Civil Rights
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
q2K BHP
Black History Portal
THE BHP WIRE —
HIDDEN TRUTHS
What's New!
Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.
Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.
Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.
Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.
Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.
Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.
Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.
Katherine Johnson’s mathematical calculations helped guide some of America’s most important early space missions while she confronted the racial and gender barriers faced by Black women in twentieth-century America.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Mário Lemos Pires | |
|---|---|
 Pires, c. 1991 | |
| Governor of Portuguese Timor | |
| In office 8 November 1974 – 27 November 1975 | |
| President | Francisco da Costa Gomes |
| Preceded by | Fernando Alves Aldeia |
| Succeeded by | Francisco Xavier do Amaral (as President of East Timor) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 30 June 1930 |
| Died | 22 May 2009 (aged 78) Lisbon, Portugal |
| Education | Portuguese Military Academy |
Awards |  Order of Aviz (Knight) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Portugal |
| Branch/service |  Portuguese Army |
Years of service | 1948–1985 |
| Rank | |
| Battles/wars | |
Mário Lemos Pires CvA (30 June 1930 – 22 May 2009) was a major-general of the Portuguese Army and the last colonial governor of Portuguese Timor.
Born in Lamego, Portugal in 1930, Lemos Pires moved to Lisbon at age 18 to commence his studies at the Portuguese Military Academy. Following his graduation as an officer, he took up various overseas postings in the Portuguese Overseas Empire. In the 1960s, Lemos Pires was posted to Algeria (then a French colony), where he studied French military counter-guerrilla techniques.
After Algeria he was posted as part of the 114th Battalion to Portuguese Angola, which was in the midst of a conflict for independence, and where he took part in the early stages of the early colonial war. By the late 1960s, he was posted back to Portugal, where he administered physical education programs for the army, but was soon sent to Portuguese Guinea, under the command of Military Governor António de Spínola, raising to the rank of colonel.
On 14 November 1974, Lemos Pires was appointed by the new Portuguese government (following the Carnation Revolution) as governor and commander-in-chief of the overseas province of Portuguese Timor. Posted to what was thought to be one of the more peaceful Portuguese territories, Lemos Pires found himself in the middle of a brewing conflict in Timor, while charged by the government to prepare Timor for independence. One of his first decrees made upon his arrival in Dili was to legalise political parties in preparation for elections to a Constituent Assembly in 1976.
In August 1975, one of those political parties, the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), staged a coup against the Portuguese administration, prompting the outbreak of a three-month civil war, with many UDT politicians and supporters fleeing across the border to West Timor in Indonesia, where they were required to sign a petition calling for East Timor's incorporation into Indonesia. As a result of the conflict, Lemos Pires ordered the withdrawal of the Portuguese administration to the island of Atauro, off Dili. With opinion at home becoming increasingly detached from political developments in Timor, and more concerned with decolonisation in its African colonies of Angola and Mozambique than with Timor, Lemos Pires' attempts to broker an agreement between the UDT and the other prominent Timorese party, FRETILIN, were undermined, even while he insisted that he was awaiting instructions from the government in Lisbon.
Without any possibility of support from Portugal, Lemos Pires maintained his administration for three months until he ordered a withdrawal of staff and left his post for Lisbon on 27 November 1975. Less than two weeks later, on 7 December, Indonesia invaded East Timor, leading to a situation of Indonesian occupation that would last until 1999. At the 2003 Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings held by East Timor, Lemos Pires explained his position at the time, as well as to why Portugal had failed to support Timor during the invasion: "We were so much more worried about what happened in Portugal than what happened in Timor. For example, they couldn't dispense forces - in good condition and with goodwill - to go to Timor to ensure security there. At the same time, for instance, we had no ambassador in Jakarta - and that was a very important post for us. And the political credibility of Portugal at that time was so low. Of course, if Portugal was prepared and had the force and political respect at that moment, we could have done better. The problem was that I became alone in that moment. Portugal forgot East Timor because on the one hand it was the revolution, on the other it was African decolonisation, and so many Portuguese there in such bad conditions."[1]
On his return to Lisbon, Pires was appointed commander of the Training Center for Special Operations and lectured at the Institute for Advanced Military Studies, of which he was deputy director. Later rising to be chief of staff of the Ministry of National Defense and the director of the National Defence College. In 1982, he was promoted to major-general and ended his military career as secretary general of the study center EuroDefense-Portugal.
After his military career, he was vice president of the Fraternal Aid to Mozambique and published a book about his experiences in Timor entitled Decolonization of Timor: Mission Impossible?
During his career, Pires received 21 honours and 14 military medals, including the following:[2][3]
| Ribbon | Award | Date awarded |
|---|---|---|
|
Military Order of Aviz (CvA) | 1970 |
 |
Silver Distinguished Service Medal with Palms (MPSD) (Angola) | 1963 |
 |
Silver Distinguished Service Medal (MPSD) (Guinea) | 1971 |
|
Silver Distinguished Service Medal (MPSD) (Professor at IAEM) | 1975 |
 |
Gold Distinguished Service Medal (MOSD) (Director of the Army Physical Education Service) | 1984 |
|
Silver Distinguished Service Medal (MPSD) (Deputy Director of IAEM) | 1987 |
|
Silver Distinguished Service Medal (MPSD) (services provided at IDN) | 1995 |
 |
Order of the Colonial Empire (CvIC) (civil services provided in Guinea) | 1973 |
 |
Army Commendation Medal (United States) (performance in the General Staff Course) | 1974 |
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Mário Lemos Pires (30 June 1930 – 22 May 2009) was a major-general of the Portuguese Army and the last colonial governor of Portuguese Timor.
João Viegas Carrascalão (11 August 1945 – 18 February 2012; Dili, East Timor) was an East Timorese politician. He was one of the candidates in the April 2007 presidential election in East Timor. He studied topography and surveying in Luanda and specialized in cartography in Switzerland. He was president of the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), which he also co-founded. He supervised the August 11, 1975, coup which eventually started the civil war. The latter forced the governor, Mario Lemos Pires, to flee as well as the Portuguese contingent stationed on the nearing island of Ataúro. Consequently, Carrascalão moved to Australia and resided there throughout the Indonesian occupation. He integrated the leading agencies of the CNRT. He moved back when East Timor's independence was finally given. In the 2007 presidential election, he took eighth and last place with 1.72% of the vote. He later served as East Timor's ambassador to South Korea from 2009 until his death in 2012. He was the director of the Department of Geographical and Cadastral Surveys during the Portuguese administration of Timor and was the minister of infrastructure during the Transitional Government of East Timor by the UNO (UNTAET). His daughter, Sandra Nelson, is an Australian politician.
Pires is a common surname in the Portuguese language, namely in Portugal and Brazil. It was originally a patronymic, meaning Son of Pedro or Son of Pero (English: Peter). Its Spanish equivalent is Pérez. It is a variant form of Peres. It may mean different things:
The national flag of Timor-Leste (bandeira nacional de Timor-Leste; bandeira nasionál) consists of a red field with the black isosceles triangle based on the hoist-side bearing a white five-pointed star in the center superimposed on the larger yellow triangle, also based on the hoist-side, that extends to the center of the flag.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Joe Louis.
