The 1959 Viqueque rebellion was an uprising against the Portuguese rule in the southeastern part of East Timor. It was concentrated in the remote regions of Uatolari and Uatocarbau. It was an anti-colonial rebellion against the Portuguese, who had been the colonial masters of East Timor since the sixteenth century. The rebellion is significant in East Timorese history because it was the only rebellion that erupted after World War II. For the longest time, due to lack of information and research, there were speculations and assumptions made about the origins of the rebellion which focus more on external factors, like the role of Indonesia. However, in the last decade, there has been more research done that has helped to illuminate this part of East Timor's history and it has also highlighted the agency of the East Timorese for participating in the rebellion.
Background
During World War II, the Axis powers of Germany and Italy rampaged across Europe but Portugal was spared because it had declared its neutrality. Japan, who was also an Axis Power, was causing anxiety among the Dutch, Portuguese and Australian governments in Asia as they were speedily taking over colonies in parts of Southeast Asia. However, the Portuguese governor wanted East Timor to remain neutral. As a result, 400 Dutch and Australian troops were sent to East Timor in defiance of the Portuguese governor's protests of neutrality. The Australians deployed the troops as they viewed Timor as a buffer and it was imperative that the Japanese do not take over Timor. Soon enough, the Japanese landed in Dili, the capital of East Timor, on 19 February 1942. There was fierce fighting but eventually, the Japanese was able to take over the entire island. In 1945, the war finally came to an end, with the Japanese surrendering and withdrawing from the island. The effects of the war on East Timor were devastating. Dili and other villages were badly damaged due to Allied bombing, and the occupying forces. In terms of human cost, 'Portuguese Timor suffered far worse than any other South-East Asian country occupied by the Japanese.' Over 60,000 Timorese died during the occupation, which was 13 percent of the population at the time. The Japanese imposed forced labour and ruthless appropriation of whole harvests, which led to many Timorese dying of famine and other diseases.
Political and economic context (1945 – 1959)
Politics Prior to World War II, the preceding East Timorese rebellion of 1911–1912 had devastated East Timor when the Portuguese colonial administration completed its pacification of the colony, replacing hereditary native liurais (chiefs) with client kings loyal to Lisbon. Nevertheless, the failure of the rebellion was crucial in kickstarting the national awakening of the East Timorese people as distinct from both their Portuguese rulers and the proto-Indonesian Dutch-ruled West Timorese.
Unlike in other parts of Southeast Asia, the Japanese Occupation of East Timor did not spark the start of Timorese nationalism. It also did not result in many Timorese organizing anti-colonial movements or collaborating with the Japanese to achieve independence once the Japanese had triumphed over the Allies. While in other parts of Southeast Asia, the colonizers had to contend with nationalist leaders and groups fighting or negotiating for independence from them as part of this global shift towards decolonization. In East Timor, the Portuguese were doing the opposite, they were re-asserting their authority. Hence, an authoritarian type of government was re-introduced, which mirrored the Portuguese government that had been in power since 1930. In 1950, as part of Portugal's desire to project a different international image, all Portuguese colonies including East Timor were no longer called colonies but 'overseas provinces.' The change in name did not result in a loosening of the repressive regime. As in pre-war days, the Portuguese governor was in charge of Timor but there was also a Timorese system of hierarchy where power was in the hands of the liurai.
Economy
The war was a catastrophe for the East Timorese economy as infrastructure and plantations were now in ruins. To make matters worse, Portugal was economically weakened by the war in Europe. Moreover, the Marshall Plan, which was an aid programme by the United States of America (USA) to assist European countries to rebuild their economies, was not extended to Portugal. In addition, as Portugal was still a fascist state, the other Western European countries were reluctant to have any dealings with it. Due to the lack of funds from Portugal and the fact that the Timorese were too poor to be taxed, the governor had to rely on forced labour that was arranged by the liurai to rebuild roads, buildings and bridges that had been destroyed. Overall, from 1945 till 1959, the Portuguese spent most of whatever funds they were allocated on rebuilding the capital, and the rest was divided between developing the interior and the agriculture sector. The latter did see improvements that helped to avert a famine. In 1952, funds were also channelled for the first liceu (middle school), which was set up in Dili, and four years later to a vocational school that was started. In short, the Portuguese developed East Timor's economy at a 'snail's pace'.
