DILI, 23 april 2024 (TATOLI) – The National Parliament (PN) approved a vote of congratulations for the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, a military coup that put an end to Europe’s longest-lived dictatorship.
The 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution will be celebrated on April 25, in Portugal’s capital, Lisbon.
The Secretary National Parliament, Virgínia Ana Belo, said that the Carnation Revolution was not only a victory for the Portuguese but also for all those who believed in the basic collective human right to self-determination.
Belo recognized the importance of the Carnation Revolution for Timor-Leste’s independence, as well as the support of the Portuguese people to the Timorese struggle for independence.
“Timorese people congratulate Portugal and Portuguese people on the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution,” said Belo.
The Carnation Revolution was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Lisbon, producing major social, economic, territorial, demographic, and political changes in Portugal and its overseas colonies through the Processo Revolucionário Em Curso. It resulted in the Portuguese transition to democracy and the end of the Portuguese Colonial.
The April Revolution (April 25, 1974), which restored democracy in Portugal, consecrated the respect for the right to self-determination of the Portuguese colonies. In order to promote the exercise of that right, on may 13, a Committee for the Self-determination of East Timor was installed in Dili. The Portuguese Government authorized the creation of political parties, and as a result, partisan organizations emerged in Timor-Leste: the UDT (Timorese Democratic Union) called for “Timor’s integration in a Portuguese-speaking community”; the ASDT (Timorese Social-Democratic Association), which would later change its name to FRETILIN (Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor), supported the right to independence; and the APODETI (Popular Democratic Association of Timor) suggested “integration with autonomy within the Indonesian community”.
In 1975, with the dissolution of the Portuguese colonial empire, local liberation movements increased. In may 1975, the authorities in Lisbon presented a project to the main Timorese parties and, after hearing them, a law was published on july 11 that foresaw the nomination of a Portuguese High Commissioner. This same law expected the election of a People’s Assembly in october of the same year, in order to establish a political status. The diploma foresaw a three-year transitional period.
On november 28, 1975, FRETILIN together with the Prime Minister Xavier do Amaral, unilaterally declared the Independence of Timor-Leste. Nicolau Lobato, who later became the first leader of the Armed Resistance, was appointed as the Prime Minister of the new independent country.
Journalist: Domingos Piedade Freitas
Editor: Isaura Lemos de Deus
Translation: Jose Belarmino de Sa
