National Veterans’ Day 2024
National Veterans’ Day 2024
“Together, we will march into the future”
From March 1st to March 3rd, the National Veterans’ Day celebrations will take place to honour the contribution made by the martyrs, combatants and veterans who fought for the independence of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (RDTL – acronym in Portuguese).
The celebrations will begin on March 1st with a mass at 9 am at Balide Parish Church in Dili. This will be followed by a pilgrimage from Dili to the LI in Metinaro to lay flowers. At 1 pm, there will be a socialising lunch at the headquarters of the Council of National Liberation Combatants (CCLN – acronym in Portuguese). At 2 pm, there will be guided tours of the exhibition of guerrilla weapons from 24 years of guerrilla warfare in the Aisserimou Hall at the CCLN Headquarters; the Dili Historic Port; the Archives & Museum of Timorese Resistance (AMRT); the Santa Cruz Cemetery; and the archives of the National Centre Chega! (CNC).
On March 2nd, between 9 am and 4.30 pm, a seminar will be held at the Dili Convention Centre (CCD), with lectures by the Former Lieutenant General Lere Anan Timur, the Minister of National Liberation Affairs, Gil da Costa “Oan Soru” and the Minister of Defence, Commodore Pedro Klamar Fuik.
On March 3rd, National Veterans’ Day, the celebrations will take place at the Government Palace at 8.15 am with the hoisting of the RDTL flags, official speeches, and the march of the veterans to the CCD, where there will be a fraternisation lunch and activities until 3.30 pm, when the national flag will be lowered.
