Portugal e a descolonização de Timor: da Cimeira de Macau à invasão indonésia

Abstract

The Macau Summit between Portugal and Timorese nationalist movements originated Law 7/75 which offered a roadmap for a peaceful decolonization of ‘Portuguese Timor’. Events in Lisbon and Dili immediately after its publication prevented the law from being implemented. However, Portugal decided to stick to its spirit – even if with some hesitations – and, in that sense, sought to intervene in the struggle between Timorese forces. The present article draws a history of the critical months that preceded the Indonesian invasion of that territory, which provisionally brought to a halt the process of self-determination.