Dili, December 17, 2025 (Média Democracia) – The Steering Committee 25 (CO25) conducted a five-day activity featuring an Exhibition and Reflection under the theme “Youth and the Struggle: The People’s Hope.” The activity took place at the HAK Foundation (Farol), Dili.
The Vice President of the Steering Committee 25 (CO25), Jacinto Alves, stated that CO25’s mandate is to write the history of the national resistance struggle, including documenting the role of youth in the Clandestine Front during the struggle for national liberation.
“Under this mandate, several volumes have already been completed, while others are still in progress. CO25 feels it is necessary, before launching the history books, to hold an exhibition on the Clandestine Front. Therefore, we opened this reflection session to help young people understand the context of the struggle within the Clandestine Front, the hardships endured during the resistance, and the important values that youth can adopt to continue building this nation into the future,” said Jacinto Alves.
He explained that the objective of the reflection activity is to transmit spiritual will and values to young people so they can carry them forward and prevent the nation from falling into corruption, transnational crime, or mafia influence. He urged youth not to abandon the country, but to continue nurturing and loving the nation of Timor-Leste.
“The book has not yet been published. Volume 1B was completed in 2024 and planned for launch, but it did not happen. We then planned to launch it in 2025 on November 28 to mark 50 years, but it was postponed because the Prime Minister was occupied with other duties. This year, we have completed Volume 2 and hope to soon launch all five volumes,” said the President of the Steering Committee 25.
The Vice President stated that during the research process, CO25 traveled across Timor-Leste to collect data, as the books focus on the national resistance struggle and the pursuit of independence and self-determination, documenting the struggle in its full context.
“These books are written using scientific methodology and are intended for university use. However, in the future we aim to develop a popular version so that pre-primary, primary, and secondary students can also learn from them. This will require discussions with the Ministry of Education to create accessible versions so all students can gain new knowledge about the national resistance struggle in Timor-Leste,” said Jacinto Alves.
He further explained that the historical research process has taken a long time. CO25 was established in 2017 and began recruiting researchers, but during the Seventh Constitutional Government the committee lacked funding to conduct research. In 2019, operations resumed, but the COVID-19 pandemic again disrupted research activities.
“All obstacles caused delays until 2020. Full operational work only resumed from 2023 to 2025, during which we achieved significant progress: Volume 1A reached 95% completion, Volume 1B was completed, Volume 3A reached 85%, Volume 3B reached 85%, and Volume 4 reached 85%. These percentages reflect our current progress,” explained the President of the Committee.
The Vice President highlighted that CO25 faces particular difficulties with Volumes 2 and 5. Volume 2 focuses on the armed struggle in the jungle, but many leaders involved have passed away, leaving limited sources, only four key methods to gather and explain the data. Volume 5 focuses on the 1999 struggle, requiring extensive access to documents, literature reviews, and primary testimonies. These challenges have limited CO25’s ability to create full momentum within its mandate period.
At the event, CO25 also encouraged students to be proactive and critical, inspired by the youth of the Clandestine Front. Today’s youth, he said, must become critical thinkers who do not merely listen and believe, but who analyze, monitor, and transform their knowledge and capacity to contribute to the future development of the nation.
Report: Nelfiano
Photo: Nelfiano