Prelude to the rebellion
On 27 March 1958, a group of 14 Indonesian men from a rebel movement known as Permesta (Total Struggle) fled from Kupang, West Timor, after being defeated by the Indonesian central government. They landed in the East Timor enclave of Oecussi and asked the Portuguese government for political asylum which was duly granted and they were sent to live in the Baucau area with a daily subsidy. After four months, four of the Indonesians were sent to Viqueque where they made friends with Jose Manuel Duarte, who was a mestizo (mixed blood) Timorese civil servant in the Weather Service. They also made friends with Amaro Loyola Jordao de Araujo, who was a Timorese retired Treasury employee. Concurrently, Luis 'Xina' da Costa Rego, a young Chinese-Timorese driver for the Agriculture Department based in Dili, was spearheading a growing civil servant conspiracy against the Portuguese administration. He managed to convince Antonio da Costa Soares, known as 'Antonio Metan', who was a descendant from the liurai Afaloicai, a kingdom at the foothills of Mount Matebian along the Baucau-Viqueque border. Luis Xina convinced Antonia Metan that there was a colony-wide plot to hold all members of the Portuguese government hostage and demand that Lisbon create a new government. For this plan to succeed, it would require the assistance of everyone in East Timor. The Viqueque plot was championed by Gerson Pello, one of the Indonesian exiles. He promised Luis Xina that there would be Indonesian support for their cause in 'vague and grandiose terms'. This in turn influenced Luis Xina's plan.
However, in late May 1959, the Dili plot was uncovered by the Portuguese who swiftly apprehended the conspirators: Luis Xina, Joao 'Chiquito' Pereira da Silva – a nurse from Manatuto, and Jose 'Zeca' de Sousa Gama of Laga on 1 June 1959 and several family members of Antonio da Costa Soares were arrested and killed by dumping in the Bebui river. They were under arrest because they were suspected of planning a colony-wide rebellion on New Year's Eve. The Portuguese authorities also suspected that the Indonesian Consul, Nazwar Jacub, was in a leadership position in the rebellion. However, they were unable to find any evidence to connect Nazwar to the plot. Most of the evidence that was uncovered was circumstantial, for example, his mail order for a large quantity of photographic equipment, and his friendship with the Indonesian exiles.
Over the next few days, the 'overzealous' Portuguese police commander, Sergeant Manual Da Camara arrested dozens of people. Arrests were made based on little more than the mention of a name during interrogations. Force was used to extract confessions from the accused. The suspects who were arrested came from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some were educated and working in places like the Post and Telegraph, the Indonesian Consul and the bank, and others were illiterate farmers or just unemployed friends of civil servants. The most shocking arrest was Francisco Araujo, who was a distinguished member of the Concelho do Governo (Council of Government).
On the evening of 6 June, the Dili authorities alerted Administrator Artur Ramos in Viqueque to arrest Antonio Metan, as his name was mentioned during the interrogations. Artur Ramos ordered the cipaios (indigenous police) to arrest Antonio Metan. After being captured by the cipaios, Antonio Metan thought of an excuse to buy time and save his life. He told the cipaios that he needed to collect a suit from his friend's house. When they agreed to let Antonio Metan to retrieve his suit, he immediately alerted Gerson Pello and the other conspirators that the plot had been discovered by the Portuguese. At this point, the rebellion began in Viqueque.
Events of the Rebellion
On 7 June, Pello dispatched another Indonesian exile to accompany Antonio Metan back to Uatolari. As a symbolic gesture, Antonio Metan asked the chief cipaio to lower the Portuguese flag and cut the telegraph lines. At Viqueque town, the Indonesian exiles, group of civil servants and coconut plantation workers wanted to raid the district administration building to seize the weapons and use them against the Portuguese authorities. Their second objective was to hold the administrator and his family hostage. They were successful in getting the weapons but the administrator, his family and his assistant were able to escape in a jeep. When the administrator reached Ossu, he telephoned the Portuguese at Baucau and Dili to inform them about the situation at Viqueque.
With the weapons they had seized, their next step was to advance to Uatocarbau to gather more supporters, then to Baguia and finally to Laga on the north coast where the Portuguese suspected they would rendezvous with their Indonesian accomplices. When the rebels reached Baguia, the Portuguese had managed to send reinforcements to Baguia Fort in time. The Portuguese troops and a truck with a machine gun mounted on it were waiting for them. The rebels had to take over a fort but as the weapons and ammunition they had seized from the administrator's building were too antiquated, they were inadequate for the task. The rebels dispersed upon contact with the Portuguese troops by hiding in the jungle or in the mountains. Those who revealed themselves by either surrendering or fighting were killed by the Portuguese.
To clear the area of the rebels, the Portuguese invited troops from the highland Makassae from Ossu and Venilale and Tetun-speakers from Viqueque town to attack Uatolari. The invaders looted everything of value, including rice, livestock and clothes. The administrator of Lautem, also invited people from Baguia, Iliomar and Lospalos to form parties to help put down the rebellion and mete out punishment. The rebellion finally ended on 14 June, estimates of the number of people who died in the rebellion vary between 160 and 1000.
Aftermath
The 58 Timorese rebels who were captured by the Portuguese were exiled from East Timor. On 30 September 1959, a Portuguese-owned passenger ship called the India docked at Dili, picked up the rebels and departed on 6 October 1959. The rebels were exiled to Angola, Mozambique and Portugal.
Nine out of the fourteen Indonesian exiles who were in East Timor during the rebellion were returned to Indonesia in the mid-1960s, one of them was shot dead during the rebellion and the remaining four were deported to Lisbon.