Comando da Luta Boru-Quere
The Comando da Luta Boru-Quere ( Portuguese: Combat Command Boru-Quere ) was a faction of the East Timorese FRETILIN under the leadership of Aquiles Freitas Soares .
background
In 1974 the Portuguese dictatorship was overthrown by the Carnation Revolution and the colonies began to be prepared for independence. In 1975, in what was then Portuguese Timor , there was a power struggle between the left-wing FRETILIN and the União Democrática Timorense UDT. Portugal's last governor, Mário Lemos Pires , withdrew and the FRETILIN declared the independence of East Timor after its victory on November 28, 1975. In the meantime, however, Indonesia had begun to occupy the border areas and on December 7th a large-scale invasion of the neighboring country officially began. From this time on, the FRETILIN waged a defense and liberation struggle against the Indonesians with its armed arm, the FALINTIL .
The command
In February 1976, nine civilians in Venilale were murdered by local FRETILIN commanders on charges of collaborating with the Indonesians. Among other things, these were Maria Boavida , her husband, his uncle and three of her sons. Maria Boavida was the younger sister of António Freitas , a friend of Aquiles Freitas Soares, who was deputy in command of the Middle East Sector at the time. On February 23, António Freitas and some men killed the two FRETILIN commanders who are said to have been responsible for the murders in Venilale, Januario Ximenes and Julio da Silva . Three days later, Soares founded his own, semi-autonomous unit, the Comando da Luta Boru-Quere , in Uaibitae (Quelicai), near the Matebian . His deputy was António Freitas. The Soares group was well equipped as Soares had brought weapons and ammunition from Atabae. In addition, his ally, NCO Ponciano dos Santos , had captured weapons from the Portuguese arsenal in Taibesi ( Dili ) during the civil war . Santos was appointed head of the command's security committee. João Teodosio de Lima and Augusto Pires , two priests and former UDT leaders, became members of the Political and Administrative Committee, and Priests Eligio Locatelli and Luis da Costa advisors.
At that time the ideological differences within FRETILIN increased. There was no agreement on whether the resistance should be controlled centrally, to what extent Marxism was compatible with the traditional religion and culture of East Timor, and on the role of traditional rulers. Soares opposed the Central Committee of FRETILIN and the Commissariat of the Middle East Cascol ( Comissariado do Sector Centro Leste ) under Vicente dos Reis . Rumors arose that Soares wanted to murder Sahe and carry out a coup.
In May 1976, the Soares command met with representatives of FRETILIN under the leadership of Sahe at the Quelicai school to settle the conflict. Soares demanded promotion to the commander of Region II (Baucau), but refused to give up weapons to other FALINTIL units. He also demanded that the Venilale refugees who had sought refuge in Uaibitae can return. Another point of contention was the Marxist-Leninist orientation of FRETILIN.
After an armed confrontation between the FRETILIN leadership and the Soares group, they met again on October 28 in Uaibitae. Soares had been persuaded to come unarmed. He and 35 of his men were promptly captured by a FRETILIN unit from Lobito . Among the prisoners were Fernando da Sousa , the Liurai of Uatucarbau and Adelino de Carvalho , the Liurai of Uato-Lari . António Freitas and Augusto Pires were brought to Baguia , the others via Ulusu (Uato-Lari, Viqueque ) to Lobito, where they were handed over to the Central Committee of FRETILIN. This was divided on what should be done with Soares. Eventually, members of the Central Committee ordered the execution of Soares and his supporters. Between December 1976 and January 1977 Soares, Ponciano dos Santos and João Teodoso de Lima were executed in Lobito, while António Freitas was executed in Baguia. The others, including Fernando da Sousa and Adelino de Carvalho, were sent to a camp ( Campos de Rehabilitação Nacional , Renal) for political re-education .
supporting documents
- "Chapter 7.2 Unlawful Killings and Enforced Disappearances" (PDF; 2.5 MB) from the "Chega!" Report of the CAVR (English)