National Resistance of East Timorese Students


The National Resistance of East Timorese Students was a resistance movement of students from East Timor against the Indonesian occupation between 1975 and 1999.
RENETIL was established on June 20, 1988 in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, by ten East Timorese students, with the leadership of Fernando de Araújo as General Secretary. This organization was later extended to other cities in Indonesia with East Timorese students. After Araújo was arrested in 1991 in the wake of the Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor, José Antonio Neves took over the leadership. After his arrest, the leadership was transferred to an eight-person team: Joaquim Fonseca, Virgilio da Silva, Benjamin Martins, Julio Jacob, Lucas da Costa, Aderito de Jesus Soares, José Pompeia and António da Conceição.
In 1996, the organization was divided into three regional groups: Indonesia, East Timor and the rest of the world. Joaquim Fonseca leads the Indonesian group; António da Conceição led the East Timor group. The overseas group, headquartered in Portugal, was led by Carlos da Silva Lopes.
Several former members have been influential since East Timorese independence. They include