Constâncio Pinto

Constâncio Pinto (2020)

Constâncio da Conceição Pinto is an East Timorese politician and member of the Partido Democrático . From 2015 to 2017 he was Minister for Trade, Industry and the Environment .

Career

At the age of 14, Pinto began to be involved in the independence movement against Indonesia , both as a fighter and as a nurse.

In 1989, Pinto organized the first peaceful demonstration during Pope John Paul II's visit to East Timor. In 1990, Pinto was elected secretary of the Executive Committee (Comité Executivo) of the Conselho Nacional de Resistência Mauchte (CNRM). The CNRM (later CNRT) was the umbrella organization of the East Timorese resistance against the Indonesian occupation. In January 1991, Pinto was arrested by the Indonesians and tortured in prison. He escaped from custody only a few days later. A Portuguese parliamentary delegation was due to visit East Timor in November to assess the conflict. The visit had come about through the mediation of the United Nations and protection had been guaranteed to anyone who wanted to contact her. Pinto drafted a petition on behalf of the CNRM, signed by all eight committee members, to be given to the Portuguese. The petition called on Portugal to hold talks with Indonesia to resolve the East Timor conflict. In addition, the Portuguese should have free access to all of East Timor and to all possible interlocutors.

On November 12, however, a demonstration that Pinto helped organize in the so-called Santa Cruz massacre ended , in which at least 271 demonstrators were killed by Indonesian security forces. Six out of eight members of the Executive Committee were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms. The supposed head Gregório Saldanha received life sentence. Only Filipe Gama Xavier and Pinto escaped conviction. Some speculate that after Pinto was captured earlier this year, he was released to spy on the resistance. Saldanha said during his trial that an Indonesian officer told him in the hospital after the demonstration that Pinto was working for her. He did not say whether Saldanha believed this.

Constâncio Pinto (2016)

Pinto initially disappeared after the massacre. He fled to Portugal in 1992 and later to the United States . There he ran an information campaign to make the United States aware of the fate of his country. He spoke to the United States Congress and the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva , among others . He also wrote books and articles about East Timor. In 1997, Pinto received the US Congressional Achievement Award .

In 1999, Indonesia handed East Timor over to UN administration and Pinto was appointed East Timor's extraordinary ambassador and plenipotentiary to the United States, Canada and Mexico . On May 20, 2002, East Timor regained its independence and Pinto became East Timor's first senior diplomat in Washington, DC In 2003, José Luís Guterres became the official ambassador to the United Nations and the USA . In June 2008, Pinto returned to East Timor and became Director General for External Relations in the country's Foreign Ministry.

On October 23, 2009, Pinto presented his accreditation to President Barack Obama as East Timor's new ambassador to the United States. At the same time, Pinto was ambassador for Canada and Mexico . He stayed that way until 2012. On August 8, Pinto was sworn in as Vice Minister for External Relations. With the government reshuffle on February 11, 2015, Pinto became Vice Minister for Trade, Industry and the Environment.

Fernando de Araújo (PD), Minister of State, Coordinator for Social Affairs and Minister for Education, passed away on June 2, 2015 . The previous Minister of Commerce, António da Conceição, succeeded him in all three offices when he was sworn in on August 10th. Pinto succeeded Conceição as Minister for Trade, Industry and the Environment. The new Deputy Minister of Commerce is Nino Pereira .

In March 2016, the coalition between CNRT and PD broke over the dispute over the military commander in chief and the conflict between government and parliament on the one hand and President Taur Matan Ruak on the other. In order to ensure the stability of the government, Pinto and the other members of the PD in the cabinet announced that they would not be party members. They kept their government offices as independent politicians.

With the arrival of the VII government , António da Conceição replaced Pinto in the ministerial office.

education

Pinto holds a Masters of Arts in International Relations from Columbia University , School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies from Brown University in Providence . He is fluent in Tetum , Portuguese , Bahasa Indonesia and English .

family

Pinto is married to Gabriela Pinto and has a son and a daughter.

Publications

• Constâncio Pinto, Matthew Jardine: The Santa Cruz Massacre. (engl.)
• Constâncio Pinto, Matthew Jardine: East Timor's Unfinished Struggle: Inside the Timorese Resistance , 1997, South End Press, ISBN 978-0-89608-541-1
• Constâncio Pinto, Matthew Jardine: Inside the East Timor Resistance , 1997 ISBN 1550285882 , 978-1-5502-8588-8

Web links

Commons : Constâncio Pinto  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Constâncio Pinto's Facebook presence

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Ministry of Trade, Industry and the Environment: Biografia Vice Ministro ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 4, 2015. 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Embassy of Timor-Leste in Washington: Former Ambassador Pinto's Biography , accessed July 15, 2016.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Indonesia Information - September 1992 (East Timor Trials): The 'case' against Francisco Miranda Branco , accessed on February 18, 2014.
4. ↑ ^{a b} The Washington Diplomat: His Excellency Constancio da C. Pinto ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 19, 2014 
5. ↑ Ministerio de Commercio, Industria e Ambiente: Biografia Ministro: CONSTÂNCIO DA CONCEIÇÃO PINTO ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed April 1, 2017. 
6. ^ Website of the government of Timor-Leste: The Fourth Constitutional Government of East Timor
7. ^ Website of the government of Timor-Leste: Structure of the VI Constitutional Government , accessed on February 19, 2015 (English)
8. ↑ Website of the government of Timor-Leste: HE António da Conceição sworn in as the Minister of State, Coordinator of Social Affairs and Minister of Education , August 10, 2015 , accessed on August 10, 2015.
9. ↑ Timor Agora: Ministro da Educação timorense fica no Governo para garantir "estabilidade governativa" , May 7, 2016 , accessed on May 8, 2016.
10. ↑ SAPO: VII Governo constitucional de Timor-Leste toma hoje posse incompleto , September 15, 2017, accessed on September 15, 2017.
11. ↑ Website of the President of East Timor: Timor-Leste's Embassies in abroad ( Memento of the original from August 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed July 16, 2016.