José Agostinho Sequeira (born 7 June 1959), also known by his ''

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

'' , is an

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

ese politician and former

guerilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tact ...

, and a member of the

Fretilin The Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor ( pt, Frente Revolucionária de Timor-Leste Independente, abbreviated as Fretilin) is a centre-left political party in East Timor. They presently hold 23 of 65 seats in the National Parliame ...

political party. In 2006–2007, he was Vice Minister of Interior, and in 2017–2018 he was Minister for Defence and Security. Since 2018, he has been a Member of the

National Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

Early life and career

Sequeira was born in , in the then

Lautém District Lautém (Tetum: Lautein) is a toponym for a place eastmost in East Timor. It may refer to, from small to large: * Lautém (city) * Lautém Administrative Post * Lautém Municipality Lautém ( pt, Município Lautém, ) is one of the municip ...

of the then

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the ...

. He attended school for twelve years. During the liberation struggle against Indonesia, he was a collaborator of the chief of staff of

Falintil The Armed Forces for the National Liberation of East Timor (, FALINTIL) originally began as the military wing of the political party FRETILIN of East Timor. It was established on 20 August 1975 in response to FRETILIN's political conflict with ...

and Secretary of Region IV. After the resumption of Timorese independence in 2002, Sequeira was appointed as the first director of the

Timorese Resistance Archive and Museum The Timorese Resistance Archive and Museum ( pt, 1=Arquivo e Museu da Resistência Timorense) is a museum in Dili, East Timor about the struggle for independence from Indonesia. History The museum was opened on 7 December 2005. The inauguration ...

( pt, Arquivo & Museu da Resistência Timorense, tet, Arkivu & Museu Rezisténsia Timorense (AMRT)). From August 2002, he worked in Lisbon with the then ( pt, Fundação Mário Soares, links=no (FMS)) to build the archive. Following his return to East Timor in May 2006, he continued to work at the AMRT until 21 July 2006, when he was sworn in as Vice Minister of Interior in the II Constitutional Government.

Political career

Sequeira remained in office as Vice Minister, including in the III Constitutional Government, until 8 August 2007, when that government was replaced by the IV Constitutional Government. He later became president of the Falantil Veterans Foundation ( pt, Fundação dos Veteranos das Falintil, links=no (FVF)). From 2012 to 2017, Sequeira was one of the five members of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

elected by the Parliament. In the East Timorese parliamentary election of 2017, Sequeira was elected to the National Parliament as a member of the Fretilin list. On 15 September 2017, he was sworn in as Minister of Defence and Security in the VII Constitutional Government, and therefore had to give up his parliamentary seat in accordance with the Constitution. As Defence Minister, Sequeira was also a member of the . When it became clear that the Fretilin / PD minority government could not prevail in Parliament, President

Francisco Guterres Francisco Guterres, popularly known as Lú-Olo (born 7 September 1954), is an East Timorese politician who served as president of East Timor from 20 May 2017 to 20 May 2022. He is also the president of the political party Fretilin, and he was t ...

dissolved the Parliament and called new elections. In the ensuing election held on 12 May 2018, Sequeira was re-elected as number 20 on the Fretilin list, and Fretilin became the strongest opposition party. Sequeira's term as Minister ended when the VIII Constitutional Government took office on 22 June 2018. He is now a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security (Committee B).

Honours

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sequeira, José Agostinho Defense ministers of East Timor Fretilin politicians Government ministers of East Timor Living people Members of the National Parliament (East Timor) People from Lautém District 21st-century East Timorese politicians 1959 births