User:Mhatopzz/1975 East Timor coup attempt

A military takeover took place in East Timor on 11 August 1975. The takeover was led by the Timorese Democratic Union party with an objective to overthrow the Fretilin. The coup was codenamed Operation Sakonar (Operaçao Sakonar).

A few months earlier in March 1975, local elections were held in East Timor in which the UDT and Fretilin emerged as the largest party, both parties initially formed a coalition but the UDT later leaving it. On August 11, 1975, the UDT attempted to seize power with 200 armed men. Indonesia had threatened the party that it would itself deal with the communist threat posed by Fretilin if the UDT did not eliminate it. Fretilin supporters were arrested or murdered. The UDT fighters occupied the seaport of Dili and the airport, the state radio station, Rádio Marconi, the telephone exchange, the central power station and the water reservoir, and only the naval radio station remained in the hands of the colonial government. Governor Mário Lemos Pires was in Lospalos in the east of the colony at the time. He did nothing against the putschists. Although Pires actually still had 1,700 soldiers under his command, the Timorese and some Portuguese soldiers deserted over time and joined the various sides. Both Fretilin and UDT actively recruited the colonial soldiers. Pires was no longer able to regain control. In the absence of further reinforcements from Portugal, he could only rely on the paratroopers who had arrived in the colony on 7 April 1975. Pires also had at his disposal the boats of the STM Loes (the boat was broken and lying in the port for repairs), Comoro, Lifau and Laga as well as the naval service boat Tibar, the former NRP Albufeira (P1157). The Tibar had been transferred by the Navy to the Comando da Defesa Marítima de Timor in 1973.

The UDT formed the Movement for the Unity and Independence of Timor-Dili ( Portuguese: Movimento para Unidade e Independência de Timor-Dili MUITD ) on 13 August 1975 with sympathisers from the Portuguese colonial army. It was planned to dissolve all pro-independence parties and integrate their members into the MUITD. In the first days after the coup, the UDT was able to win over the police chief Rui Alberto Maggiolo Gouveia and various military units such as the companies in Baucau and Lospalos. On 16 August, the UDT called for the expulsion of all communists from the territory, including "those in the office of the Portuguese governor". It demanded the repeal of Decree 7/75, which had set the timetable for Portuguese Timor's independence by 1978, and the resumption of negotiations on the colony's independence. On August 17, Major Mota, head of the Office of Political Affairs, and Major Jónatas were sent back to Lisbon. The two representatives of the MFA were accused of being the communist wing in the colonial government.

In a few days, Fretilin managed to mobilize the majority of the population, which was shocked by the coup, and street fighting broke out in Dili. Most of the Timorese who served in the Portuguese army deserted and joined the Forças Armadas de Libertação Nacional de Timor-Leste (FALINTIL), the military wing of Fretilin. Eventually, about 1,500 UDT supporters faced 2,000 Fretilin fighters. On 20 August, Fretilin occupied the Portuguese military headquarters in Taibesi and took the Portuguese soldiers prisoner, including the deputy commander-in-chief of the troops in Timor.