conference Gusmão officially resigned from Fretilin while remaining Commander-in-Chief of Falintil and President of the CNRM. This meeting also saw the formation of the Clandestine Front (Frente Clandestina), which came about from the recognition that Falintil, the armed resistance, had been significantly weakened by many years of guerrilla activity against the Indonesian military. The formation of the Clandestine Front was part of a strategy to organize the population against the
Throughout the 1990s, the occupying Indonesian forces stepped up their actions against the resistance, and factional troubles between Fretilin and other resistance organizations plagued the CNRM, with Fretilin members signing a document against the leadership of Santana. Sabalae was captured near
Towards independence
Changes in the
East Timorese Defence Force
On 1 February 2001 Falintil was officially dissolved, only to be almost immediately resurrected as the official armed force of the newly independent country, the East Timorese Defence Force (Falintil–Forças de Defesa de Timor Leste, F-FDTL), with the duty under the Constitution of East Timor to "guarantee the independence of the nation, its territorial integrity, and the freedom and safety of the population against aggression, which does not respect the constitutional order."[1] Ruak became the first Commander of the F-FDTL and assumed the rank of brigadier general.
Falintil veterans make up a significant portion of the membership of the "politico-criminal" armed groups operating in East Timor, such as Sagrada Familia, CPD-RDTL, and Colimau 2000.[9]
See also
References
- East Timorese Resistance Museum, Resistencia Timorensia Arkivu ho Muzeu
- ^ a b c "Transformation of FALINTIL into F-FDTL". The La'o Hamutuk Bulletin. 6 (1–2). April 2005.
- ISBN 978-979-95898-8-0.
- ^ "Indonesia Invades". History of East Timor. Solidamor. 2005. Archived from the original on 18 March 2005. Retrieved 30 May 2006.
- ^ "Fretilin". Por Timor (in Portuguese). FCCN, Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional. Archived from the original on 12 June 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2006.
- ^ Indonesians ambushed in fierce Timor clash The Age – 1 July 1985.
- ^ Davis, Ian (20 September 1983). "Indonesia confirms army rule on Timor". The Age. Retrieved 6 September 2023 – via Google News Archive.
- ^ Keesing's Record of World Events – Keesing's Worldwide – 1986
- ^ "East Timor Rebels Kill 17 in Ambush". Los Angeles Times. 1 June 1997.
- ISBN 978-981-230-442-1.