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Francisco Xavier do Amaral
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Francisco Xavier do Amaral
Francisco Xavier do Amaral (3 December 1937 – 6 March 2012) was an East Timorese politician. A founder of the Frente Revolucionária de Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), Amaral was sworn in as the first President of East Timor when the country, then a Portuguese colony, made a unilateral declaration of independence on 28 November 1975. He was a member of the National Parliament for the Timorese Social Democratic Association from 2001 until his death in 2012. Amaral was also known as "Abo (Grandfather) Xavier", a term of endearment, by East Timorese.
A member of the Mambai ethnic group, Amaral was a descendant of kings who ruled what is now the south-central Manufahi District of East Timor. He married Lucia Osorio Soares in 1974, but they separated soon after. The pair had no children, and Amaral never remarried.
Amaral founded the Timorese Social Democratic Association in the early 1970s. The party, which is considered a forerunner of the Fretilin, advocated for independence from Portugal.
Amaral was sworn in as the country's first President on 28 November 1975, when the Democratic Republic of East Timor declared independence from Portugal. His tenure in the presidency last only 10 days before he was forced to flee into the mountainous interior with the Fretilin due to the Indonesian invasion of the country on 7 December 1975. Though most world governments refused to recognise East Timor's independence or Amaral's authority during his ten-day rule in 1975, the East Timorese people regarded Amaral as the country's first president, according to Damien Kingsbury, a political science professor at Deakin University and a leading expert on East Timor.
Amaral was ousted from Fretilin and imprisoned by the party's Marxist faction in 1977 amid disagreements over strategy for opposing the Indonesian occupation. The Fretilin faction held and moved him frequently as they battled the Indonesian military forces. He was abandoned in August 1978 when his Fretilin captors were ambushed, and was promptly arrested by the Indonesian Army.
From the late 1980s until 1999, Amaral was co-chairman of the Indonesian-Portugal Friendship Association (PPIP), an NGO established in Jakarta to establish dialogue with Portuguese community leaders in attempts to find a non-political people-initiated solution for East Timor.
The Indonesian government used Amaral as a propaganda tool to divide the East Timorese independence movement following his capture. He was exiled to Bali, where he was forced to work as a house servant for General Dading Kalbuadi, a leader of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. He was moved to Jakarta in 1983, where he befriended another Timorese exiled prisoner, Xanana Gusmão. Amaral and Gusmão became close friends during their imprisonment in Jakarta.
Amaral attempted to negotiate several peace agreements with the Indonesian government while in exile in Jakarta. His negotiations with Indonesia proved highly controversial with other East Timorese separatists. He was released from General Kalbuadi's house in Jakarta, but lived in poverty for the remainder of his exile. Amaral remained in Jakarta from 1983 until Indonesia's withdrawal from East Timor in 1999.
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Francisco Xavier do Amaral
Francisco Xavier do Amaral (3 December 1937 – 6 March 2012) was an East Timorese politician. A founder of the Frente Revolucionária de Timor Leste Independente (Fretilin), Amaral was sworn in as the first President of East Timor when the country, then a Portuguese colony, made a unilateral declaration of independence on 28 November 1975. He was a member of the National Parliament for the Timorese Social Democratic Association from 2001 until his death in 2012. Amaral was also known as "Abo (Grandfather) Xavier", a term of endearment, by East Timorese.
A member of the Mambai ethnic group, Amaral was a descendant of kings who ruled what is now the south-central Manufahi District of East Timor. He married Lucia Osorio Soares in 1974, but they separated soon after. The pair had no children, and Amaral never remarried.
Amaral founded the Timorese Social Democratic Association in the early 1970s. The party, which is considered a forerunner of the Fretilin, advocated for independence from Portugal.
Amaral was sworn in as the country's first President on 28 November 1975, when the Democratic Republic of East Timor declared independence from Portugal. His tenure in the presidency last only 10 days before he was forced to flee into the mountainous interior with the Fretilin due to the Indonesian invasion of the country on 7 December 1975. Though most world governments refused to recognise East Timor's independence or Amaral's authority during his ten-day rule in 1975, the East Timorese people regarded Amaral as the country's first president, according to Damien Kingsbury, a political science professor at Deakin University and a leading expert on East Timor.
Amaral was ousted from Fretilin and imprisoned by the party's Marxist faction in 1977 amid disagreements over strategy for opposing the Indonesian occupation. The Fretilin faction held and moved him frequently as they battled the Indonesian military forces. He was abandoned in August 1978 when his Fretilin captors were ambushed, and was promptly arrested by the Indonesian Army.
From the late 1980s until 1999, Amaral was co-chairman of the Indonesian-Portugal Friendship Association (PPIP), an NGO established in Jakarta to establish dialogue with Portuguese community leaders in attempts to find a non-political people-initiated solution for East Timor.
The Indonesian government used Amaral as a propaganda tool to divide the East Timorese independence movement following his capture. He was exiled to Bali, where he was forced to work as a house servant for General Dading Kalbuadi, a leader of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. He was moved to Jakarta in 1983, where he befriended another Timorese exiled prisoner, Xanana Gusmão. Amaral and Gusmão became close friends during their imprisonment in Jakarta.
Amaral attempted to negotiate several peace agreements with the Indonesian government while in exile in Jakarta. His negotiations with Indonesia proved highly controversial with other East Timorese separatists. He was released from General Kalbuadi's house in Jakarta, but lived in poverty for the remainder of his exile. Amaral remained in Jakarta from 1983 until Indonesia's withdrawal from East Timor in 1999.
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