A génese da formação das FALINTIL: contributos para a edificação do Estado

This essay, told in the first person, aims to analyse the transformation process that took place in 2001, between Aileu and Metinaro, when the National Liberation Armed Forces of Timor-Leste (FALINTIL) gave rise to the Defence Forces of Timor-Leste (FDTL). Following the 1999 referendum, in the context of the United Nations Mission (UNTAET), the formation of FALINTIL-FDTL began in 2001 and constituted one of the central pillars for the construction of the Timorese State. This strategy materialised on May 20, 2002, when the independence of East Timor was formally declared, at a time when the Timorese Armed Forces had already assumed their role as guarantors of the Constitution and central elements of the Rule of Law in the pursuit of security and development of the country.