Hernâni Coelho

Hernâni Coelho

Hernâni Filomena Maria Coelho da Silva , fighting name Natan , (born August 27, 1964 in Uatucarbau , Portuguese Timor ) is an East Timorese diplomat and politician. He is a member of the central committee of FRETILIN . Coelho was the country's foreign minister from 2015 to 2017 and oil minister from 2017 to 2018.

Childhood and youth

Hernâni Coelho is the son of Adelino da Silva from Ossu and Zulmira Celestina Faria Coelho and the brother of the KHUNTO politician Lígia Filomena Coelho da Silva and the PST chairman Avelino Coelho da Silva . The three have six other siblings.

From 1971 to 1975 he attended primary school and Catholic boarding school in Ainaro . In August 1975 he came to the Externato (day school) Bispo de Medeiros in the colonial capital Dili . When the Indonesians conquered the city on December 9 of the same year, Coelho and his parents fled to Mount Cabalaki , where the FRETILIN base was located. Coelho's father was the party's regional secretary and led the resistance against the Indonesians in Hato-Udo . When the area fell, the family returned to their homeland, Viqueque . The father ran a hospital and training center for the FALINTIL guerrillas here.

In October 1978, the entire family fell into the hands of the Indonesians during the destruction of the Matebian resistance base . The Coelho da Silvas were first interned in Venilale , later brought to Ossu and finally to Dili.

From 1980 to 1982 Hernâni Coelho worked as a messenger for the East Timorese resistance. In 1983 he joined the East Timorese Catholic Youth Organization (OJECTIL).

Later career

In 1983 Coelho left East Timor to study agricultural science at Magelamg Agriculture Development College at Jenderal Soedirman University in Purwokerto, Indonesia and at the Islamic University in Malang . From September 1987 to April 1989 Coelho was a student assistant at the Faculty of Animal Science at Jenderal Soedirman University. During his student days he was active for the student front for the liberation of East Timor (FELETIL). Coelho tried to bring East Timor's aspirations for independence closer to his Indonesian fellow students and he worked as a liaison between the armed resistance in East Timor and the diplomatic representatives of the resistance overseas. After the Santa Cruz massacre in 1991 and the collapse of most of the resistance movement in Indonesia and East Timor, Coelho became the coordinator of the special office of the newly formed Timorese Socialist Association . Their job was to mobilize support, carry out infiltration and propaganda and carry out rescue missions for East Timorese independence activists and foreign supporters who had to be brought to safety from the Indonesian military.

After completing his doctorate, Coelho worked for Infovet Magazine in Jakarta from November 1992 to July 1993 as a journalist, sales manager and editorial assistant before he decided to return to Dili to work as a technical officer in the veterinary office. But only two months later he was forced by the Indonesian military to leave East Timor, whereupon he went to Portugal . Coelho came to Macau where he completed his Masters Degree in Marketing and Strategic Management from the University of Macau . In 1994 he was elected Regional Secretary of FRETILIN in Macau.

Coelho was employed by the Macau government from November 1995 to July 1999 as Senior Program Officer in the Department of Environmental and Public Sanitation. He then returned to Portugal, where he was Senior Research Officer at the Portuguese National Institute for Agricultural Research from September 1999 to December 2002. In 2001 he returned to East Timor at the request of the Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense (CNRT) and worked for the National Council as an advisor to the economic and infrastructure department until the CNRT was dissolved. Coelho was taken over by the United Nations Transitional Administration of Agriculture for East Timor (UNTAET) and stayed there from May 2001 to November 2001. Coelho also taught agricultural science at the Universidade Nasionál Timór Lorosa'e (UNTL) from August 2001 to December 2005. For the development program of the United Nations (UNDP), he took over the post of program officer from December 2002, then from 2003 that of the head of the Department for Environment and Natural Resources. Coelho stayed here until December 2005.

In 2002 Coelho was elected President of the Association of UNDP / UNPOS / UNFPA Employees in East Timor, which was responsible for social affairs, advanced training and representation of workers' rights for East Timorese UN employees. In 2003 he was also appointed UNDP-Timor-Leste Learning Manager and was responsible for the training strategy of the East Timorese UN staff. In the same year Coelho joined the FRETILIN technical cadre and supported the secretariat of the FRETILIN Central Committee in Dili. In 2005 he worked in the information and mobilization department of FRETILIN.

Diplomatic and political career

In December 2005 Coelho became Executive Director for Bilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . From March 29, 2006 to November 2009, Coelho took over from Jorge da Conceição Teme as Ambassador of East Timor in Australia . He was also responsible for other countries, such as New Zealand and Samoa . Then President José Ramos-Horta appointed him to be his deputy head of the External Delegation . Coelho stayed here until June 2012. In October 2013, Coelho became East Timor's ambassador to South Korea.

On February 16, 2015, Coelho was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. With the formation of the VII Government on September 15, 2017, Coelho handed over the office to Aurélio Sérgio Cristóvão Guterres , but was sworn in as the new Minister for Petroleum on October 3 . His term of office as minister ended on June 22, 2018 when the Eighth Government of East Timor took office.

Others

Coelho is fluent in Tetum , Portuguese, English and Bahasa Indonesia . For a basic conversation, he speaks Cantonese, Javanese and Thai.

He is married and has a daughter.

In 2012 Coelho was awarded the Medal of the Ordem de Timor-Leste .

Web links

Commons : Hernâni Coelho  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Timor Truth: Hernani Coelho da Silva . Retrieved July 18, 2018 . 
2. ^ Presidential Power: Timor-Leste - The new unity government , accessed February 24, 2015.
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Lao News Agency: Timor-Leste Foreign Minister to visit Laos , April 1, 2016 , accessed June 12, 2017.
4. ↑ Jornal da República: ESTRATU BA PÚBLIKASAUN , accessed on July 18, 2018.
5. ↑ ETAN: Timor-Leste New Ambassador Presents Credentials to the Governor-General of Australia , March 29, 2006 , accessed February 19, 2015.
6. ^ Jill Jolliffe: Finding Santana , 2010, ISBN 1862549257 .
7. ^ Lao Hamutuk: List of High State Officials & Senior Civil Servants of Timor-Leste , accessed February 19, 2015.
8. ↑ The Korea Times: Ambassador named foreign minister , February 15, 2015 , accessed February 16, 2015.
9. ^ Website of the government of Timor-Leste: Members of the incoming Sixth Constitutional Government meet , February 12, 2015 , accessed on February 16, 2015.
10. ↑ Diário de Notícias: PR timorense assina novo decreto de nomeação membros do Governo, mais duas mulheres , October 2, 2017 , accessed on October 2, 2017.
11. ↑ Jornal da República: Decreto do Presidente da República nº 50/2012 de 19 de Maio , accessed on April 29, 2020.

predecessor	Office	successor
Jorge da Conceição Teme	Ambassador of East Timor to Australia March 9, 2006 - November 2009	Abel Guterres